The digital gaming world is becoming an increasingly important part of children’s lives. Steam, as the world’s largest PC gaming platform, has been offering families the tools to safely and securely manage their children’s gaming experiences for years. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through how to use Steam’s family features and how to manage your children’s gaming activities step by step.
What is Steam Families?
Steam Families is a comprehensive system launched in 2024 that replaced the older “Family Sharing” and “Family View” features. This new feature offers families the following capabilities:
- Game Sharing: Family members can share their game libraries with each other
- Parental Controls: Control which games children can access and how long they can play
- Safe Purchasing: Children’s game purchase requests require parental approval
- Activity Tracking: Monitor children’s gaming activities even from mobile devices
Getting Started: First Steps
1. Set Up Your Steam Family
To start using Steam Families features:
- Open your Steam client or log into the Steam website
- Go to the Settings menu
- Select the Family tab from the left menu
- Click the Create a Family button
- Follow the wizard to create your family
Important: A maximum of 6 people (including yourself) can join a Steam family. Remember that this system is designed for close family members only.
2. Invite Family Members
After creating your family:
- You can invite up to 5 family members
- You can assign each member either Adult or Child role
- You can send invitations from the Steam client, mobile app, or web browser
3. Assign Roles Correctly
Adult Role:
- Access to all control tools
- Authority to edit other members’ settings
- Right to approve/reject purchase requests
Child Role:
- Limited access
- Subject to parental controls
- Access to specific games and features
Parental Control Features
Steam Families provides parents with powerful tools to manage their children’s gaming experiences. Here’s how to use these tools:
1. Game Access Restrictions
Why It’s Important: Not every game is suitable for every age group. You can protect your children from games containing violence, blood, sexual content, or inappropriate language.
How to Do It:
- Go to Settings > Family tab
- Select the child account
- Choose your desired option from the Game Access section:
- Show all games
- Filter by age rating
- Only show games I choose (safest option)
Practical Tip: Start by using the “Only games I choose” option to create a small game list. You can expand this list as your child’s experience and age increase.
2. Playtime Limits
For Healthy Gaming Habits: Research shows that excessive screen time can negatively affect children’s physical and mental health. Steam Families helps you with this.
Setting Daily Time Limits:
- Go to the child account settings
- Find the Playtime section
- Set daily time limits (e.g., 1 hour on weekdays, 2 hours on weekends)
Weekly Time Limits:
- You can set weekly total time for a more flexible approach
- Your child can distribute this time as they wish
Gaming Hours:
- You can allow gaming only during specific hours
- Example: Only between 4:00 PM-7:00 PM or weekends only
3. Store, Community, and Chat Restrictions
Creating a Safe Online Environment:
Store Access:
- You can completely disable children’s access to the Steam store
- Or allow them to see only games in certain age categories
- This prevents exposure to games with inappropriate content
Community Features:
- Steam community forums can contain unmoderated content
- You can restrict children’s access to community pages
- This feature protects from unwanted interactions
Chat Control:
- You can completely disable friend chat
- Or allow them to chat only with people you approve
- You can prevent participation in group chats
Our Recommendation: We recommend disabling all community features for young children (ages 6-10). For ages 11-14, limited access may be appropriate, and for 15+, controlled access.
4. Activity Tracking and Reporting
What Are They Playing and For How Long?
Steam Families allows you to see your child’s gaming activities in detail:
Playtime Reports:
- Daily, weekly, and monthly reports
- Which games they played and for how long
- Most time-consuming games
Access:
- From Steam client
- Through mobile app (even when not at home)
- From web browser
Practical Use: By regularly checking these reports, you can discuss healthy gaming habits with your child. If they’re spending too much time on a particular game, you can understand why and offer alternatives.
5. Purchase Management
Keep Control in Your Hands:
In the traditional method, you had to give your child your credit card or constantly buy gift cards to purchase games. Steam Families makes this process much easier and safer.
How It Works:
- Your child adds the desired game to cart
- Uses the “Request Payment from Parent” option
- You receive a notification via mobile app or email
- You can review and approve or reject the game
- When approved, payment is made from your account and the game is added to your child’s account
Advantages:
- No need to share your credit card information
- You have a chance to evaluate the game before each purchase
- Your child cannot buy games without your permission
- Budget control remains in your hands
Tip: Set a weekly/monthly game budget with your child. This both sets financial limits and teaches budget management to your child.
6. Account Security and Recovery
Forgot My Password Problem:
Children sometimes forget their Steam account passwords. Steam Families gives parents the authority to recover child accounts.
Account Recovery:
- No need to panic when your child forgets their password
- You can access the child account from your parent account
- You can perform password reset
- You can change the account email
Security Recommendations:
- Keep your child’s account password in a safe place
- Enable two-factor authentication
- Teach your child to create strong passwords
How Does Game Sharing Work?
One of the most useful features of Steam Families is game sharing. Here’s what you need to know:
Basic Rules
Automatic Sharing: When you join a family, shareable games in your library automatically become available to other members
Non-Shareable Games: Some games may not be shareable due to developer preferences (usually games requiring third-party accounts)
Multiple Copies: If there are multiple copies of the same game, that many people can play at once
Practical Example
Let’s say you have a 4-person family:
- 1 copy of Portal 2
- 1 copy of Half-Life
Scenario 1: One person can play Portal 2, another can play Half-Life ✅
Scenario 2: Two people want to play Portal 2 at the same time ❌
- Solution: Someone in the family must purchase a second copy of the game
- After that, two people can play Portal 2 simultaneously ✅
Personal Progress
When playing a shared game:
- You create your own save files
- You earn your own Steam achievements
- You can access Steam Workshop content
- Your progress belongs only to you and doesn’t affect other family members
Remote Management with Mobile App
The Steam mobile app provides parents with complete control even at work, on the road, or on vacation.
What Can You Do?
Real-Time Control:
- See what your child is playing right now
- Check remaining playtime
- Change limits if necessary
Purchase Approvals:
- Game requests from your child come via instant mobile notification
- Review and approve/reject
- Make payments from anywhere
Emergency Intervention:
- You can disable game access in an emergency
- You can update limits
- You can give extra time
Download the Mobile App
- Download the Steam mobile app from the App Store for iOS or Google Play Store for Android
- Log in with your account
- Go to Family > Parental Controls section
Security and Privacy Tips
Protect Your Child’s Data
Personal Information:
- Be careful not to use your child’s real name
- Enter age information correctly (for Steam’s content filters to work properly)
- Keep the profile private
Communication Security:
- Teach your child not to talk to strangers
- Tell them not to share personal information (address, school, phone)
- Ask them to report suspicious situations to you
Two-Factor Authentication
Be sure to enable it on both your own and your child’s account:
- Settings > Account > Manage My Account
- Turn on Steam Guard
- Activate mobile authenticator
- Store backup codes in a safe place
Steam Families provides modern parents with powerful tools to manage their children’s digital gaming experiences. However, remember that these tools are only assistants—what truly matters is the trust, communication, and mutual understanding between you and your child.
Key Principles for Successful Digital Parenting:
- Stay Informed: Follow the games, platforms, and trends your child plays
- Communicate: Create open, non-judgmental dialogues
- Set Boundaries: Establish clear, consistent rules
- Be Flexible: Every child is different; personalize your approach
- Be a Role Model: Balance your own screen use too
- Build Trust: Your child should be able to bring problems to you
- Take a Balanced Approach: Games aren’t bad; excess is harmful
When you use Steam Families correctly, your child can benefit from the social, creative, and educational advantages of games in a safe environment. At the same time, you can guide their digital journey with peace of mind. Steam has had very advanced features on this subject for years.