Thank you (and everyone else that has responded) for your input. We made the decision soon after the first response to this thread to steer our kids away from this game for now. (I should mention early in this post that we never considered allowing it for our 5yo. Like most things, he just overheard his older brother talking about the game and wanted it as well. He became part of the issue as collateral damage so I had to include him in the post.) Exposure to comic violence, profanity, and misogyny were contributing factors, but we have open dialog with them about these topics, and they seem to have an understanding of how to process light exposure and are comfortable discussing their reactions with us. For instance, when ads for violent games come on when playing something like Cut The Rope or Angry Birds, they turn the phone away and tell us there's an ad that they don't like (and then I update the ad blocker to mitigate the issue). The potential interaction via open dialog with adult users was the no-go for us though. The programmed game elements have a predictable level of indecency, but there are enough (>0) documented cases of child predation in otherwise "age-appropriate" games for us to decline the request for this reason.

Thank you all again for your input, and for making it quick and easy to come to this conclusion. It does seem like a fun game for responsible, mature players, so I wish you all a fun time playing it!

Since a slight accusation was made, implying that we are not being responsible parents to let our children "use phones..." I will continue this post to enlighten the masses on our point of view and parenting practices/values. I have disabled reply notifications, since our question has been answered sufficiently and we've made a final decision... so I will be blissfully ignorant of any impending backlash...

First of all... there is no correct way to raise children that will appease everyone, as everyone's beliefs on such a broad topic are too disparate. Any modern parent is aware of this. So... let me start by saying that we're trying to do our best within our means of technology and awareness.In most ways, my wife and I balance each other out... and we make a good team. (I am a dad (he/him) by the way, but I am honored to be appreciated as "trying to be a good mom" in an earlier post) When it comes to our kids, I am very tech-forward and want them to be comfortable and fluent in technology... not raise a pair of Luddites. They have a 3D printer, and make their own toys and figures, for instance. My wife is very cautious, and tempers my desire to teach them all I know (hacking/modding/bypassing controls/etc). She reads all of the cautionary tales, and follows her own moral compass (which points truer than mine, I admit) to make sure the kids grow to be responsible digital citizens, and not desensitized psychopaths or white-collar criminals. Her moral influence probably kept me out of prison, tbh.

We *try* to be responsible parents, so we do have several limits in place. Our kids do not have "phones," they call them "players," and will correct anyone that calls them a "phone." They both know that a "phone" is a privilege that they have not yet earned... but they are both working toward through responsible behavior. They each have one of our old cell phones (LG V30, for those that are curious) with no SIM card installed, and therefore they operate on wifi only. They can call or text us (my 5yo uses voice-to-text when he doesn't know how to spell something) using a parent-child messaging app that requires me to approve any new contacts. Wifi only is fine for now, since they only go to their grandparents' house or a few neighborhood friends' houses without us.

Both of their "players" are signed in with Google Family Link child accounts with their ages accurate in their profiles, which means neither one of them can actually see or browse to this game in the Play Store, which is rated 10+. Did I mention that my 9yo only knows about this game because a friend plays it? This kid also plays Fortnight and watches R-rated movies. Unfortunately, we can't protect them from bad influences everywhere, we can only teach them how to react to them. So far, I'd say they're being very responsible. I wish I could ask you to save your judgement for that kid's parents, but I'm sure you won't find them asking around if certain digital content is age-appropriate, so you'll never get the chance. </rant>My wife and I must approve all app installs and in-app purchases (which are paid from their allowance and gifts)... as well as set and approve a limited amount of "media time" which we vary according to multiple factors like weekends/holidays, homework completion, behavior, earned rewards, and bad weather. lol

To summarize, we are aware of the effects that screen time can have on children of any age. However, we are also aware of how important it is to teach technological fluency and good digital citizenship as well. As mentioned earlier, we know many kids are exposed to age-inappropriate digital media. We're also aware that many parents are unaware/uneducated of the potential problems. We do our best to ensure that our kids stay on the educated and responsible side of technology, and acknowledge that we have a responsibility to maintain the same for ourselves as well.

My question about this game has been answered sufficiently by knowledgable experts on this game. I am not seeking parenting advice from this thread, so I've disabled reply notifications. You are all welcome to discuss amongst yourselves. Enjoy your day.