Online Gaming Safety: A Practical Guide for Players and Families

Online gaming safety covers more than avoiding unpleasant people. It includes your device, your account, your payments and your wellbeing. This guide walks through each in turn.

Your device

Most account compromises start on the device rather than the platform.

• Keep your phone and browser updated. Updates are mostly security fixes for problems that are already being exploited.
• Install from official stores only. "Modded" or "cracked" game apps very often carry password stealers.
• Lock your screen. A PIN or biometric lock is what stands between a lost phone and a stranger with your accounts.
• Be careful on public Wi-Fi. Avoid making payments on a network you do not control.

Your account

Use a unique password. Reusing one password across sites means a breach anywhere becomes a breach everywhere — and breach lists are traded openly. A password manager makes unique passwords effortless; if you would rather not use one, a memorable phrase of three or four unrelated words is both stronger and easier to remember than a short password full of symbols.

Never share your login. No genuine member of staff, host, or administrator will ever ask for your password. Anyone who does is trying to steal your account, whatever they claim.

Payments

• Only ever pay through the official purchase screen. Coins bought from an individual "reseller" carry no protection at all, and are frequently paid for with stolen cards — which gets the receiving account banned.
• Keep your receipts. A transaction ID makes any payment question quick to resolve.
• Check your statements. Query anything you do not recognise with us and with your bank promptly.
• Set your own limit before you start, not after.

Privacy

Think about what your profile says about you. A username that is also your email address, a photograph that shows your street, or a bio listing your school all give away more than you might intend. Review your profile occasionally and ask what a stranger could work out from it.

You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you, or ask us to delete your account, at any time — see our Privacy Policy for how.

For parents and guardians

Lotus Ludo is intended for players aged 18 and over. If you are responsible for a younger person who games elsewhere, the advice that works best is not surveillance but conversation: know which platforms they use, agree what is and is not shared with strangers, keep payment details off shared devices, and make sure they know they can tell you about something uncomfortable without being blamed or losing access.

Healthy habits

Safety includes your own wellbeing. Decide how long you want to play before you start. Take a break every hour or so. Notice if you are playing to escape something rather than to enjoy yourself, or chasing a loss with a purchase — both are worth pausing on. Games should leave you feeling better, not worse.

If something goes wrong

Act quickly. Change your password, check for unfamiliar sessions or purchases, and contact us through the Contact page with as much detail as you can. Report the account involved so our moderation team can act. Most problems are far easier to fix in the first hour than the first week.