In this guide
What is Roblox Studio?
Roblox Studio is a software that allows users to create new worlds and games within the Roblox game engine. Millions of people use Roblox Studio to develop games, with the majority of these users being children and young people.
Roblox Studio serves as a good introduction into coding and game design due to it being created primarily for children to use, with a clean and straightforward interface. It also uses the Lua programming language, which is simple and therefore ideal for beginners.
Roblox Studio is a free software and is available for download on Windows and macOS.
How it works
When designing with Roblox Studio, users can create a new game from scratch or begin with a pre-made template that they can then edit how they want. This benefits children who are trying to learn game design, as it gives them a base to start with.
Users can create a game world using Lua, which gives them a chance to learn coding. Lua is a coding language that is popular for its ease-of-use and is seen as one of the more straightforward languages to use, so a child can learn to create their own games using Roblox Studio without any prior programming experience.
If a child does not want to code, they can also use a drag-and-drop system to add pre-made assets such as objects and terrains. While this won’t teach them how to code, it will nurture their creativity as they will be able to create their own worlds.
Once a creation is finished, users can share them with other users by publishing them to the Roblox website.
Roblox also provides learning resources to help kids get started. These tutorials teach users how to build games, create characters and the basics of game scripting. There is also a Roblox Developer Community that allows users to share tips and advice with each other.
Disney Plus parental controls
Roblox Studio does not have dedicated parental settings, but as it is a part of Roblox, parents can control how their kid’s use the software through Roblox’s parental controls. Parents can use these settings to control what kind of content children can access based on their level of maturity, decide if their child can publish their creations online and monitor which games they have created or played.
Read our step-by-step guide to find out how to set parental controls on Roblox.
Benefits of Roblox Studio
- Free to use
- Easy learning curve
- Builds coding and programming skills
- Encourages creativity
- Can share with others and receive feedback
- Range of parental controls from Roblox
What to watch out for
Roblox Studio is a good tool for building programming skills, but it is still attached to a video game platform, and therefore it contains many of the risks that come with online gaming. Learning about online gaming will help you understand any thoughts or concerns your child may express while using Roblox Studio.
The platform is designed to be engaging for children, and this can lead to an increased amount of screen time. Get advice on how you can tackle an increase in your child’s screen time.
When publishing their projects, children might receive negative feedback from other users. If this happens, have a conversation with your child to help them deal with mean comments, and if needed, encourage them to report the user.