How to Block Games

Published on: December 27, 2024

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6 min read

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For German Version

A multitude of gaming websites are readily available online, potentially consuming hours of productive work. Gaming addiction impairs our ability to concentrate on jobs, diminishes productivity, and presents health hazards. Additionally, certain games are unsuitable for children and adolescents. Parents often see their youngsters allocating considerable time to internet activities, particularly to gaming endeavors. The physical and mental health of a child can be adversely affected by excessive screen time. Consequently, blocking gaming websites is an effective strategy to mitigate distractions.

By establishing consistent periods for digital-free activities, parents can motivate their children to spend less time online. Additionally, parents should educate their children on the importance of online safety, including the importance of refraining from disclosing personal information or their location. Furthermore, parents should motivate their children to participate in other activities, including physical activity, outdoor play, and reading.

This tutorial outlines methods for restricting access to all gaming websites on any device, applicable to both managing children's screen time at home and improving employee concentration on the job.

Why Restrict Access to Gaming Websites

Parents need to evaluate the child's age, maturity, duration of gaming, and the overall effects on the child's life. If your child often dedicates excessive time to online gaming, it is prudent to restrict access to gaming websites on their gadgets.

It is possible to establish time limits on gaming activities and oversee the child's engagement. This may assist the youngster in concentrating on more constructive pursuits such as academics, athletics, or socializing with peers and family. Furthermore, it may minimize the danger of addiction or detrimental conduct.

What are the Advantages of Game Blocking?

The major benefits of blocking online games are summarized below.

• Prevents Game Addiction: We must achieve equilibrium in all aspects of our existence. Likewise, children have to engage in all essential activities of their daily regimen according to their timetable. However, your child may squander a significant amount of valuable time engaging in gaming on their phone or computer incessantly. Overuse of smart gadgets adversely affects persons' health. However, if the detrimental games are prohibited, your child will be unable to access them, hence reducing the likelihood of developing an addiction to gaming.

• Protects from Exposure to Violent or Erotic Culture: Adult games such as PUBG and Call of Duty have explicit material that fosters a culture of violence and eroticism among players. A significant number of children and adolescents are engaging with these games and being exposed to cultures that may adversely affect their cognitive development and intellectual capacities. Restricting access to these games shields your children from exposure to this detrimental culture and safeguards them from possible dangers.

• Children are less prone to conflating the Real World with the Virtual World: The virtual realm of gaming is quite distinct from the tangible reality that surrounds us. Nevertheless, children possess restricted cognitive capacities that hinder their comprehension of this distinction. Consequently, youngsters who engage in excessive gaming get disoriented between reality and the virtual realm. Restricting games encourages kids to engage with the outdoors and enhance their comprehension of their environment.

Why is Online Gaming Popular Among Teenagers?

In recent years, the prevalence of online gaming among youngsters has increased significantly as a result of a variety of contributing factors. For teenagers, gaming serves as a means of escape and entertainment. It enables them to fully engage with virtual environments, where they can confront challenges, explore new regions, and interact with a variety of individuals. As they endeavor to articulate their creativity and establish a sense of belonging within the community, numerous youths are drawn to this sense of adventure and social interaction.

• Simple accessibility: The majority of online activities are immediately accessible, and children can access them with just a few keystrokes. The accessibility of online games should not be disregarded, as they are frequently promoted on children's devices. Their multifaceted appeal, which fundamentally addresses human requirements, is the source of their pervasive popularity.
• Creative expression: In certain games, such as Roblox or Minecraft, players are permitted to engage in creative expression and construction. The gameplay is engaging for adolescents and demonstrates their problem-solving abilities and imagination.
• Feedback and acknowledgment: Games frequently offer immediate feedback on performance, enabling adolescents to monitor their progress and commemorate their accomplishments. It instills a sense of motivation and accomplishment in them.
• Progression and challenge: Numerous games provide opportunities to enhance one's abilities through progressive challenges. Children experience a sense of accomplishment when they surmount these obstacles and accomplish their objectives.

What is Game Addiction?

The World Health Organization and the DSM V now acknowledge that "gaming disorder" is a health problem resulting from the proliferation of excessive gaming. Despite ongoing disagreement on the appropriateness of the word "addiction," some scholars think that it is a suitable descriptor. The statistics on video game addiction are alarming. Researchers believe that over three million young Americans are now affected, and because to the pervasive appeal of mobile gaming, this figure might easily escalate. This problem mostly affects teens, who are more vulnerable to the impacts of addictive technology due to their growing brains; nonetheless, adults may also succumb to gaming addiction.

What are the characteristics of video game addiction? It is essential to recognize that an individual who dedicates a few hours daily to gaming while being attentive at work or school, fulfilling household obligations, sustaining healthy practices, and engaging with loved ones is likely not experiencing video game addiction. While enthusiasm for video games is commendable, issues arise when other responsibilities are neglected. An individual transitions from a gaming enthusiast to a gaming addict when their gaming behavior disrupts other aspects of their life. Even if they acknowledge their issue, they are unable to cessate; they may attempt a feeble effort, but they cannot disengage for an extended period.

What are the Signs of Game Addiction?

Are you or someone you know potentially grappling with video game addiction? The Center for Internet and Technology Addiction provides the Greenfield Video Game Addiction Test (GVGAT). The inquiries will solicit information regarding your emotional state when unable to engage in video gaming, difficulties in reducing gaming time, any health issues arising from gaming, and whether your gaming habits impede your academic or professional success.

An individual with video game addiction may exhibit symptoms of depression, irritability, or restlessness when compelled to cease gaming, even temporarily. Individuals grappling with addiction frequently endeavor to conceal the severity of the issue from their family, and a person with a video game addiction is no exception; for example, a high school student who dedicates the majority of their leisure time to gaming may attempt to obscure the magnitude of their gaming behavior from their parents.

Moreover, an individual with video game addiction may encounter health complications associated with their condition. Prolonged screen exposure may result in dry eyes. Constant exposure to blue light may disturb their circadian cycle, perhaps causing sleep difficulties. Prolonged screen exposure and little sleep lead to headaches. Moreover, prolonged sitting and gaming might increase the likelihood of several health issues, including cardiovascular illnesses, diabetes, obesity, colon cancer, hypertension, osteoporosis, lipid problems, depression, and anxiety.

Overcoming a video game addiction, as with any other kind of addiction or dependency, may be challenging. However, with an appropriate technique, it is certainly feasible to abandon this behavior.

What are the Methods to Cease Game Addiction?

Video game addiction evidently adversely affects an individual's academic performance, employment prospects, social interactions, and overall health. Individuals who suspect an underlying condition, such as depression or ADHD, contributes to their addiction are likely to want professional assistance from a therapist to treat their symptoms. Many individuals struggling with video game addiction might benefit from establishing limits around their technology use.

If you are engaging in video gaming for many hours daily, resulting in neglect of your other obligations, consider how to equilibrate your gaming pastime with your duties. You may be able to allocate an hour or two for gaming at the end of the day, after completing your other tasks. Uninstalling mobile gaming applications from your device might facilitate the attainment of this objective, and relocating your gaming setup from your bedroom would likely be a prudent decision. Propose other activities if your friends want to engage in video games during your gathering.

How to Prevent Kids from Game Addiction

Utilizing a game blocker to restrict computer games is a coercive method to prevent youngsters from gaming. Not all games are detrimental to children. Certain age-appropriate games may enhance problem-solving abilities, hand-eye coordination, and other skills. You may let your children engage in games judiciously and use the following strategies to avoid gaming addiction.

Encourage the kid to participate in other activities rather than playing games. For instance, writing, sports, climbing, etc. Your youngster could discover a more engaging activity that they like rather than being fixated on gaming.

Engage in games with your kids. This procedure will inform you about the game's safety for your kid and the appropriateness of the time spent playing it.

Engage in conversation with the child. Discuss your apprehensions with your youngster on the detrimental impacts of gaming addiction and emphasize the need to achieve a good balance between gaming and life.

What are the Examples of Dangerous Games?

Below are numerous notorious and hazardous games for children that should be promptly prohibited, and you may click on each individually to review the specifics.

• Blue Whale: The Blue Whale, associated with a conventional online social media organization, is a self-destructive game. This game presents several obstacles to youngsters, including self-harm, aggression towards others, and suicidal behavior, among others.

  Numerous adolescents worldwide have taken their own lives as a result of this game. What is the reason? The makers of the Blue Whale game use peer pressure on young children and adolescents to provoke them into self-harm. Nonetheless, it is also favored by children who like its stimulus and novel experience.

• Choking Game: The Choking Game is a multiplayer activity in which two participants asphyxiate one another. This action interrupts the continuous delivery of oxygen to the brain, which is vital for survival.

  As a consequence, the player who is strangled loses consciousness, has momentary disorientation, and may ultimately succumb to death. It is somewhat perilous, is it not? However, it remains popular since several children are fond of such unconventional tasks.

• Mariam's Game: This online game features a fictitious female character who solicits players' assistance in navigating her way out of the wilderness and returning home.

  The alarming auditory and visual consequences might adversely impact children's mental well-being. The game may jeopardize players' privacy by soliciting personal information. This game provides players with a unique experience, which is why many children like it.

• Fire Fairy: Fire Fairy is a perilous internet hoax game that instructs youngsters to do hazardous acts, such as activating the gas at midnight, with the false promise of transforming into fire fairies by dawn. Numerous youngsters have sustained fatal injuries while doing chores assigned by this game. Nevertheless, it continues to possess a compelling allure for several children who are enamored with imagination.

• Roblox: Roblox is an online gaming platform enabling users to construct virtual environments and engage in online gaming. Individuals of all age demographics worldwide engage in this game and may communicate with one another, which is rather appealing, is it not? The temperature is really high.

  Nonetheless, your youngster may see sexually explicit messages or endure cyberbullying while engaging with this game, which poses significant risks.

• Fortnite: Fortnite is a widely acclaimed multiplayer game known for its competitive dynamics and furious warfare. The illustrated violence and shooting mechanics, together with the online multiplayer component, may result in diversions and possible exposure to improper behaviors, making it a game often prohibited in educational institutions and home environments.

• Grand Theft Auto V: Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) is a contentious game recognized for its adult themes, violence, and illegal conduct. The game’s open-world environment allows players to engage in overt violence, such as carjacking, armed robbery, and profane language, making it a clear candidate for school block lists.

• Subway Surfers: Subway Surfers, while seeming innocuous initially, is an infinite runner game in which players navigate obstacles and elude law enforcement while vandalizing trains with spray paint. The game's emphasis on vandalism and the possible normalization of illicit behaviors make it inappropriate for a school or home network setting.

Blocking Games with Zenarmor

Game blocking may be implemented across your whole network with Zenarmor. This enables any internet-enabled device on your network to benefit from gaming prevention when connected to it. Based on your requirements, you may have the capability to block specific gaming sites or all online gaming platforms with Zenarmor. After installing Zenarmor on your BSD-based or Linux-based gateway and completing the initial configuration, you may quickly enable the games blocking feature on all Zenarmor editions, including Free.

By following the next steps, you may easily enable adblocking on your network using Zenarmor.

1. Navigate to the Policies page on your Zenarmor node.

2. Click on the policy name, such as Default, that you want to configure. This will open the policy configuration window at the right side of the page.

3. Navigate to the App Controls tab.

4. Type gaming in the search box.

   Figure 1. Seaching Gaming App Category

5. You may click on the Gaming toggle bar to block the entire application category.

   Figure 2. Blocking entire gaming application category

6. You have the option to restrict a specific game application rather than the entire application category. To restrict access to a specific game, such as Grand Theft Auto, click on the Gaming category. This will display all available gaming applications. Find out the game that you want to block by scrolling down the app list. Click on the toggle bar next to the app. You may block as many gaming app as you want.

   Figure 3. Blocking individual gaming application

7. Navigate to the Web Controls tab.

8. Click on the Category Based Controls.

   Figure 4. Category Based Web Controls

9. Select High Control web profile to block advertisements on your network. This will block all websites categorized as Games.

   Figure 5. Selecting High Control Web Profile

   tip

   Zenarmor paid subscribers can select Custom web profile and block as many web categories as they need, like gaming, gambling, adult, and violence.

10. Click Apply Changes to activate settings.

Testing and Viewing Blocked Gaming Traffic

Advanced reporting capabilities of Zenarmor allow you to view network traffic sessions in real time via Live Sessions Explorer. For testing purposes, you may try to run some online gaming applications or visit gaming sites. You should see the block notification page similar to the one below.

Figure 6. Block notification page

Then, follow the next steps to view blocked games traffic.

1. Navigate to the Live Sessions page on your Zenarmor node.

2. Click on the Blocks tab to see blocked session details. You should see sessions that have Block Signature with Games, or Gaming.

   Figure 7. Viewing Blocks Live Sessions

3. You may apply the filter by the Blocked Signature field. To apply a filter, find Games, or Gaming in the Blocked Signature column and click on them. This will display a popup menu.

4. Click on the Filter option. This will automatically apply the filter to the Live Sessions Explorer.

   Figure 8. Blocked Games/Gaming Sessions

5. Click on the magnifying glass icon to view the session details.

   Figure 9. Blocked Games Session Details

Hands-on Video

Here is a video for blocking games using Zenarmor.