What is the age rating of BitLife?
BitLife is rated for adults. The App Store shows 18+ for BitLife today. Qustodio, a parental control company, reports that Google Play labels the game Mature 17+. The two stores give a different number, and both numbers say the same thing: the game is not for children.
Candywriter, the studio of BitLife, also sets a limit in its terms. Qustodio quotes the terms: “our Services are not directed, or intended for children under the age of 16.”
We opened the sources for this post on October 10, 2026. We say which fact comes from which page. You read this on the LifeSim blog. LifeSim has its own rules for age, and we do not speak for it here.
Why is BitLife rated 18+?
The App Store page lists the reasons for the rating. Apple splits them into themes that appear often and themes that appear sometimes.
What appears frequently
- Mature or suggestive themes.
What appears infrequently
- Fantasy violence.
- Crude humor or profanity.
- Alcohol, tobacco, or drug references.
- Simulated gambling.
- Sexual content or nudity.
The page also says that the app contains advertising.
BitLife is a text game. The App Store page does not claim graphic scenes. The rating covers the events that the text describes and the choices that the player can make.
What do the events in BitLife contain?
Qustodio reads the game as a parent. It says that the game describes itself as a way to “simulate adult life.” It says that themes such as sexual activity and alcohol use appear as the character ages. It adds that players can choose criminal activity.
Qustodio calls the game “inappropriate for very young children, and most teenagers.” That is the view of one company. It is not a rating. We quote it because it shows the reason that parents give.
The choices are the problem, not the pictures
A child does not see a picture of a crime in BitLife. A child reads a short line and then taps a choice. The choice is the problem. The game lets the player decide whether the character steals, drinks, or cheats. The game then shows the result in text.
The content depends on the paid features
Qustodio says that the Bitizenship upgrade unlocks mature features, such as joining a prison gang or hiring a hitman. The App Store lists Bitizenship as an in-app purchase. So the free game and the paid game do not show the same options.
Are the ads in BitLife safe for kids?
Not always. The ads are a second source of risk, apart from the game text. Qustodio says that the ads run often and that the player cannot skip them. It says that most ads promote similar life simulation apps. Those apps may have more mature content than BitLife.
The App Store page lists a Remove Ads purchase. It is one of several purchases on the page. Bitizenship also removes ads, according to Qustodio. We did not buy either one, so we did not check what an ad-free game looks like.
What a parent can do about the ads
- Turn off the permission to install apps without the approval of a parent.
- Check the list of new apps on the phone each week.
- Block the app, if the child is young.
Qustodio gives similar advice. For young children, it says to block the app. For older teens, it suggests a parental control tool that shows new downloads and a limit on the time of play.
Can a child spend money in BitLife?
Yes, if the phone allows it. BitLife is free to download. The App Store page lists many in-app purchases. They include Bitizenship, God Mode, a combined pack, Boss Mode, and three expansion packs: Landlord, Investor, and C.U.L.T. They also include Time Machine Use and Remove Ads.
Qustodio says that the offers are frequent and hard to dismiss. It warns that a child may buy something by mistake. The prices on the page range from under one dollar to about twenty dollars. Prices change, so we do not list each one. Check the store page before you buy.
How to stop purchases by mistake
We did not check the settings of each phone system. Read the help page of your phone maker. Look for a setting that asks a parent to approve each purchase.
On which devices does the rating apply?
The App Store page lists BitLife for the iPhone, the iPod touch, and the iPad. It requires iOS or iPadOS 15.0 or later. The page also lists a Mac version, which needs macOS 14.0 or later and an Apple M1 chip or later. It lists an Apple Vision version too.
The 18+ rating and the list of reasons are on the one App Store page. So the same rating covers each device on that page. We did not open the page of the Android version. Qustodio reports the 17+ label for it.
What the version number tells you
The page lists version 3.25.1. The release notes describe bug fixes and routine maintenance. The page shows September 21 without a year. So we do not state the date of the last patch. The rating does not change with a patch unless Apple changes it, and we found no sign of that.
What is the right age to play BitLife?
The ratings answer this question. The App Store says 18+. Google Play says 17+, as Qustodio reports. The studio says that the game is not meant for children under 16. So a player of 18 or older meets every rating.
For a player between 16 and 17, the stores and the studio do not agree. The decision belongs to the parent. A parent can play one life first and read the events.
A short check before you allow the game
- Play one life yourself. Choose the options that a teenager would choose.
- Look at the in-app purchases on the store page.
- Set the approval of purchases on the phone.
- Agree on a limit for the time of play.
Are there other games like BitLife?
Some games use the same idea in a different setting. Candywriter lists two pet games, DogLife and CatLife. We list them in games like BitLife. We did not check the age rating of each pet game, so look at the store page.
LifeSim is a different kind of game. You talk to people in a real city, and they answer in their own words. That does not make it safe for any age. We do not claim a rating for it in this post. Read the rules of the game before a child plays. For a full comparison, read LifeSim vs BitLife.
If you wish to know the cost of BitLife, read is BitLife free? If you play on a computer, read BitLife on PC.
Questions
Is BitLife 17+ or 18+?
The App Store page shows 18+. Qustodio reports a Mature 17+ label on Google Play. The store decides the number that you see.
Is BitLife safe for a 12-year-old?
The stores and the studio say no. The age limit in the terms is 16. Qustodio recommends that parents block the app for young children.
Does BitLife show nudity?
The App Store lists sexual content or nudity as an infrequent theme. The game is text. We did not find a claim of graphic pictures on the pages that we opened.
Does BitLife collect data from children?
We did not verify this. The Google Play data safety page did not load for us. Read it on the store page before you decide.
What did we not verify?
We did not play a new life for this post. The Google Play age label comes from Qustodio, not from the store page. We did not check the rating of the pet games.