I’m currently working on a game and considering adding needles as part of the design. However, I’m unsure whether they are allowed under Roblox’s content guidelines, how they should look, and whether they might impact the game’s age rating.
Some key points I’d like to discuss:
Are needles allowed in Roblox games?
Do they fall under any restricted content policies?
Are there any existing examples of games using them?
Visual Design Considerations
Should needles be stylized or abstract to fit within appropriate content guidelines?
Would a realistic look be considered too sensitive for younger audiences?
Impact on Age Ratings
Would including needles cause the game to be rated 9+ or 13+?
Would their intended use (e.g., medical vs. weaponized) affect this rating?
If anyone has experience with this or has seen how other games have handled it, I’d love to hear your thoughts! I want to make sure my game stays within Roblox’s policies while keeping things immersive and engaging.
here are 2 images of my model containing a syringe gun used to disinfect zombies and self-healing:
The rule here mentions “pharmaceutical products” and their “associated paraphernalia” but this word “paraphernalia” typically refers to the illegal or improper use of pharmaceuticals and associated items (like syringes) rather than their legitimate use in a medical or hospital context.
In a medical or hospital environment, such as in numerous hospital roleplay games where pharmaceutical products and medical equipment (like syringes) are used appropriately for health-related purposes (e.g., administering vaccines, insulin, or other treatments), these would generally not be considered “regulated goods” in a harmful or prohibited sense. This is because, again, the key difference lies in the context of use.
TLDR; Syringes are allowed and does not affect your age rating at all unless you specifically mention that they contain some kind of illegal or regulated drug.
Thanks for sharing this helpful information! I have a few more questions related to this topic.
In my game, there’s a concept of a “black market”, though not in the real-world sense. Within the game’s lore, certain items are considered “illegal”, but they are entirely fictional and don’t exist in real life.
For example:
A syringe that turns players into zombies.
A drug that temporarily increases movement speed.
Toxic gases that, when inhaled, cause an effect similar to what’s typically associated with consuming certain substances (e.g., disorientation or visual distortions), but these gases are purely fictional and not labeled as real-world substances.
Given Roblox’s content guidelines, do you think these elements would be allowed? Would they impact the game’s age rating, or should they be adjusted to fit within appropriate policies?
First thing that comes to mind when talking about drugs that temporarily increase movement speed on roblox are those ‘vitamins’ in Doors. Probably would become a problem if they were called ‘pills’ instead lol.
It’s stupid, but you might have to be careful with certain working or depiction of it :x
There’s plenty of games with ‘smoke’ that damages the player or blurs their vision.
Perhaps if this inhaling effect isn’t as visual and comparative to someone taking a whiff, but rather something like an astronaut suffocating (<- this word might already be sus) because of a lack of oxygen in a space game.
I think I’ve seen syringes or devices alike that affect a player? Again might be the way it’s visualised and named that play the biggest part. So eh… avoiding direct naming and making it appear different from real-life design or function?
Maybe a devide like this you’d inject (sus word?) in your ‘body’ that makes you purple is innocent
Dunno, it’s always a bit of a dodgy gamble at times, considering some games or ‘experiences’ are far more harmful in other ways or clearly violate a rule, or certain models are still available in the toolbox to then get you moderated
So eh… Flonkify (or anyone else for that matter) may know better, but I’d advise to avoid direct naming and direct relation.
As long as nothing that you have listed above is illegal and in your opinion can’t reference to anything that wouldn’t be allowed to do than it should be allowed.
Roblox’s community guidelines primarily focus on ensuring that content on the platform does not encourage or glorify real-world illegal activities.
If I had a purely fictional rule in my game where eating strawberries were illegal then that clearly wouldn’t violate any community guidelines because that wouldn’t encourage or glorify real-world illegal activities.
As @milanomaster mentioned, the naming terminology used would likely cause your game to be moderated. Avoid using terms such as “black market”, “illegal”, “drug” and “pill” because they can be easy trigger words for moderation.
This is completely fine if you have some purveyor in a shop called “Steve’s Shack” selling vitamins .
This is fine as discussed before in my previous post. However, you can pretty easily depict that in a violent manner, like if you kidnap the player and forcefully inject them with a syringe, because I doubt anyone willingly wants to be turned into a zombie unless they themselves administer the syringe on themselves. Then again, since you have zombies in your game and knowing how zombie games usually work you’ll pretty likely get the Minimal or Mild violence rating on your game either way, not just from depicting syringe violence alone.
Will be okay if you use a different terminology. Do not call it a “drug”.
As long as the toxic gases are purely fictional and not labelled or suggested as any real-world substance, it should be fine. The effect you’re describing, such as disorientation or visual distortions, is common in many games and doesn’t inherently promote harmful real-world behaviour. The key is making sure the game is clearly fictional and avoids any real-world implications.
If it’s just a toxic gas leak from a pipe or from a smoke grenade and you get blurred vision from it then of course that’s fine.
This doesn’t seem to be that bad, as long as it’s explained what it is and what it does, and isn’t a bad drug. You could just make it a bit larger and thicker so it’s not a thin needle to be safe.
replies to this topic will be helpful for me, too. im working on a model for a machine in my game that stabs needles into the player’s head, but they aren’t actually injecting anything.
