Raising Hungry Shark age rating: what parents of kids 4–7 should know
Hungry Shark age rating: the ESRB rates Hungry Shark World T (teen, 13 and up) for violence and blood and gore on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One; Nintendo's store lists the Switch version as T. On phones, Apple's App Store rates Hungry Shark Evolution and Hungry Shark World 13+, and Google Play lists both as Teen for violence and blood. The phone games are free, show ads, and sell gems and coins up to $49.99. Common Sense Media, an independent nonprofit, lists Evolution for ages 8 and up and World for ages 14 and up.
Hungry Shark at a glance
- ✓Official rating above age 7
ESRB: T; App Store 13+; Google Play Teen - –Contact with other players or strangers
No chat listed (App Store); Switch: 1 player - ✓Purchases with real money
App Store: gems and coins $1.99–$49.99 - –Paid random items
No random items listed (App Store, Play) - ✓Violence or scary content in rating descriptors
ESRB: Violence, Blood and Gore; Play: Blood - –Government lawsuits, fines, or safety warnings
None found
Each flag is a yes-or-no fact from the sources on this page. The number is a count of flags, not a safety score. How we count.
| Type | Ubisoft shark games: Evolution (2012) and World (2016); eat sea life and swimmers to grow source |
|---|---|
| US & Canada (ESRB) | T (teen, 13 and up) — Violence, Blood and Gore (Hungry Shark World on PS4, Xbox One); Nintendo's store lists the Switch version T source |
| App Store (iOS) | 13+ (ages 13 and up) — Evolution: violence, weapons, crude humor; World: frequent cartoon violence; ads source |
| Google Play | Teen (ages 13 and up) — Violence, Blood; In-Game Purchases (both games) source |
| Common Sense Media | 8+ for Hungry Shark Evolution; 14+ for Hungry Shark World — swimmers bleed |
Checked October 2026. Ratings and settings change; check the official source before you decide. What do these ratings mean?
Facts for parents, not medical or legal advice. If you're worried about your child, talk to your pediatrician.
What is Hungry Shark?
Short answer: A series of arcade games in which you steer a shark that must keep eating fish, sea creatures, and people to grow and survive.
Future Games of London made it; Ubisoft later acquired the studio. Hungry Shark Evolution came out on phones in October 2012 and Hungry Shark World in May 2016. A console edition of World came out in 2018, without in-game purchases, according to Wikipedia; it costs $9.99 on the Switch.
Hungry Shark age rating: what's in it
Short answer: Rated for ages 13 and up by the ESRB, Apple, and Google Play.
- ESRB: T for Hungry Shark World, Violence, Blood and Gore.
- App Store: 13+. Evolution lists frequent guns or other weapons and infrequent cartoon or fantasy violence, realistic violence, and crude humor. World lists frequent cartoon or fantasy violence.
- Google Play: Teen, Violence, Blood.
- Common Sense Media: 8+ for Evolution, where eating divers spills blood; 14+ for World, where "sea creatures and human swimmers bleed" and tourists are the highest-value targets.
Ads and purchases
Both phone games are free and show ads. Hungry Shark Evolution sells gems from $1.99 to $49.99 and coins from $1.99 to $9.99; Hungry Shark World sells gems, gold, and bonus packs from $4.99 to $19.99. Neither store lists items with random contents or chat, and the Switch version is single player. We found no government action naming Hungry Shark or Ubisoft over these games.
The habit kids may copy: never full
Common Sense Media notes that to stay alive, the shark must keep moving and constantly eat.
Try tonight: the full tummy check
At dinner, stop halfway and put a hand on the tummy together. Ask: "Is my tummy hungry, a little full, or full?" In our program, this is the lesson "Enough": noticing what's already here.
Why you can trust this page: the main facts link to their sources, a separate reviewer checks each page before it goes live, and the date shows when we last checked. How we review · Report an error
FAQ
What age is Hungry Shark for?
The ESRB rates Hungry Shark World T (teen), the App Store rates the phone games 13+, and Google Play lists them as Teen.
Is there blood in Hungry Shark?
Yes. The ESRB lists Blood and Gore for Hungry Shark World, Google Play lists Blood for both games, and Common Sense Media says swimmers bleed.
Does Hungry Shark Evolution have in-app purchases?
Yes. The App Store lists gems from $1.99 to $49.99 and coins from $1.99 to $9.99, and the game shows ads.
Is Hungry Shark World on Nintendo Switch?
Yes. It came out on Switch in July 2018 for $9.99, rated T on Nintendo's store, for one player.
More from “Is it good for kids?”
Gratitude Activities for Kids: Noticing, Not Saying Thank You
Gratitude activities for kids ages 4–7 that work: the Stoic 'imagine it's gone' game, a drawing journal instead of a written one, and asking who, not what.
Read next →Raising Stoics is a 12-week program for ages 5–6, built on Stoic philosophy and developmental psychology. One lesson is "Enough": noticing what's already here.