All five checklists, in printable form
Every checklist from the course, gathered here so you can print the lot on paper and work through them away from the screen.
Tally — five checklists
Five marks, one per step. Mark them on the printed sheet — this page stores nothing and will look exactly the same next time you open it.
How to use these
Each checklist belongs to a step and assumes you have read it. On their own the lines are terse by design: they are a record of decisions, not an explanation of them. If a line does not make sense, the step it came from explains it in full.
The checkboxes are printed outlines, not controls. Nothing on this site remembers what you have ticked, because nothing on this site stores anything at all — no cookies, no saved progress, no account. The practical consequence is that paper works better than the screen here, which is why the print button exists.
Work them in order the first time. The order matters more than it looks: Checklist 2 can end the exercise before you have created an account, and Checklist 5 is much easier to answer honestly before the game has shown you something you want to buy. After the first pass, use them individually — Checklist 2 is useful again whenever you consider a different game, and Checklist 5 is worth re-reading every few months whether or not anything has changed.
Three lines are worth doing even if you do nothing else: confirm the game's offer covers your operating system, use an email address you can actually reach, and agree the money rule before installing rather than after. Those three prevent most of the awkward outcomes this course was written about.
A printed copy is also the easiest way to involve someone else. If you are setting a game up for another person in the household, handing them Checklist 5 is a shorter conversation than explaining currencies from scratch, and it leaves a written record of what you both agreed.
Finally: not every line will apply to you. A single-person household can ignore the shared-computer lines; a reader with no younger players can ignore those. Cross out what does not apply rather than leaving it to nag at you.
Checklist 1 — Understanding the model
From Step 1.
- I have found the publisher's own site for the game, not a third-party page about it.
- I have searched that site for the word "purchase" and read the sentences around it.
- I can name which of the four models the game uses: cosmetic, convenience, content, randomised — or more than one.
- I have checked whether the words "crate", "container", "case" or "chance" appear anywhere, and noted it if they do.
- I have written one sentence describing how this game expects to earn money.
- I know whether the game requires an account and an email confirmation before play.
- I have noted which operating systems the offer covers, and whether mine is one of them.
- I have not installed anything or created an account yet.
Checklist 2 — Hardware and connection
From Step 2.
- I know which operating system and version my computer runs, and whether it is 64-bit.
- I have confirmed that the game's offer covers my operating system.
- I have written down my graphics hardware by model name, and whether it is dedicated or integrated.
- I have written down how much memory is installed, in gigabytes.
- I have written down my processor as it is named in the About panel.
- I have checked free space on the drive where programs install, with headroom for a year of updates.
- I have read the requirements on the publisher's current page rather than a copy of it.
- I have decided whether my machine is below minimum, between minimum and recommended, or at or above recommended.
- I know whether this computer connects to the router by cable or wirelessly.
- I have chosen a quiet time of day to judge the first session.
Checklist 3 — Terms, privacy and the account
From Step 3.
- I have found all four documents from the publisher's own footer: terms, privacy, refunds, conduct.
- I have written down the company's name and the country it is established in.
- I have searched the terms for "terminate", "inactive" and "licence" and read those paragraphs.
- I know whether in-game items are described as owned or licensed.
- I have searched the privacy policy for "third party" and "transfer" and know whether information goes overseas.
- I have read the refund or purchase policy and saved the contact route it gives.
- I have noted the last-updated date on each document.
- I have checked whether the game installs anti-cheat software and what the publisher says it does.
- I am using an email address I can reach today and a password used nowhere else.
- I checked the sender of the confirmation message before opening its link.
- I made a deliberate choice about promotional email during sign-up.
- I have bookmarked the ACCC and OAIC pages in case I need them later.
Checklist 4 — The first session
From Step 4.
- I chose a quiet time of day for the first session.
- I obtained the game only from the publisher's own site or a store it points to.
- I let the installation and the first update finish before starting.
- I checked that my graphics driver is current.
- I set the resolution to match my monitor.
- I started at the quality preset that matches my Step 2 conclusion.
- I set audio and any voice chat option before joining other players.
- I reviewed who can message me and see my profile.
- I played twenty to thirty minutes without changing settings.
- I wrote one sentence describing how it ran.
- I matched any problem to one of the three families: hardware limit, connection, software conflict.
- I have bought nothing yet.
Checklist 5 — Money, classification and the household
From Step 5.
- I know which of the game's currencies are earned and which are bought.
- I have converted at least one in-game price into Australian dollars, including the bundle remainder.
- I have checked whether the thing I want can be earned by playing instead.
- I know whether any purchase I am considering is one-off or recurring, and what it costs per year.
- I can describe a randomised purchase in plain words: fixed price, chance-based contents.
- I have checked whether the game discloses the odds for any randomised purchase.
- I have looked the title up on the Australian Classification Board database.
- If a younger player uses this computer, I have checked the classification and the consumer advice, and separated the payment method from the account.
- I have reviewed who can contact a younger player in-game, using the eSafety Commissioner's guidance.
- My household has agreed two rules, written down before anybody wanted anything.
- I know where the receipt for any purchase goes and which refund route applies.
- I have bookmarked the ACCC and Scamwatch pages in case a purchase goes wrong.