This question is about Steam, not Steam Gifts. I have no intention of using my nephew's account here, or of directing him here.

I want to give my nephew (who's turning 11) Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4, because he's a Harry Potter fan. He doesn't have a Steam account yet. My rough plan is to create a Steam account for him, with his mother's email as the parent/guardian contact, and activate the key I already have in his new account. I'll install Steam, and then the game, and then log him out of Steam. He wouldn't get access to the Steam marketplace/community until he's older.

Has anyone done anything similar? Does anyone have warnings or other advice?

1 year ago

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You can absolutely no problem have an account for him, but he needs steam to be able to run the game.

1 year ago
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Right, but I can put a shortcut on his desktop. Steam will run in the background.

1 year ago
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1 year ago
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This is the way to go, thanks.

The real Underdog would have made it rhyme. Heh.

1 year ago
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This is the way to go, amigo!

1 year ago
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1 year ago
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Well, he wouldn't be able to use the steam marketplace without funds anyway. I feel like he would be able to access it anyway if he wanted by just making a new account.

  • if that would bother you then why not discuss about that with him? 🤔

You could family share the game from your account to his, but you would be forced to quit the games you play when he plays and the other way around.

1 year ago
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He's 11, and there's lots of content on Steam he shouldn't see.

Family sharing is a good suggestion, but I already Family Share with my brother-in-law. I don't think Family Share lets me differentiate which titles are shared with whom.

Also, it doesn't feel like not much of a birthday gift if he's just borrowing something.

1 year ago*
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I feel that a 11 year old if he has a phone, he already has access to things much worse than Steam.

Still, family view could be recommended

1 year ago
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Not if the parents know what they are doing. My uncle is tech savvy, so my 10 year old cousin doesn't have access to anything accept what he's allowed access.

Sounds like OPs relatives care about that.

1 year ago
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I agree, I mean there is a lot of stuff he shouldn't see in a lot of media: movies, series, youtube, etc.

1 year ago
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just fyi, that´s not the case. Marketplace access is bound to 2FA - iirc you can´t buy or sell anything without it.

1 year ago
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So he would need either an email or a phone, that's not a big deal.

1 year ago
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GOG copy can work. Its drm free so there is no need to run client and currently its on sale with 75% off.

1 year ago*
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That's a great suggestion. I already have a Steam key, though.

1 year ago
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he do that suggestion, to ignore all the "free" sexual and gore games on steam.
he will just play that game, no other.

even if he doesn't have found on steam, there are lots of sexual contest on steam. not recommended for a 11 years old kid

1 year ago
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Yes, waaaay too much sexual content, and those developers often don't tag their games properly.

With Family View, we can turn off access to the Steam Store.

1 year ago
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It's perfectly fine. You won't get in trouble for making another account or anything. I have a child cousin and I created an extra account just so he could family share some lego games from me during lockdown, under supervision from my uncle.

1 year ago
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Cool. Thanks for sharing your experience.

1 year ago
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I've read that you're already using family share feature in your account so:

You can create 2 steam accounts

First account, buy the hp games
Second account, connect it to family share so your nephew won't be able to access marketplace/store in general (and you, setting up the family share can control what they can access. For example, library only

So you can build up your nephew's library in the first account while using the second account. If your he/she is in the "right" age already you can give him the first account with complete access to everything

1 year ago
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