Ask a child his favorite game, and there’s a pretty high chance the answer will be something like Minecraft, Fortnite, Among Us or Roblox.
If that’s the case, there’s also a pretty high chance he’s watched a video or two on the YouTube channel Ssundee.
Ssundee, run by Ian Marcus Stapleton, boasts 25 million subscribers, and it primarily focuses on near-daily uploads of those prominent games. In his videos, Stapleton and his many friends play through a variety of mods and challenges—and they have a blast doing it. And while Stapleton occasionally uploads reaction videos or dips his toes into other games, the four popular titles listed above are by far the channel’s most prominent adventures.
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Stapleton spends his time gaming with friends, and though some of them make more appearances than others, he seems to have no shortage of buddies with whom he can spend time. Their time together shows viewers how much more enjoyable games can be with friends and may encourage children to invite their own friends to game next time, too. And, on a similar note, the Ssundee channel also shows that fun doesn’t have to be inappropriate.
The channel’s videos primarily include content from Minecraft, Fortnite, Roblox and Among Us—and many of these videos are based around new mods that change the game in some way. The sheer number of videos based on these mods can teach kids that they can get a lot of enjoyment and mileage out of each individual game they own, rather than jumping from one to the next on a whim.
To Stapleton’s credit, whenever crude language comes up in his reaction videos, he censors it. And while the channel has a few potential concerns we’ll note below, it’s still clear that Stapleton’s charge is to keep content relatively family friendly. This may be due, in part, to Stapleton’s belief in Christianity, which, while we didn’t see it referenced in more than one video, may nevertheless influences him to keep his channel on the tame side.
Stapleton also reviews the occasional horror game, particularly those popular with younger audiences, including Poppy Playtime and Escape the Backrooms. These games, along with a few Among Us mods, contain some animated violence, blood and content that the youngest of kids may find scary. Others contain knives or guns. Parents also might not appreciate the quantity of fart jokes present in some videos.
In many Roblox videos, Stapleton spends money on the site’s in-game currency, Robux, to purchase advantages in his games or test a premium feature. Parents may have to worry about kids begging them to pay to provide the same benefits to them, too.
We heard the occasional use of “crap” or misuse of God’s name on the channel. Otherwise, the worst we heard were insults said playfully among friends, name-calling such as “idiot,” “turd licker” and “dinglebutt.”
Not all kid-centric channels are created equal; some contain far more content than others. Fortunately for parents, while Ssundee isn’t completely free from potential concerns, Stapleton does far better in this respect than many other gamers we’ve seen and reviewed on the platform.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
