Step 2 of 5
Step 2 — Ratings, age guidance and whether your computer can run it
Two checks belong together before anyone installs anything: whether the game suits the people who will play it, and whether it will run on the machine you own. Both are answerable in about twenty minutes, from public sources, without downloading anything.
What an Australian classification is
A classification is a decision about a specific piece of content, made under Australia's classification scheme and published by the Australian Classification Board. For computer games the decision produces two things: a classification marking, and a short line of consumer advice describing the content that led to it.
The Board publishes a searchable database of titles it has classified. Searching for the exact name of the game is the reliable way to find its Australian classification — more reliable than the rating shown in an overseas store page, which may come from a different country's scheme and mean something different.
This course deliberately does not print any game's rating or any age number. Those come from the Board, they are specific to a version of a title, and they can be changed. Look the title up yourself; that habit is worth more than any figure this page could give you.
If the game is not in the database
Some online games distributed only over the internet may not appear under the name you expect, or may appear in a different form. If you cannot find a title, treat the absence as missing information rather than as a verdict, and fall back on the game's own content description and on the general guidance published by the eSafety Commissioner.
The consumer advice matters more than the letters
The marking is a summary. The consumer advice beneath it is the useful part, because it names the content: the kind of violence, whether there is in-game purchasing, whether players can interact with each other online. Two games carrying the same marking can differ enormously in what sits behind it, and only the advice line tells you which is which.
Read the advice as a list of things that will be present, then ask a plainer question about each one: is this something the person playing is ready for, and is it something I want in the room? That question has no general answer, which is the point of the next section.
What a rating does not cover
A classification describes the content the publisher ships. It cannot describe what other players will say to you, which in an online game is a large part of the experience. Voice chat, text chat, squad names and friend requests are all live, unscripted and made by strangers.
Treat that as a separate decision with its own controls, covered in Step 4. The eSafety Commissioner publishes general guidance for parents and for adults on online gaming and on dealing with harmful behaviour, and it is the right place to read more rather than anything this course could compress into a paragraph.
A rating also says nothing about the shop. A game can carry a mild marking and still sell randomised items; the advice line may note in-game purchases, but it will not tell you how insistent they are. That is Step 5.
Deciding for your household rather than in general
Three questions settle most of this, and they are about your household rather than about games as a category.
- Who will actually play? If the answer includes someone under 18, the classification and the chat settings both become part of the decision rather than background information.
- Where is the computer? A machine in a shared room makes it easy for an adult to notice how a session is going. A machine behind a closed door does not. Neither is wrong; they call for different amounts of conversation up front.
- What has been agreed? How long a session runs, whether voice chat with strangers is allowed, and what may be spent. Agreeing these before installation is far easier than renegotiating them afterwards.
Write the answers down. Step 4 and Step 5 both ask you to turn them into settings, and settings are easier to choose when the decision has already been made in words.
Reading system requirements
Every game in this category publishes system requirements, usually as two columns. Minimum means the game is expected to start and run, generally at low settings and a low frame rate. Recommended means the publisher expects a comfortable experience. Neither is a promise, and both are written by the publisher.
| Line | What it is | What it affects |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows, macOS or Linux, usually with a version number. | Whether the game will install at all. This one is pass or fail. |
| Processor (CPU) | The general-purpose chip in the computer. | How well the game copes with many players and vehicles at once. |
| Memory (RAM) | Working memory, in gigabytes. | Stuttering and long pauses when a map loads, if there is too little. |
| Graphics (GPU) | The chip that draws the picture, either separate or built into the processor. | Frame rate and image quality more than anything else. |
| Storage | Free disk space, in gigabytes. | Whether it installs, and whether updates later fit. |
| Network | A broadband connection. | Whether matches feel responsive, and how long the first download takes. |
A sensible rule: if your computer is below the minimum on any line, expect the game not to work properly, and do not buy anything in it on the hope that it will. If you are between minimum and recommended, expect it to run with the picture quality turned down. Graphics settings are the dial you turn when performance disappoints, and turning them down costs nothing.
Finding out what is in your computer
In general terms, on any desktop computer
- Open your operating system's system information screen. On Windows this is the About page in Settings; on macOS it is About This Mac in the Apple menu; on most Linux desktops it is an About or Details panel in the settings application.
- Write down the operating system name and version, the processor name as it is shown, and the amount of installed memory.
- Find the graphics chip. It may be on the same screen, or in a display or hardware panel. Copy the name exactly, including the number.
- Open your file manager and note the free space on the drive where programs are installed.
- Compare each line against the game's published requirements, in the order given in the table above.
If a name on your screen does not appear in the game's list, that is normal — lists name examples, not every model. The practical test is the generation and class of the part, and a search for your part's name alongside the game's name will usually settle it. Where you cannot tell, treat the result as unknown rather than as a yes.
Download size, updates and your connection
Games in this category are large. The first download is commonly tens of gigabytes, and updates arrive regularly, sometimes weekly, at a few gigabytes each. Two consequences matter in Australia.
First, if your internet plan has a data allowance, or if you connect over a mobile network, the download is a real cost that nobody mentions on the sign-up page. Check the allowance before the download rather than after it. Second, the download takes as long as it takes; a slow connection can mean an evening of waiting, and starting it before dinner is more sensible than starting it at bedtime.
Responsiveness during a match depends on the distance to the servers as well as on your connection speed. Many publishers run servers in or near Australia; some do not, and the difference is noticeable. If the game names its server regions, look for one near you.
The example household at this step
Hypothetical example
The invented household looks up the title in the Board's database, reads the consumer advice rather than only the marking, and has the conversation about voice chat before anything is installed. They then check the shared desktop computer against the published requirements and find it sits between minimum and recommended, so they expect to lower the graphics settings. They also notice the download is larger than their remaining monthly data allowance, and decide to wait until the allowance resets. No judgement about the game follows from any of this; it is only their situation.
What the vendor of Enlisted states
The material for Enlisted lists desktop computers only — Windows, macOS and Linux. That means the registration described in Step 3 is intended to be completed on a desktop or laptop computer rather than on a phone, a tablet or a console. The vendor's site is where its system requirements, its server regions and its download size are stated; this course does not restate them, because the material we work from does not include them.
Visit the Enlisted website — opens in a new tab.
Paid affiliate link: LOKGROUP s.r.o. earns a commission on registrations made through it. It costs you nothing extra and nothing in this step depends on it.
Before you move on
Before you move on
You have looked up the Australian classification and read its consumer advice, you have decided who in the household will play and under what agreement, and you know whether the computer meets the published requirements. The next step is the sign-up itself: what it asks for, what it does not need, and the confirmation email that follows.
Checklist for Step 2
Work through this before Step 3
- Search the Australian Classification Board database for the exact title and note the classification and the consumer advice.
- Note separately whether the game has live voice or text chat with other players.
- Write down who will play, and whether anyone playing is under 18.
- Agree and write down the session length, the chat rules and the spending rule for the household.
- Record your operating system and its version.
- Record your processor, memory and graphics chip.
- Record the free disk space on the drive where programs are installed.
- Compare each line against the published minimum and recommended requirements, and mark any line you could not verify.
- Check the download size against your monthly data allowance.
- Check whether the game names a server region near Australia.