Project type
Fictional game UX
design case study2 weeks
Clash Royale Parental Controls
I designed a Clash Royale-style time limit and parental control flow that protects playtime without breaking the feeling of the game.
My role
UX research, game UI design, feature strategy, flow design, Figma prototyping
Time limit
Day / week / month
Parent lock
Passcode protected
Game UX
Role
UX / UI designer
Duration
2 weeks
Project overview
Responsible play, without losing the game feel.
This was a self-initiated fictional case study created to learn game UX. I used Clash Royale as the product context and explored how time-limit controls could fit inside a high-energy mobile game without feeling like a generic settings feature.
Concept
Time limit and parental control entry points.
The tension
Players may want to manage their own playtime, while parents may want more confidence around a child's Clash Royale usage. The challenge was to add control without turning the game into a punishment experience or interrupting the core play loop too aggressively.
Player and parent needs
Player
Keep the experience fun, optional, and easy to understand.
Parent
Set limits, protect changes, and avoid bedtime conflict.
Research signal
Two users, one shared control problem.
What research shaped
- The feature needed to stay optional because play and enjoyment are still the primary goals of a game.
- Parents needed passcode protection so children could not quietly change the time limit.
- A battle should not start if the remaining time is less than the expected match duration.
- Existing screen-time tools showed useful patterns for activity summaries, daily limits, app schedules, notifications, and parental control access.
Feature model
Control, but still in the language of Clash Royale.
01 Menu02 Time limit03 Passcode04 Set controls05 Alert
Activity summary
Help players and parents see time spent inside the game.
Screen schedule
Let users set optional day/week/month play limits.
Parental lock
Protect changes behind a passcode-controlled flow.
Battle guardrail
Block battle start when the remaining time is too low.
Design system adaptation
The UI had to feel native, not pasted on.
- Followed Clash Royale-style typography, color, buttons, pop-ups, icons, overlays, and navigation.
- Created missing UI components in Figma because suitable game UI components were not available online.
- Kept the timer and parental-control surfaces visually tied to the game's existing panels and modal language.
Screens
Menu, timer, passcode, setup, alert, and modal states.
Task design
A route from menu discovery to time-limit configuration.
Prototype testing
- Tested the Figma prototype with two daily players.
- Checked whether users could start a battle with only one to two minutes remaining.
- Checked whether users relied on external software for time-limit control.
- Adjusted the battle-start rule: if less than five minutes remain, the player receives a time-is-up pop-up and must modify the setting before starting a battle.
Outcome
- A cohesive fictional game UI feature that feels closer to Clash Royale than a generic parental-control overlay.
- A clear feature set covering activity summary, screen-time scheduling, notifications, parental controls, alerts, and battle-entry restrictions.
- A research-backed design exploration that helped me practice game UX, visual adaptation, and feature logic.
Reflection
Even control features need game feel.
The main lesson was that game UX has to protect the play loop. Even responsible-use controls need to feel native to the game's tone, timing, and visual system, otherwise they feel like an external interruption.