Sheet S-00/05 · Course file SM-FTP-5
All checklists
Every list from the five steps, gathered here in order and laid out so that a single print run produces a usable sheet on white paper. Nothing on this page is stored; the boxes are printed shapes, not controls, and ticking one in your browser is not possible by design.
| Sheet | S-00 through S-05 |
|---|---|
| Items | 46 |
| Prints as | Black on white, no background, no links printed |
| Stores anything | No |
| Last reviewed | 12 October 2026 |
How to use these
The lists are written to be worked through at a keyboard, not read in an armchair. That is why they are here as well as at the end of each step: the step explains why an item matters, and the sheet is what you actually hold while you do it.
Work them in order. S-00 is the ten-minute version for somebody who is not going to read the course, and it is deliberately short. S-01 to S-05 follow the five steps, and each assumes the one before it has been done — there is no point checking a graphics driver before you know whether the title is published for your operating system at all.
Treat an item you cannot complete as a result rather than a failure. If S-02 tells you that the computer falls short on memory, the sheet has done its job: you have saved a large download and an evening. If S-04 ends with the household unable to agree a figure, that is also a result, and a better one than finding out later.
Several items ask you to write something down — four facts about the computer, an email address, a spending figure. A single index card holds all of it, and keeping it near the machine is worth more than any software. The exception is the passphrase: if you write that down, keep it somewhere you would keep a spare key, not taped to the monitor.
Nothing here has to be done in one sitting, and nothing expires. If you come back in six months, the only items worth repeating are the ones in S-02 about free disk space and your data allowance, because both of those change while you are not looking.
Finally, the obvious thing that checklists are bad at saying: none of this obliges you to install anything. Every item is a check, and a check you perform and then act on by walking away has worked exactly as intended. The course is written so that it remains useful to somebody who decides, at the end, that this kind of game is not for their household.
Checklist S-00 · Before anything else
- Write down which operating system your computer runs, and whether it is a desktop or a laptop.
- Decide which email address will own any game account, and confirm you can actually open that inbox.
- Check how much free space is on the drive you would install to.
- Check whether your internet connection is metered or has a data cap this month.
- Agree, out loud with anyone else in the household, what the spending limit is — including zero.
Checklist S-01 · Understanding the model
- I can explain what a client is and why a game can be installed but unplayable.
- I can say in one sentence where the money in a free-to-play game comes from.
- I have read the store or home page of the game I am curious about and identified which funding route it appears to use.
- I understand that a free game still asks for disk space, data, an email address and time.
- I know that the writing I find about free games is often written by people paid for registrations, this site included.
- I have written down one question I want Step 2 to answer about my own computer.
Checklist S-02 · Your equipment
- I know which operating system this computer runs, and whether it is 64-bit.
- I have written down the processor model exactly as the system reports it.
- I have written down the installed memory figure.
- I have written down the graphics hardware name.
- I know the free space on the drive I would install to, with headroom beyond the stated requirement.
- I have checked whether the title is published for my operating system at all.
- I have looked up my internet plan's data allowance for this month.
- My graphics driver comes from the hardware manufacturer or my distribution, and nowhere else.
- I have compared my four facts with the published minimum and recommended columns and formed an honest expectation.
Checklist S-03 · The account
- I have chosen which email address owns this account, and it is not a work or school address.
- I can open that inbox right now.
- My passphrase is several unrelated words and is not used on any other site.
- The passphrase is stored somewhere I can retrieve it — a password manager, or a written note kept safely.
- I reached the registration page by typing the address or following a link I trust, and I checked the address bar.
- I gave only the information marked as required, and I made a deliberate choice about the marketing tick box.
- The confirmation email arrived within minutes and its link pointed at the publisher's own domain.
- I have signed in successfully at least once.
- Multi-factor authentication is switched on if it is offered, and any recovery codes are stored.
- I have at least skimmed the publisher's privacy policy, including whether information goes overseas.
Checklist S-04 · Classification and money
- I have looked the title up at classification.gov.au and read the consumer advice as well as the category.
- I understand that other players' behaviour in an online game is not covered by a classification.
- A spending figure has been agreed with everyone who shares the budget, and written down.
- I know whether the game uses its own currency, and I can work out the Australian dollar price of a specific item.
- The household has decided its position on randomised purchases, and minors are not buying them.
- The payment arrangement is chosen deliberately: no saved card, a prepaid card, or an adult present.
- Receipts are being kept somewhere I could find them in six months.
- I know that consumer guarantees apply to digital products and where the ACCC explains them.
Checklist S-05 · Living with it
- I have been through display, sound, controls, chat, privacy and notification settings before playing properly.
- I know how to mute another player and how to report one.
- I know that nobody legitimate will ask me for my account details inside a game.
- I know where to report online harms (eSafety) and scams (Scamwatch) if I need to.
- I know the order to work through if the game runs badly, and that it does not mean my computer is faulty.
- I have found the launcher's update setting and decided whether updates download automatically.
- I know that uninstalling frees disk space but does not remove the account.
- I have a date in mind to ask the three questions about time, money and habit.