Definition: A gaming dark pattern is something that is deliberately added to a game to cause an unwanted negative experience for the player with a positive outcome for the game developer.
Learned about it from another lemmy user! it’s a newer website, so not every game has a rating, but it’s already super helpful and I intend to add ratings as I can!
While as an adult I think it’ll probably be helpful to find games that are just games and not trying to bait whales, I feel like it’s even more helpful for parents.
Making sure the game your kids want to play is free of traps like accidental purchases and starting chain emails with invites I think makes it worth its weight in gold.
EDIT: Some folks seem to be concerned with some specific items that it looks for, but I’ve been thinking of it like this:
1 mechanic is a thread, multiple together form a pattern. It’s why they’ll still have a high score even if they have a handful of the items listed.
Like random loot from a boss can be real fun! But when it’s combined with time gates, pay to skip, grinding, and loot boxes… we all know exactly what it is trying to accomplish. They don’t want you to actually redo the dungeon 100 times. They want you to buy 100 loot boxes.
Guilds where you screw over your friends if you don’t play for a couple days because your guild can’t compete and earn the rewards they want if even a single player isn’t playing every single day? Yeah, we know what it’s about. But guilds where it’s all very chill and optional? Completely fine.
Games that throw in secret bots without telling you to make you think you’re good at the game combined with a leader board and infinite treadmill, so you sit there playing the game not wanting to give up your “top spot”? I see you stupid IO games.
But also, information is power to the consumer.
Thanks for the advice. I’m honestly trying to wrap my head around the appeal or what it does for her. The app is called Gold and Goblins, and it’s an idle game. I’ve never understood idle games as a genre but I want to try to come from an understanding place. I’m a PC gamer myself (factorio currently) and I’m used to paying once for a game and being able to play forever.
I mean I have my own problems as well, my addictions are caffeine and nicotine. So I’m definitely not a saint. But it’s hard to talk to her about it when she pulls the whataboutism on my vices. I get it, my stuff is wasted money as well. I just don’t really see it as the same thing, Noone is compelling me with a time limited event or something to get me to smoke more.
Edit: I’m also actively quitting both my vices, while hers are getting worse. I just worry so much about how it’s affecting her and her mental health.
Do you have a “vices” budget? Maybe that’s one approach. You both get $100 or whatever and she blows hers on mobile games, while you’re cutting back and have money for other things.
This is a good idea to keep everyone accountable
I’ve played Gold and Goblins, it’s a typical idle skinner box; these companies hire the same people casinos do, to design their games to be addictive. It is a gambling addiction, same as if it were actual slot machines
Obviously I don’t know what your finances are like, but is it possible she’s just enjoying herself and considers it a hobby? Comparing it to other games, $100/month can seem ridiculous, but comparing it to other hobbies, it might not be that bad.
I used to be unwilling to spend any amount on a mobile game until I thought about how much I used to spend playing Magic: the Gathering. Sometimes hobbies cost money.
I have multiple hobbies and or vices that each cost about that much per month…so
Oof yeah I sometimes get drawn into idle games. It’s weird to be pulled into those, because just the constant feeling of accomplishing something short circuits my brain, combined with “Oh I should check in on my game once a day, or I’m not accomplishing things”. Usually once I stop playing for a few days I go “oh, why did I care?” But it feels real bad in the mean time.