Daily Rewards
Encourages return visits every day and punishes you for missing a day.
Daily Rewards are a very common dark pattern used in addictive games. Games that use this will give you a reward the first time you play the game each day. If you miss a day, you miss the reward. This in itself isn't much of a dark pattern, but sometimes you get better rewards for playing every day and maintaining a "streak". The more consistently you play, the better your daily rewards. If you miss a day, you "break the chain" and lose your bonus. Losing your streak can be bad for the player so there is a strong urge to check the game every day.
Sometimes there is an option to use Premium Currency to spend money to restore your broken streak. By combining these two dark patterns, games can get people to pay to avoid punishment. This is a negative experience for the player that directly benefits the game developer and is not generally related to the core gameplay. Combining two dark patterns like this often amplifies their power.
By encouraging consistent daily play, the game is trying to make you develop a habit of playing the game. If the game becomes a habit, it is harder to stop.
Sometimes there is an option to use Premium Currency to spend money to restore your broken streak. By combining these two dark patterns, games can get people to pay to avoid punishment. This is a negative experience for the player that directly benefits the game developer and is not generally related to the core gameplay. Combining two dark patterns like this often amplifies their power.
By encouraging consistent daily play, the game is trying to make you develop a habit of playing the game. If the game becomes a habit, it is harder to stop.
Citations and Sources • Effective Game Mechanics: The Secrets Behind Addictive Gameplays
• 5 Game Mechanics that Make Games Addicting
• 5 Game Mechanics that Make Games Addicting
Examples
Chuzzle 2"there's a daily level that gives you rewards when you complete it. there's also chuzzles that you have to check in on and feed every day in order to collect rewards from them, and you can collect coins from your finished achievements once a day"
Pikmin Bloom"you get 3 chances a day to attack mushrooms for rewards. there is also a radar that reveals items in an area and replenishes once a day"
Pokémon Café Mix"Daily stamps and using the Pelipper delivery (basically a gacha feature)."
Shadow Fight 3"self explanatory"
Hit The Island"You spin the wheel to earn stars"
SimCity BuildIt"Every day, you can collect simoleons by either going to the daily rewards on the “purchase” tab or collect simoleons on the city hall."
I Love Hue"You can earn 15 Prisms by visiting the app every day. You’ll get a notification when it’s time to collect."
Kawaii Home Design"There are daily rewards, daily goals and special goals during events."
Fancade"The game has a monetary system for buying upgrades to certain minigames or advancing to other levels or worlds of minigames. Every day, the game presents a specific minigame where a player can play to earn daily gems."
Travel Town"There are daily challenges where you can get rewards by meeting certain goals during the day"