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.


Examples

War and Order War and Order
"Daily quests"

Fishdom Fishdom
"you lose your reward streak if you dont log in everyday - if you miss a day you go back to the beginning and you get less good rewards"

Play Together Play Together
"Occasionally they have a daily reward calendar."

Dragon RPG: Dragon Village M Dragon RPG: Dragon Village M
"Daily sign in"

Punishing: Gray Raven Punishing: Gray Raven
"Monthly pass and dailies"

SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI D×2 SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI D×2
"log in bonuses and daily rewards, daily quests"

I Love Hue 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."

SortPuz: 3D Color Water Sort Puzzle SortPuz: 3D Color Water Sort Puzzle
"There are daily rewards as well as smaller rewards for spending time in the app. IE, after an hour you can collect a small boost item."

The Sims™ FreePlay The Sims™ FreePlay
"there is a daily reward system, as well as a reward streak system."

Figure Fantasy Figure Fantasy
"Most of events rewards received by mssgs will be missed if not collected after server reset, also you should never allow fishbones,noble plumz (Feathers), caps from 3 VS. 3 fight ub to reach farming limit before collecting."