Wait To Play
In-game timers that make you arbitrarily wait for something.
A common dark pattern seen in modern mobile games is the timer. Often, you have a certain amount of "energy" that you can use to play the game. When you run out of energy, you can no longer play until this energy replenishes itself. This happens naturally over time, but you may have the opportunity to Pay To Skip the timer and instantly replenish it. When these two patterns are combined, the player has the opportunity to spend an unlimited amount of money on the game just to keep playing through an artificially barrier.
Another common in-game timer is related to "harvesting" or "research". You may send your character off to harvest some resources, but you have to wait an arbitrary amount of time before this task is completed. This forces you to stop playing and wait for the timer to expire. Often there is a way to pay money or watch an advertisement to accelerate or skip the timer.
Games that prevent you from playing them whenever you want are trying to get you to space out your playing throughout the day. This is a much better way for you to develop a habit of playing the game, and also a way to prevent players from reaching the end of a short game or getting burnt out on a repetitive game in a relatively short amount of time.
However it's implemented, the game is creating a negative experience for the player (not being able to play) that results in a positive outcome for the game developer (payment for skipping timers).
Another common in-game timer is related to "harvesting" or "research". You may send your character off to harvest some resources, but you have to wait an arbitrary amount of time before this task is completed. This forces you to stop playing and wait for the timer to expire. Often there is a way to pay money or watch an advertisement to accelerate or skip the timer.
Games that prevent you from playing them whenever you want are trying to get you to space out your playing throughout the day. This is a much better way for you to develop a habit of playing the game, and also a way to prevent players from reaching the end of a short game or getting burnt out on a repetitive game in a relatively short amount of time.
However it's implemented, the game is creating a negative experience for the player (not being able to play) that results in a positive outcome for the game developer (payment for skipping timers).
Examples
Food Street - Restaurant Management & Food Game"Yep I've seen over 10 hour items"
Zombie Frontier 3: Sniper FPS"Weapon upgrade (the wait time is ranging from 2 minutes all the way up to 10 hours!)"
Fishdom"time limited lives for puzzle plays"
Cytus"(free version only)"
DRAGON BALL Z DOKKAN BATTLE"the game does have a stamina feature. when ever you level up in the it now fully refreshes and give over the limit if you can hold it all. a lot better than it was a couple of years ago."
Doodle God™"There is a timer for energy (mana) to refill"
Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales"You can complete the Portal task once a day, and then wait for the countdown to play again the next day."
MARVEL SNAP"In order to unlock new cards you need credits. In order to get credits you need to complete missions. You get two missions every 8 hours or have to refresh them for gold (which you can buy for money). You can play without completing missions but it will not count towards your collection level making it seem pointless."
MARVEL Contest of Champions"Energy limits"
Hero Wars - Men’s Choice Epic Fantasy RPG"yes, e.g. more energy to grind more"