Gambling / Loot Boxes
Spending real money to play a game of chance for a reward.
Some games contain forms of gambling. This is when you can spend real money to play a game of chance with the hope for a reward that is worth more than the money you put in. Gambling is a form of addiction, so this is a very powerful way to get people hooked on a game. In fact, it's so powerful that some governments around the world are putting laws in place to limit how much games can do this.
A Loot Box is a very common form of gambling that is found in modern games. Players purchase Loot Boxes using money or premium currency and when they open the box they get a random chance at getting an item. Valuable items are less likely to appear than regular items, and the number and quality of the items can be variable. Randomizing the rewards gives players an incentive to keep trying until they get the prize they want.
There are several psychological tricks that game developers can employ to make the gambling more powerful. The "Gambler's Fallacy" is a tendency for players to think that past events can affect the future probability of an event occurring. For example, if you have opened 10 Loot Boxes without success, you may mistakenly believe that the 11th Loot Box has a higher chance of breaking your dry spell and having something valuable inside of it. In reality, the odds are always the same and game developers may disguise this fact or suggest otherwise.
Another trick that is sometimes used is the "Hot-Hand Fallacy". This is the mistaken belief that a streak of luck will continue, when in fact the odds never change. The game may emphasize your successes and deemphasize your failures to make you feel like you are luckier than normal. This plays into a natural Optimism Bias that most people have.
Some people are also susceptible to Apophenia, which is tendency to see patterns or relationships between unrelated things. For example, suppose a game allows you to purchase multiple Loot Boxes at once. Someone may mistakenly notice that they get better rewards when they purchase Loot Boxes in multiples of three. Maybe this held true for a few times, but in reality the odds are always the same.
A Loot Box is a very common form of gambling that is found in modern games. Players purchase Loot Boxes using money or premium currency and when they open the box they get a random chance at getting an item. Valuable items are less likely to appear than regular items, and the number and quality of the items can be variable. Randomizing the rewards gives players an incentive to keep trying until they get the prize they want.
There are several psychological tricks that game developers can employ to make the gambling more powerful. The "Gambler's Fallacy" is a tendency for players to think that past events can affect the future probability of an event occurring. For example, if you have opened 10 Loot Boxes without success, you may mistakenly believe that the 11th Loot Box has a higher chance of breaking your dry spell and having something valuable inside of it. In reality, the odds are always the same and game developers may disguise this fact or suggest otherwise.
Another trick that is sometimes used is the "Hot-Hand Fallacy". This is the mistaken belief that a streak of luck will continue, when in fact the odds never change. The game may emphasize your successes and deemphasize your failures to make you feel like you are luckier than normal. This plays into a natural Optimism Bias that most people have.
Some people are also susceptible to Apophenia, which is tendency to see patterns or relationships between unrelated things. For example, suppose a game allows you to purchase multiple Loot Boxes at once. Someone may mistakenly notice that they get better rewards when they purchase Loot Boxes in multiples of three. Maybe this held true for a few times, but in reality the odds are always the same.
Citations and Sources • Effective Game Mechanics: The Secrets Behind Addictive Gameplays
• The Psychology Behind Why Loot Boxes Are Like Gambling Is Getting Clearer
• Gacha game
• The Psychology Behind Why Loot Boxes Are Like Gambling Is Getting Clearer
• Gacha game
Examples
Monster Legends"There are monster summons that were introduced with the update that added Ancestor rarity monsters in the game. Monster summons are required to acquire these monsters much stronger than the other rarity monsters, and the items obtained are randomized, so there's no guarantee that you'll get the Ancestor monster you want. The monster acquired from an egg from breeding monsters is also randomized."
Assoluto Racing"Gacha system has extremely terrible odds when it comes to getting a single car at all. And the rewards that you get for spending 250-500 gold coins sometimes doesn't justify the price, given it requires a premium currency to even have a chance at winning a car. And the resale value of duplicate cars that you've owned are horrendously low."
Dead by Daylight Mobile"This is a "gacha" game. The player pays a large amount of currency or money to have a chance at having the desired item chosen at random."
King's Choice"While the rewards are always displayed accurately, some in-game items provide random other items, making for an indirect loot box. The Alchemy daily packs are the only ones I saw that have any randomness inherent to the purchase, since they give a range of stones."
Single City: Life Metaverse"tickets/shakers during events for random rewards"
WWE Champions 2019"Random loot pulls"
War Robots Multiplayer Battles"there's multiple lootbox systems you also have to grind for them"
The Walking Dead: Survivors"Constant rotation of events where you buy tokens to get random rewards"
Life Makeover"The whole game is based on gambling for clothes in a gacha system"
Purrfect Tale"I think there was an event where you could spend actual money to spin to see if you got something- I haven't spent money on this game though so idk exactly how it works"