Nov 17, 2025 19:00:00

Malicious dark patterns that intentionally induce gaming addiction, such as 'you're at a disadvantage if you don't play every day' and 'instilling a sense of camaraderie'

Some smartphone games use malicious systems to force users to pay. DarkPattern.games is a website that compiles information about dark patterns in smartphone games.

DarkPattern.games » Healthy Gaming « Avoid Addictive Dark Patterns

https://www.darkpattern.games/

DarkPattern.games is a website that evaluates iOS and Android games based on the amount of dark patterns they contain, categorizing games with fewer dark patterns as 'Healthy Games' and games with more dark patterns as 'Dark Games.'

'Dark Games' includes '

Memento Mori ,' which is currently running a major promotional campaign in Japan, and 'Final Fantasy XV: War for Eos, ' a Final Fantasy XV-related game that ended service in October 2024.

If you check

the details page for Final Fantasy XV: War for Eos, you'll see a long list of dark patterns, such as 'you're forced to play according to the game's schedule instead of your own,' 'you're at a disadvantage if you don't play every day,' and 'the game gives you an advantage depending on how much you pay.'

Of the dark patterns defined by DarkPattern.games, the 16 main dark patterns are as follows:

Dark patterns related to time
Playing by Appointment: You are forced to play according to the game's schedule rather than your own.
Daily Rewards: Daily rewards encourage you to play every day and penalize you if you don't.
Grinding: Having to repeat tedious tasks to stay in the game
Advertisements: Reward users for watching ads and force them to watch ads

Dark patterns related to billing
Pay to Skip: Pay to skip the waiting time
Premium Currency: Obfuscate the true price of an item by purchasing in-game currency
Pay to Win: You can buy advantageous items by paying
Artificial Scarcity: Running limited-time discount events or limited-quantity sales that create unnecessary urgency

◆ Social Dark Patterns
Social Pyramid Scheme: A pyramid scheme that rewards users for inviting friends
Social Obligation / Guilds: Guilds and clans force players to play even when they don't want to, so as not to inconvenience their teammates.
Friend Spam / Impersonation: Obtaining a user's contact information and sending messages to their real-life contacts
Reciprocity: Introduce resource sharing and item exchange mechanisms to encourage players to feel a sense of obligation to repay favors and purchase valuable items.

Psychological dark patterns
Invested / Endowed Value: Instilling in the player the mindset that 'it would be a waste to quit the game after spending so much money on it'
Badges / Endowed Progress: Encourage players to quit the game by awarding achievement badges
Complete the Collection: Introduce a collection element to stimulate the desire to complete the game
Illusion of Control: Hiding or falsifying information to make players feel superior

DarkPattern.games points out that while dark patterns like the ones mentioned above bring benefits to game developers, they only bring disadvantages to users.