Dark patterns: fair or manipulative?

Five minutes in a game shop

Remy downloads a popular free game to study its shop. Within five minutes: a "Deal ends in 10:00!" timer that starts again on every visit, a button saying "No thanks, I hate free stuff", and a gem pack that leaves 37 gems spare after the one item Remy wanted.

Each one is a dark pattern: a design that pushes people into choices they would not make if they saw clearly. Designer Harry Brignull started collecting examples online in 2010, and regulators study them now too.

Classic dark patterns

Some of them show up all over the web, not just in games:

• Fake urgencyA countdown or "only 3 left!" that isn't real. The timer restarts, or the stock never runs out.
• ConfirmshamingThe "no" button is worded to make you feel guilty or silly, like "No thanks, I like losing".
• Hidden costsExtra fees, or the real total, only appear at the last step, after you have already decided.
• Hard to cancelSigning up takes one tap. Cancelling takes a maze of screens, phone calls and "are you sure?" offers.

Dark patterns in game shops

• Currency that hides the pricePrices only in gems, or two currencies with swaps in between, so nobody can tell what anything costs in real money.
• Packs that never matchItems cost 750 gems, but packs come in 500 or 1,000. Leftover gems nudge players to buy again (the in-game purchases lesson does the maths).
• Pay to skip annoyancesThe game adds long waits or runs out of energy on purpose, then sells the cure. The annoyance is the product.
• NaggingThe same offer pops up again and again, after every wave, until the player gives in.

Regulators are watching

• EU guidance, 2025EU consumer authorities said in-game items should show their real-money price, and currency should not be sold only in packs that don't match item prices. Children need extra care.
• Amazon, US, 2025A US$2.5 billion settlement with the FTC (the US consumer protection agency) over signing people up to Prime without clear consent and making it hard to cancel. Not a game, but the same tricks.

Rules differ between countries and keep changing, so we rely only on what regulators have actually said, and check the latest with a parent.

Loot boxes: is it gambling?

• What it isA loot box is a paid mystery prize: you pay first, then find out what you got.
• Belgium, 2018The Belgian Gaming Commission concluded that paid loot boxes in several big games were games of chance under Belgian gambling law, which requires a licence. Some publishers changed their games there.
• Netherlands, 2022The highest Dutch administrative court ruled that FIFA's player packs were not gambling under Dutch law, overturning a penalty. Same idea, different answer.
• US, 2025Genshin Impact's maker agreed to pay US$20 million to settle FTC charges, including misleading players about loot box odds and costs, and to stop selling loot boxes to under-16s without a parent's consent.
• Store rulesApple and Google Play require games to show the odds of each loot box prize before purchase.

Our fairness checklist

• Real pricesEvery price in real money too, and gem packs that match what items cost.
• Real deadlines onlyA timer only if the deal truly ends then, and never one that restarts.
• A polite noThe "no" button is as easy to find, and as kindly worded, as the "yes" button.
• An easy way outCancelling or switching something off is as easy as switching it on.
• No paid loot boxesOur games sell clear items for clear prices, never random prizes for money.

One last test for every screen: would we be happy to explain this design, out loud, to a parent? If not, it goes.

Spot them as a player too

These tricks work on adults too, which is why knowing their names helps. When a game pushes you to buy, pause and ask:

• What is the real price in money?
• Is this timer real, or will the deal come back?
• Can I say no as easily as yes?
• Would I still want it tomorrow?

And talk to a parent before buying anything.

Bolt says: Next lesson: how donations pay, where players choose to pay and nothing is locked at all.