You'll probably have people argue with you, but you are SPOT on.
The funny thing that is even more sad to me is that my nephews have parental controls on all their devices to not spend on IAPs... So I see them staring like zombies at countdown clocks and stuff. It may be MORE sad to see a kid just waiting that stuff out. Staring at NOTHING.
I used to play all kinds of games on my iPhone, but I don't bother looking for new games anymore. It's just a wasteland.
Yeah, Im with you on that. I actually spent more on the App store when there were full good quality games. Now I rarely visit the App store. I've played a couple of the freemium games, but at this point I am morally opposed to them and I don't want to contribute to downloads, thus boosting the ranking of the game in the app store.
You can actually go through and identify the different psychological tricks they do in the games. I'll use clash of clans as an example...
1. In psychology, researchers have learned that providing rewards at even distribution intervals of time decreases desire to want to continue seeking the rewards. The trick is to provide a reward at a random time in order to not be able to determine when the next reward will be given. Thus in clash of clans, they have the Gems being rewarded from trees, bushes, and the occasional gem chest. They randomly appear and when you tap on them you are rewarded with a "Ding" noise similar to winning a casino slot machine. You also get a little animation type flash on the screen if you are looking at the bush, tree, or chest box when it pops the gems out. This leads me to #2.
2. The first couple hours of playing a freemium game, you are being programmed to link reward with visual and auditory stimulation... think Pavlov's dog. The game starts out giving you free gems, a pretty decent amount if I remember correctly like 300-500. The game then walks you through the "tutorial" where you are shown "programmed" how to spend gems for speeding up actions/acquiring items in the game. Each time you are shown "programmed" in the tutorial, there is an auditory and visual stimulation so that your brain links those sounds and animations with the reward of progressing in the game. Additionally, the game provides reinforcement through the use of bushes, trees, and gem chests that give you the auditory and visual stimulus each time reinforcing the idea of using gems for rewards.
3. As the game progresses, it continues to get harder to get the reward. You were originally programmed to expect the reward quickly in the first couple levels of the game. Then as you gain levels, it takes longer and longer. This is how they get you to spend real money on the game. You spend money to get the reward to be back to being quick like it originally was.
4. Connected to #2, the game offers free gems to get started. Casinos do the same thing. If you have ever been to a casino, they usually give money for "free play" when you first sign up for an account. They also randomly send you mail with coupons for "free play". The idea of providing free gems at the beginning of the game comes from this same thought process of getting you to partake in the activities.
5. Lastly, the game provides a multiplayer aspect giving you a sense of community. When you go to a casino, ever notice how the seats are next to each other at the slot machines or how you always see people playing at table games like craps with big groups of people and very rarely is there anyone ever playing on their own at a craps table or other table games. There is a psychological aspect of gambling in which a sense of community is created. You are doing it with other people and they are practically friends even though they are complete strangers and could care less about you. Creating a sense of community draws people in to play "freemium" games because it makes you feel more attached to the game. You have to go back and get on often so that you can support your friends in the game.
Each of those previously mentioned points is straight out of psychology research. Gambling addiction is real and it affects a lot of people. It isn't because someone is prone to becoming addicted, but because researchers have identified how our brains work and how we react from rewards. When we allow our children to play freemium games, we are essentially letting them sit down at a slot machine or letting them gamble at a craps table. The effect that this could have on their brains and personalities is still unknown because research on gambling psychology hasn't been conducted on children yet as far as I know.
