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Death to the self-playing game. www.jank.cool/death-to-the...

when i learned the lead developer of vampire survivors started it while working as a dev for online gambling it completely changed my outlook on this emerging genre. turning players into the addicted cattle feeding money into casino machines

To be fair to poncle, they did price it to be very cheap, there has been a lot of free updates and any DLC has also been cheap. From what I understand, the creator wanted to recreate the rush of gambling without ruining anyone's life. AAA publishers on the other hand...

oh i didnt mean it as like an attack on their character or anything (they actually seem fairly good). just that the dark magic used in designing and creating the type of software that drains peoples entire financial savings has insidiously seeped into broader game design

Shame this observation has brought out all the ☝️🤓 folks with the 'um actually arcades...', 'um actually dark patterns...' I worked in a slots and casino studio for 10 yrs, I think you're right, games like vampire survivors and balatro lean into the same kinds of overt exploitation.

I get the sense that these games introduce kids to gambling using the same pattern exploitation without the 'risk', but I wouldn't be surprised if it kick starts some folks on the road to engaging with actual gambling. I suppose an equivalent is alcopops introducing kids to drinking.

It's lower risk, 'safer', a watered down verison of the 'adult' thing, it won't affect the majority of people, but the alocholics are gonna find out sooner than later - and not even to focus on kids. This specific kind of psychological addiction affects 10% of people, adults are just as exploitable.