Mark D. Griffiths Child and Adolescent Social Gaming: What Are the Issues of Concern?

19 Education and Health Vol.32 No.1, 2014 Dr Mark D. Griffiths is Professor of Gambling Studies and Director of the International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Division, Nottingham Trent University. For communication, please email: [email protected] Mark D. Griffiths Child and adolescent social gaming: What are the issues of concern? ver the last year, there have been an In my own household, the two most popular Oincreasing number of media reports about games played by my family at the moment are the potentially exploitative and/or addictive the competitive casual games Candy Crush Saga nature of various types of social game that can and 4 Pics, 1 Word (both highly popular games either be played via social networking sites or across the UK more generally). In fact, at the be played after downloading apps from online time of writing this article, the most popular commercial enterprises such as iTunes (Griffiths, game being played worldwide on Facebook was 2013a). Most social games are easy to learn and Candy Crush Saga (CSS) with over 133 million communication between other players is often people playing monthly. Most players of CSS (but not always) a feature of the game, and they appear to be adult but around 10% of players typically have highly accessible user interfaces are thought to be adolescents. Clearly, most that can be played on a wide variety of different people that play social games find them fun and devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, PCs, laptops, enjoyable to play with little or no problem. etc.). According to Church-Sanders, (2011) there However, I have been receiving an increasing are eight different types of social gaming (see number of emails from parents, teachers, and Table 1), most of which can (and are) played by the press about some of the more negative children and adolescents. aspects of social gaming. Table 1: Social networking games by genre (from Parke et al., 2013, adapted from Church-Sanders, 2011) Genre Features Examples Use the social graph (a player’s Parking Wars, PackRat, Mobsters, Role playing games social connections) as part of the Fashion Wars, Mafia Wars, game Vampire Wars, Spymaster Main gameplay involves socializing YoVille, Pet Society, FarmVille, Management/nurturing games or social activities like trading or Cupcake Corner, CityVille growing Turn-based card, board and parlour Played within a social context or Farkel Pro, Monopoly games with friends Games which would otherwise be Virtual currency gambling Texas Hold’Em Poker, Bingo, Slots played in a gambling context Often word-based with friends only Words with Friends, Scramble, Competitive casual games leaderboards Scrabble Friends for Sale, Human Pets, Dating and Flirting Aim to meet (or dump) people Chump Dump Premier Football, Tennis Mafia, Sports games Based on real-life sporting activities FIFA Superstars Gimmicky games that tend to be Pillow Fight, Kickmania, Water Virtual jokes popular when initially launched Gun Fight then fade in popularity 20 Education and Health Vol.32 No.1, 2014 There are arguably three main concerns who ran up a £3,000 bill on the game Arcane relating to adolescent social gaming that have Empire on iTunes (Gradwell, 2013). As a been aired in the national media. Firstly, there consequence of these and other high profile are concerns about the way games companies cases, the UK Office of Fair Trading is now are making money from players by making investigating whether children and adolescents them pay for in-game assets, in-game currency, are being unduly pressured and/or encouraged and/or access to other levels within the game. to pay for in-game content (including the Secondly, there are concerns about how upgrading of their game membership and the engrossing the games can be that have led to buying of virtual currency) when they play free various news reports claiming that a small games. minority of people appear to be “addicted” to I have noted in a number of my more general them. Thirdly, there have been concerns that writings about games played via social some types of social games are a gateway to networking sites that ‘freemium’ games are other potentially problematic leisure activities – psychological ‘foot-in-the-door’ techniques (see most notably gambling. This latter issue was Griffiths, 2010a) that lead a small minority of covered in a previous issue of Education and people to pay for games and/or game Health (see Griffiths, 2013b). Therefore the rest accessories that they may never have originally of this article looks at these two remaining planned to buy before playing the game (akin to issues. ‘impulse buying’ in other commercial environments). I’ve also argued in a number of Exploitative practices in social gaming articles that many of the games played on social Almost anyone that has engaged in social network sites share similarities with gambling gaming will have played 'freemium' products. especially as they both involve in-game Freemium social games give free access to the spending of money (e.g., Griffiths, 2010b; game being played, but players must pay for so- 2013b). called 'premium' services. A recent review on Although social gaming operators need to be social gaming and gambling by Parke, Rigbye, more socially responsible in how they market Parke and Wardle (2013) defined ‘freemium’ their games and how they stimulate in-game games as: purchasing, parents themselves also need to “A business model in which users of the service take responsibility when letting their children (in this context, game) usually play for free but play social games or allowing them to are encouraged to pay: for extended game play; download gaming apps. Simple measures that to compete with others/status; to express can help stopping children unwittingly buy in- themselves; to give virtual gifts; and to obtain game items for real money include: virtual goods which are valuable due to their (i) not giving children access to online store scarcity” (p.16). passwords In games like CCS, players are not charged to (ii) personally overseeing any app that they advance through the first 35 levels but after download that, it costs 69p for another 20 levels. Players (iii) using parental controls on phones and can avoid paying money by asking their friends tablets on Facebook friends to send them extra lives. (iv) unlinking debit/credit card cards from Players on CCS are encouraged to buy 'boosters' online store accounts (i.e., do not store such as virtual 'candy hammers' for around £1. payment details with online stores) Although this does not appear to be much (v) actually talking with children themselves money, the buying of in-game assets and items about the buying of in-game extras can soon mount up. In 2013, many news outlets covered the story ‘Addiction’ to social gaming of how two boys (aged just six and eight years In my interviews to the national press and of age) spent £3200 on their father’s iPhone online media (e.g., Foster, 2013; Hall, 2013; buying virtual farm animals and virtual farm Pressmen, 2013; Rose, 2013) about what makes food with real money at £70 a time (Talbot, games like CCS attractive and potentially 2013). Another case involved a ten-year-old boy addictive, I have noted a number of different 21 Education and Health Vol.32 No.1, 2014 aspects. Games like CCS are gender-neutral only just beginning to research into the social games that have a ‘moreish’ quality (a bit like gaming area. eating chocolate), and as such may appeal more to girls than boys (although I know boys among Looking ahead my own children’s peer group that play CCS). In a previous article on social gaming I Social games like CCS and Farmville take up all argued that the introduction of in-game virtual the player’s cognitive ability because anyone goods and accessories (that people pay real playing on it has to totally concentrate on it. By money for) was a psychological masterstroke being totally absorbed, players can forget about (Griffiths, 2012). It becomes more akin to everything else while engaging in the activity. gambling, as social gamers know that they are These are some of the psychological spending money as they play with little or no consequences of other more mainstream financial return. The real difference between chemical addictions (e.g., alcoholism) and pure gambling games and some free-to-play behavioural addictions (e.g., gambling games is the fact that gambling games allow addiction). you to win your money back, adding an extra At their heart, social games are deceptively dimension that can potentially drive revenues simple and fun but can be highly rewarding on even further. many different levels (e.g., psychological, social, The psychosocial impact of social gaming on physiological, and financial). As I argued in a adolescents is only just beginning to be previous article (Griffiths, 2013), social games investigated by people in the field of gaming like CCS and Farmville may not seem to have studies. Empirically, we know almost nothing much connection to gambling, but the about the psychosocial impact of these games, psychology used by the games developers is although as I noted in my previous Education very similar. People cannot become addicted to and Health article (Griffiths, 2013b), research something unless they are being constantly suggests the playing of free games among rewarded for engaging in the activity. Like children and adolescents is one of the risk gambling and video game playing more factors for both the uptake of real gambling and generally, the playing of social games provides problem gambling. constant rewards (i.e., behavioural and Parke et al. (2013) recommended that stricter psychological reinforcement) that in a small age verification measures should be adopted for number of instances could result in a person social games particularly where children and becoming ‘addicted’ to the game they are adolescents are permitted to engage in playing.

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