Devious Games

Feeling some shame about what went down between me, my credit card, and candy crush saga this weekend.

— Roxane Gay (@rgay) August 26, 2013

The Financial Post has an interesting interview with Ramin Shokrizade about the deviousness of games like Candy Crush, which he says convinces otherwise rational people to pay money for “advantages” that they normally wouldn’t pay for if “their more rational sides” were in charge.

Anecdotal evidence of otherwise rational people spending irrational amounts of money for game advantages is one reason that I’ve avoided Candy Crush, but I have to admit that I’ve been playing Plants vs. Zombies 2, and though I haven’t spent any money in the game so far, I’ve thought about it. [See also.]

Support The Billfold

The Billfold continues to exist thanks to support from our readers. Help us continue to do our work by making a monthly pledge on Patreon or a one-time-only contribution through PayPal.