Casinos and online gambling sites have begun to recognize the potential to use video games as a new source of revenue. With more and more skill-based games b. Play Free Video Poker Games (No Sign-Up) Play video poker at Casino.org with no sign-up, no registration and no download. If you’re new to the game, read on for guidance on how to play as well as.
Video games and gambling utilise very similar techniques to ‘hook’ a player to the game. Particularly casual games played on mobile devices feature clear links to gambling. Many other free games advertise online or simulated gambling.
Educate yourself and your children about gambling to avoid problem issues later.
Do you work with children and young people?
Get these resources to help you deal with gaming issues:
- 16 worksheets/tools/factsheets covering assessments, working with families and behaviour change.
- The Parent’s Workbook for Dealing with Gaming Issues at Home to give to the families you work with.
- All 14 tools/factsheets in the Parenting Pack to give as resources to the families you work with.
- All 14 information factsheets in the Info Pack
- A license to use all the above resources with all families you work with directly.
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More research
Video Game Playing and Gambling in Adolescents: Common Risk Factors, Richard T. A. Wood, Rina Gupta, Jeffrey L Derevensky, Mark Griffiths
A taxonomy of gambling and casino games via social media and online technologies, Sally M. Gainsbury, Nerilee Hing, Paul H. Delfabbro, Daniel L King
An investigation of social gaming among land-based and internet gamblers: A comparison of socio-demographic characteristics, gambling and co-morbidities, Sally M. Gainsbury, Alex Russell, Nerilee Hing
Simulated gambling games
Simulated games are those games that offer practice gambling. No money is wagered or won. The player plays with points or virtual coins, not money. Because of this inability to win real money, this simulated gambling is not classified as real gambling. Some popular games are: Slotomania, Zynga Poker, Doubledown Casino.
These apps are readily available to children via Facebook or the app store. We know that the younger one gambles, the more likely it is they will end up with a problem behaviour. As yet, no research has been done to find out if the same is valid for simulated gambling.
Practising gambling through these apps makes it look fun, harmless and a normal part of everyday life. And because the odds are set by the developers (in contrast with the physical poker machines) you’re very likely to win and have a great experience playing these games. As such kids get exposed to gambling at very early ages and indoctrinated that it is fun and harmless.
Currently apps are not rated by an independent ratings board (unlike films and big video games) making it very difficult for parents to identify whether apps feature gambling or not.
Fish Video Game - Gambling
In-Game Gambling
It is quite common for video games to include gambling as part of their game. This you as a player can engage in games like poker or blackjack. (e.g. The Sims, Grand Theft Auto,…) In other games it may take the form of a poker machine giving the player the ability to win extra items or coins. Sometimes poker machines are built in the actual game so the player needs to play the pokies to progress further into the game.
Having unmoderated in-game gambling in video games introduces it to children and young people at a very young age. This will desensitise your children and make them believe it is harmless and fun!
Advertising
Free to play games on mobile devices need to make revenue somehow. One of the ways developers can monetise their work is through advertising. Because video games are largely unsupervised and unregulated the gambling industry has seen it as an opportunity to advertise in games. Many free games that are not generating big profits will feature advertising. The only way to know what the game is advertising to your child is to actually supervise your child whilst playing.
In-app purchases
The other very successful way of monetising mobile games is to trick people to pay for an in-app purchase to progress in the game or get an advantage over another player. This is famously done by in-app purchases. The video game developers design their game using certain well known techniques that hook the player to the game:
- Random Reward Schedules
- Illusion of skill
- Audio and visual tricks
- Immediate and easy to play with no complicated rules or strategy
- Social, competitive nature
These techniques keep the player in ‘the zone’ making it hard to pull away from the game. The game then suddenly prevents you from playing by introducing a level that seems unachievable, or a time limit. The only way to keep playing is to buy an in app purchase. This is an option many players take. Games like Candy Crush or Clash of Clans make approximately 1 million dollar every day through in app purchases.
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According to a 2018 report by Digital Australia, 97% of Australian households with children have at least one device for playing video games. More than 60% of households have five or more devices.
Since the early 2000s, the boom in mobile technology has seen the spread of video games from desktop PCs to the pockets of young people everywhere. But with that spread has come new hazards, in the form of online social gambling.
Read more: 'Loot boxes' and pay-to-win features in digital games look a lot like gambling
Gambling games are mostly rated ‘PG’ or ‘G’
Gambling via mobile devices or mobile games has remained largely unregulated in Australia. In a 2012 study of more than 100 video games featuring gambling simulations, 69 of them were rated PG (8+) and 33 of them were rated G (for a general audience) by the Australian regulator.
In other words, no gambling games received any age restrictions.
The Australian Classification Board, the body charged with rating games, consistently underrates games that feature gambling, despite the potential risk they pose to children.
Part of the explanation comes down to the way games are classified. In Australia, video games classifications are based on six criteria: themes, violence, sex, language, drug use and nudity.
Read more: Social casino games can help – or harm – problem gamblers
Gambling comes under the first broad category of “themes” and is generally classified according to the presence of gambling, gambling references or gambling themes.
Game developers use the classification system to their advantage by skirting the edges of what is considered an acceptable “presence of gambling”. Gambling video games tend to fall into three broad categories in this regard: actual online casinos, social gambling games (which can use real money, but can also be played for free) and games that use gambling techniques.
The latter type, including games such as Candy Crush, use techniques similar to a slot machine, but do not actually look like a casino. The other types often explicitly look like a casino. Regardless, they still receive a G rating.
Risks for children
When children and teenagers play simulated gambling games (featuring either real money or fake money), they are more likely to grow up and gamble with real money. One study found that almost 30% of adolescents who played simulated poker went on to play real poker with real money later in life.
Some companies claim that games can have gambling techniques, with no risk to children, so long as there is no real money involved. However, even if gambling games are ostensibly “free” to play, they pose a risk to young people by making them more susceptible to gambling mechanics, psychological tricks and addiction.
To put it simply, when a young person reaches age 18 and finally enters a casino having previously played social gambling games, they will be more susceptible to real gambling and psychological addiction, because they will be primed for it.
Gaming classifications are out of step
The low classification of gambling games in Australia is out of line with the broader laws on gambling.
In all states, there are strict laws on who can enter a casino and who can gamble, with every state imposing age restrictions roughly correlating with adulthood. If these general laws were imposed on gambling games, they would receive a classification of R (18+) – the highest possible rating – rather than G (for a general audience).
Since 2013, Australia has had an R (18+) category for games. At the time of its introduction, it was argued that the adult rating would empower the classification agency, and stop kids from having access to games that could potentially harm them. It would appear that that has not occurred with regards to gambling games.
Despite recent statements by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation that some video game mechanics can “constitute gambling”, not much has changed regarding the law in Victoria or any other state. Victorian officials state that they can do very little when a gaming company or product is based overseas.
However, it is unclear why the regulator, the Australian Classification Board, cannot put higher ratings on gambling games sold in Australia, in Australian stores or on Australian websites.
The benefits of gaming
Video games do not have to be addictive or feature gambling mechanics to be fun or to make money. Many of the most successful video games today feature no gambling mechanics at all. Some are actually good for you because they help develop creativity, keep an active brain or teach new skills.
Read more: The business of addiction: how the video gaming industry is evolving to be like the casino industry
The rise of gamification, or the use of games for serious purposes, has led to a variety of games that assist educators, the government and private companies in creating interactive learning experiences.
Video Game Gambling App
It is unfortunate that some video gaming companies continue to develop gambling and anti-social video games, when the power of video games as a positive medium for change is just starting to develop.
Without further action by the regulator, it is up to the states to determine whether online gambling video games should remain out of line with the general laws concerning gambling and age restrictions in Australia.