We pose UX questions to Go Boldly founder Ruwan, to gain an insight into how his brain works and what he thinks about important topics around videogames and experience design!

Hey Ruwan, what are dark patterns?

Ruwan:

Oh, I like this question!

Simply put, they are patterns & systems that unfairly advantage companies by manipulating and exploiting their customers. They do this by removing transparency or engineering habits that are favorable to the company at the cost of the user’s wellbeing.

you’ve probably heard the saying “follow the money”;

Well you don’t have to follow it too far to see dark patterns showing up to support it.
In games, we very clearly see dark patterns in these following examples:

Content gating & bundling.

This is where developers separate content that should be available at the time of purchase, into a more expensive package, purely to capitalize on the player’s eagerness to explore all the content a game offers or FOMO.

Day one bundles that include extra missions, perks or characters is a great example of already made content that is gated by price, to manipulate players into spending more at the point of purchase. These are elements that actually impact gameplay and content itself, and clearly benefit the company more than it does the customer.

Loot boxes & Gacha mechanics.

Loot boxes are another great example of dark patterns.
You can make smaller pools of content feel more desirable and harder to attain by adding chance and probability to what should be a straightforward select+buy interaction.

I’m sure you remember EA’s controversial statement that labeled loot boxes as “surprise mechanics” during a UK parliamentary hearing in 2019. To call it ethically tone deaf would not be an overstatement, as they compared them to Kinder Eggs and definitely not gambling!

Great for the company’s priorities, since it creates multiple purchase points instead of a single interaction! Even though it costs the player an unfair amount of confusion and resources in the process. It’s widely accepted now, that these practices are exploitative and predatory, due to how often they target children and prey on the desire to gain access to what should be readily available content.

Engineered discomfort.

It exists outside of games too, and it can appear deceptively benign.
Duolingo is the darling for manipulative marketing, though it seems to do a poor job of actually teaching anyone language.

in 2024 is gained a lot of attention for its viral (pun intended) use of a Sick app icon.
It’s repulsiveness was meant to create concern and confusion, leading to many users posting about how they want to revert it back to its normal state. Often these community posts outperformed the paid marketing efforts of the company itself.

The solution was always around actions that benefitted the company; log back in and engage, or monetize to join streak society. Often, maintaining streaks involved spending money to recover broken streaks or temporary freezes, that allowed players the grace of living their lives instead of constantly returning to the app.

While marketing folks love this (and dedicated fans) tactic, its still a scenario where the user’s needs are secondary to the company’s, pressuring users through discomfort or confusion to engage with the app versus adding value and giving them value for returning instead.

Slack too, obfuscates and hides the option to delete a workspace (for example), because it advantages them to keep your account and data. From finding the option to the language used to complete the operation, it’s clear who’s needs they value.

The sad truth is, dark patterns work;

Which is why they are so prevalent.

While their effectiveness is celebrated over high fives, they are still thinly veiled manipulations added to what ought to be transparent interactions.

With more and more players feeling jaded by the lack of transparency, empty promises and shady monetization practices of the past, the effects of eroding this trust is clearly seen in where players are choosing to spend their money.

In an attention based economy, TRUST is going to be your biggest advantage.

If players trust you to treat them fairly and provide transparent value for their time and attention, you already have a winning proposition.

How do you recognize a dark pattern?

Examine who it benefits.
Then ask if the exchanged benefit is equal or biased.
Depending on the severity of that bias (not every interaction can be 100% fair) you’ll have a decent chance of identifying a dark pattern in what you consume or design.

I am not a fan of dark patterns, because I deeply value fairness and trust, in the relationship we build with players. I believe this is the only way towards a healthy ecosystem that supports instead of predating itself.

I hope this answers your question!
Now go, build great games!

Sources:

https://designerly.com/duolingo-app-icon/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lesliekatz/2024/09/06/why-the-duolingo-owl-suddenly-looks-so-sick/

https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-48701962

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/ea-we-dont-call-them-loot-boxes-theyre-surprise-mechanics