There are a few game app developers that are making MOUNTAINS of money from popular titles like Candy Crush Saga, Angry Birds and Clash of Clans. I used to wonder what motivated people to pay real money to buy in-game items such as coins, characters and upgrades on free to play game apps. It turns out that there are very good reasons why people are willing to spend their hard earned money to buy things that are worthless in the real world. An article in the Huffington Post by author Joseph Farrell of BiTE Interactive explains that there is some very serious psychology behind these games and very good reasons why game companies are cashing in.
The Fascinating Psychology Behind Free-To-Play Mobile App Games
If you've ever played a free-to-play game like Candy Crush, Plants vs Zombies 2 or Clash of Clans and defied the "free" part by parting with your cash, don't be ashamed. I've never met anyone who actually buys items on any free-to-play, but then again I've never met anyone who's lost money in Vegas, either.
I'm not ashamed to admit yes... yes I have... bought items in free-to-play games (I've also lost money in Vegas). Trust me, I feel the appropriate amount of shame and self-loathing. But don't judge too harshly. If you haven't spent money on these games, odds are you will pretty soon.
Why? Because these innocently fun and entertaining programs are built on mountains of research of the mind's inner workings. These games know what makes us tick, and they know exactly how to get us to say yes.
Free-to-play games are now everywhere in dozens of varieties. But no matter what the flavor, they all use the same mechanisms to get us to part with money.
I'm not ashamed to admit yes... yes I have... bought items in free-to-play games (I've also lost money in Vegas). Trust me, I feel the appropriate amount of shame and self-loathing. But don't judge too harshly. If you haven't spent money on these games, odds are you will pretty soon.
Why? Because these innocently fun and entertaining programs are built on mountains of research of the mind's inner workings. These games know what makes us tick, and they know exactly how to get us to say yes.
Free-to-play games are now everywhere in dozens of varieties. But no matter what the flavor, they all use the same mechanisms to get us to part with money.
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