Why is gambling addictive? What features does technology share with gambling?
Adam Alter explains that some technology is designed to exploit the same psychological vulnerabilities as gambling, another behavioral addiction, to keep users engaged and coming back for more. He names four such design features: exciting audiovisual design, early hooks, variable rewards, and deceptive superiority to real life.
Check out the similarities between gambling and technology that make these addictions hard to quit.
Exciting Audiovisual Design
The first reason why gambling is addictive is that some gambling machines are designed to blare celebratory music and flash brilliant lights when a player wins. Alter explains that even if you suffer multiple losses in a row before a modest win, your brain is primed to interpret these audiovisual cues as a total victory—you feel like you’re winning big despite your net loss. This reinforces your desire to keep playing (and therefore to keep losing money to the gambling establishment). Alter says that video game designers use a similar principle to keep players hooked—they incorporate lively, entertaining audiovisual cues that make it easier for you to get engrossed in the game. But instead of losing money as you would in a casino, you lose a lot of time.
(Shortform note: In addition to audiovisual cues, developers implement other kinds of sensory cues—including haptic (i.e., tactile) and olfactory stimuli (i.e., smells)—in both video games and gambling machines to enhance immersion and reinforce addictive behaviors. For example, some casinos use machines that shake your seat in time with in-game events, and some gaming chairs and other accessories like controllers also have this capability. Some casinos also deploy scents that make you more acquiescent by evoking certain emotions. Some designers are working to develop the technology that would enable scents in video games, and early studies suggest that incorporating smells makes video games more engrossing.)
Early Hooks
Alter says that gambling establishments use early hooks to lure participants into the gambling cycle. Early hooks offer participants a chance to join at low personal risk while promising high rewards. For example, online casinos provide new users with free spins, enticing them to start playing without having to invest their own money. However, as users play, they become emotionally invested in the prospect of winning—this emotional investment drives them to continue playing even when the odds are against them or they’ve already suffered a net loss. Video game designers use the same strategy to incentivize players to sink their time, attention, and money into their games.
(Shortform note: In addition to your emotional investment in winning, another force could drive you to keep gambling or gaming even after it becomes clear that you’re not likely to win—this force is a cognitive bias known as the sunk cost fallacy. When you fall victim to the sunk cost fallacy, you feel that because you’ve already invested so much time, money, or effort, you must continue to invest more to justify the initial investment, even when it’s irrational to do so. This bias makes it difficult for you to walk away from the game, so it keeps you trapped in a cycle of continued participation despite mounting losses.)
Alter explains that gambling and gaming developers use three kinds of hooks:
The simplicity hook: Games that use this hook, like Temple Run, are so easy and straightforward from the get-go that anyone can play them. Users gravitate toward them when they have a few moments to spare but find they spend much longer than they meant to on them.
(Shortform note: Games that use the simplicity hook may be most tempting during moments that are empty or boring, like when you’re waiting in line or using the bathroom. You might also be tempted to use simple social media apps like TikTok, which only requires passive participation, during these moments. Some believe that when you use your phone to make every boring moment more entertaining, you miss out on boredom’s benefits, like enhanced creativity, chances to exercise your social skills, and in the case of toilet scrolling, better colorectal health.)
The deceptive simplicity hook: These games seem easy at first but gradually introduce complexity—for example, by incrementally increasing the number of threats to your character’s survival, as in Don’t Starve. Since by the time you complete the easy levels you’re emotionally attached to the game, you’re incentivized to keep going no matter how much time and attention it costs. (Shortform note: You may be more likely to be influenced by the deceptive simplicity hook if you’re naturally competitive. When you have a competitive streak, victory is more important to you than it is to noncompetitive people. Therefore, as increasingly difficult challenges are presented when you play a video game, you have more intrinsic motivation to keep playing.)
The hidden pay-to-play hook: These games are free to download and play, but they incorporate mechanisms that encourage or require players to spend money to access valuable content, features, or advantages within the game. For example, The Sims Mobile (TSM) uses this hook—players are incentivized to spend money on virtual architecture, decor, and outfits.
(Shortform note: One of the most common hidden pay-to-play strategies involves microtransactions—the kinds of small, in-game purchases that TSM offers. Studies suggest that making microtransactions incentivizes you to keep playing so that you’ll get a return on your investment. Further gameplay means you’ll likely be exposed to more opportunities to make microtransactions; this explains how these seemingly minor expenses accumulate quickly, leading to significant spending over time—and to extraordinary profits for game developers. Overspending on microtransactions seems to be more common in vulnerable populations, including children who have access to money and limited parental supervision.)
Variable Rewards
Studies suggest that part of gambling’s appeal is not knowing whether you’ll win or lose. Uncertainty is thrilling—you produce much more dopamine when you’re surprised that you’ve won than when you expected to win. Alter argues that social media companies use this principle to drive engagement: You’re not sure what kinds of responses you’ll get from others when you make a social media post, so you’re driven to find out. Since everyone is driven to post and wait for responses, social media becomes an interactive ecosystem that’s difficult to pull away from.
(Shortform note: In Hooked, Nir Eyal and Ryan Hoover explain that there are three types of rewards that drive you to keep engaging with technology: Rewards of the tribe are incidences of social validation, like the kind Alter says you’re looking for when you post on social media. Rewards of the hunt are those that support your survival in some way—for example, you likely hunted for information about Covid-19 on the internet during the pandemic. Rewards of the self are internal gratifications, like the feeling of accomplishment you get when you beat a challenging video game. Eyal clarifies that variable rewards drive engagement because unpredictability is intriguing—you crave to discover what rewards your actions will reap.)
Deceptive Superiority to Real Life
Alter explains that both gambling experiences and immersive technologies present a deceptively superior alternative to reality. Gamblers can easily fall victim to motivated perception, a psychological phenomenon where intense desire primes your brain to interpret the world in a way that aligns with your desires. As a result, gamblers irrationally believe they’re always about to win, even though they’re statistically likely to lose. Similarly, Alter says you might have an irrational belief that your social media use is a net positive when it’s not.
Another way that immersive technology can seem preferable to real life is that it makes the impossible possible. This is especially true for the expanding field of virtual reality (VR), where you can play games that transport you to fantastic worlds or have lifelike experiences with faraway friends, family, and coworkers. Alter says that experts are concerned about the effect VR might have on society over time—we might lose touch with the here and now in favor of virtual worlds or have opportunities to live out virtual experiences that are harmful, like exploitative sex or violence.
