Casual games and free-to-play games have recently rapidly increased in popularity, perhaps in part because of the success of in-app purchases and micro-transactions as an economic model. While these games are often touted for their success in the gaming market, the effect on players when faced with such frequent purchasing decisions in-game is not well-studied. In this project, we conducted a Mechanical Turk study on a popular casual game, Candy Crush Saga™, to investigate various factors impacting player behaviour, with a specific focus on self-control. Our study reveals that the amount players spend on in-app purchases is correlated with lower levels of self-control.
People
- Milad Soroush
- Mark Hancock
- Vanessa Bohns
Publications
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Soroush, M. ., Hancock, M. ., & Bohns, V. K. (2018). Investigating Game Mechanics That Target Players' Self-Control While Maintaining Engagement. Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, 489\textendash502. New York, NY, USA: ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3242671.3242698
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Soroush, M. ., Hancock, M. ., & Bohns, V. . (2014). Self-control in casual games: The relationship between Candy Crush Saga™ players’ in-app purchases and self-control. 2014 IEEE Games Media Entertainment. Presented at the. IEEE.