Social / relational
Exploited friendships and reputational or guilt pressure exerted through peers and networks.
Patterns that target this (10)
Forced registration / data disclosure
Access to play, rewards, or social features is made conditional on creating an account, linking an identity, or sharing unnecessary personal or contact data.
Creator tipping & crowdfunded content
Routing real money to creators or crowdfunding unreleased content, where prosocial “support” framing lowers price scrutiny.
Encourages anti-social behaviour
Designs that reward or normalise toxic, aggressive, or anti-social behaviour in order to drive engagement.
Involuntary social ranking / identity labels
The system assigns relationship labels, closeness ranks, or social-cluster positions to people from behavioural data they did not choose to make socially meaningful.
Manufactured competition
Leaderboards, resetting ranks, and rivalry framing turn social comparison into a driver of compulsive play and spending.
Monetised social status
Visible status is sold to exploit peer comparison and the desire to belong.
Reciprocity
Giving the player or their friends a free gift to create a felt obligation to give back — by spending, playing, or recruiting.
Romantic / intimate mechanics
A romantic or affectionate bond — with a character or another player — is engineered, then its progression is routed through spending or compulsion loops.
Social obligation / guilt
The design leverages teammates' dependence to compel continued play or spending.
Gifting / invitation spam (social pyramid)
Progress is tied to recruiting or pestering friends.