retention

9 patterns tagged with this topic.

Designs that prevent safely stopping — no pause or save, or progress lost (or attacked) when you leave — so players can't quit on their own terms.

A relentless cadence of new seasons, stories, and limited updates keeps players returning so they never fall behind an ever-moving target.

Escalating rewards and loss-aversion penalties punish missing a day.

Play is gated by real-time cooldowns that can be bypassed for money.

Artificial scarcity and urgency pressure players into purchases before a countdown expires.

Leaderboards, resetting ranks, and rivalry framing turn social comparison into a driver of compulsive play and spending.

The design leverages teammates' dependence to compel continued play or spending.

Easy entry and obstructed cancellation, with 'earned' value that expires if you stop paying or playing.

Repetitive effort is inflated to extend play or to drive pay-to-skip purchases.