Irresistible

From an early age, humans are attracted to feedback. Toddlers push buttons that light up in the elevator, while adults push buttons even when they are unsure what the reward might be. On April 1, 2015, Reddit introduced a post involving a button that its users were only allowed to push once. A timer counted down from sixty seconds until the button was pushed by a user, at which point the timer would reset. This process lasted for weeks until one user finally pressed the button for the last time, at which point nothing happened. The story illustrates that feedback is a strong reward in and of itself.

In a study in 1971, psychologist Michael Zeiler showed that pigeons were much more likely to press a button that delivered food on an unpredictable schedule than they were to press a button that delivered food predictably. Unexpected rewards released more dopamine than expected ones. Facebook’s “like” button works on humans in a similar way. When users post something, feedback in the form of likes isn’t guaranteed. For this reason, posting can be addictive in the same way gambling is. As with the pigeons seeking food, Facebook users are more motivated to look for feedback when they can’t predict when they will receive it.

Whereas real casinos must pay players real money for a win, online gambling often deals in virtual points or currency. This means that online players can win more often at no cost to the website, making online game-play addictive and dangerous. Real slot machines also have their dangers, though. One can play 15 lines at once, many more than the single lines of the past. In addition, slot machines often play lights and sounds when one wins small amounts that are actually net losses. In these cases, one has lost money, but the machine provides positive feedback, disguising the loss as a win. The more lines one plays at a time, the more likely one is to encounter such losses disguised as wins. Studies show that players’ minds usually register disguised losses as wins, encouraging further play. Some slot machines also have algorithms that determine when a player is about to leave the game, and give the player a win so that he or she will continue playing.

Like slot machines, videogames aspire to keep players hooked by incorporating lots of feedback. As videogame expert and creator Bennett Foddy explains, “When your mouse cursor moves over a particular box, text will pop up, or a sound will play. Designers use this sort of microfeedback to keep players engaged and more hooked in” (136). Such feedback is also called “juice” (137). The popular game Candy Crush, for example, uses bright colors, sounds, and voices to keep users engaged. One study proved that stimulating lights and sounds attracted rats and greatly influenced their decision-making skills. 

Perhaps the experience that incorporates the most juice, or sensory feedback, is virtual reality. Investor Chris Sacca predicts that virtual reality will only become more “real” with time, while Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg predicts virtual reality will become incorporated into the lives of billions of people. These prospects, Alter suggests, could dangerously alter the fabric of lived experience by replacing “real” life with a preferred virtual version.

One study involving a figure that could be seen as either the letter “B” or the number “13” has shown that people’s minds are often primed to interpret ambiguous figures in ways that are favorable to them. The same can be true with gambling, gaming, and Instagram. Instead of seeing that they are losing, many users instead see that they are constantly “almost win[ning]” (146).   

Game designer Shigeru Miyamoto is responsible for many of the highest-grossing games of all time, including the Super Mario Bros. One reason his games are so successful is that they offer something to both beginners and experts.

A Yale economist named Martin Shubik devised a bidding game in which a dollar is auctioned to the highest bidder, with the rule that both the highest and second-highest bidder will pay. What results is a competition in which the top two bidders will bid more than the one dollar they are seeking to avoid becoming the losing bidder. Similarly, penny-auction websites become addictive because its users try to avoid losing the credits they have already invested into a product.

The line that separates a predatory game and a merely fun game can be very thin. Miyamoto tries to write games that he himself enjoys. These games in turn wind up becoming wildly successful. Meanwhile, predatory games use tactics such as energy systems, in which designers build breaks into the game, which can be circumvented by paying real money. Often these charges are hidden, so that users will become hooked by the game before encountering them. Some designers consider this to be a sign of an abusive game. Game makers also test their games on their users, thereby learning what parts of their game are more addictive than others. This ultimately results in a “weaponized version” (157) of the original game that is extremely addictive. Another tactic designers employ mimics the experience of beginner’s luck. Rewards are often doled out to users early in a game experience as a way of providing positive feedback, but these rewards are then spaced out when one plays the game longer.

Whereas video games used to be primarily played by men and young boys, smartphones have made games available to everyone. The game Farmville was available to users on Facebook, making it easier to play and more addictive than similar games available only on consoles. With the introduction of the iPhone and iPad, such experiences are now mobile, which means that they are available everywhere, around the clock.