Regulatory shifts are increasingly placing the onus on online service providers such as digital game developers and platforms to ensure that their services do not harm children. This creates an urgent need to examine how children experience and conceptualize harm in digital contexts, which may differ from adult-driven perceptions of harm. In this paper, we present the results of a study into children’s experiences with game monetization which included a ‘think-aloud’ method in which children were given an AU$20 voucher to spend. Through our participants’ (aged 7-14) vernacular of feeling ‘scammed’ or ‘tricked’, we argue that children experience harm principally through being misled or deceived by monetization features, rather than being due to what parents perceive as a misattribution of value toward digital items or overspending. Based on these results, we make game design recommendations to minimize children’s harmful experiences with game monetization strategies.
‹ All examples Roblox
They’re Scamming Me: How Children Experience and Conceptualize Harm in Game Monetization
“Children are struggling with complex virtual currency systems, describing in-game currency conversions as “scary” and difficult to understand, often leading to unintentional overspending; random reward mechanics like loot boxes are deceptive and harmful, and still feature in many of the most popular Roblox games despite being banned for users under 15 in Australia in 2024; many children feel misled by the games they play, experiencing financial disappointment and family conflicts due to misleading spending features; Children need better protections […]”