Quick question - my 10yo spent like $8 of his birthday money on one of those 'free' online games and now keeps asking for more. I thought I had purchase restrictions on but apparently I didn't set it right. He's not understanding that the game isn't actually free. How do you even explain predatory monetization to a kid without ruining the fun part? And should I make him pay me back or eat it as a lesson?
The $8 loss is actually a teaching moment though. Let him learn that lesson now with small money instead of later. But yeah, set up actual restrictions so it doesn't happen again.
Games like this are designed to trick adults too so don't feel bad. I'd use it as a teaching opportunity about how games make money, then lock down the settings. Apple's parental controls are pretty robust if you set them up right.
This is rough. The predatory game design thing is hard to explain because the games are literally built by teams of people whose job is to make them addictive. You're not explaining a concept poorly - you're fighting a whole industry. But yeah, he needs to understand this isn't free, it's just monetizing him instead of money.
Real talk: you gotta lock down those purchase restrictions. And maybe sit with him through a game to show him where the "spend money" moments happen and why they're designed to feel urgent. At 10 he can probably understand the business model if you explain it.
This is tough because $8 is enough that it matters but not enough to be catastrophic. Use it as a teaching moment but also tighten those restrictions immediately. And honestly? Consider whether that game should be allowed at all. If it's designed to get kids to spend money, why give it real estate on his device?
The predatory free-to-play game thing is rough because it's not really about teaching him not to spend money - it's about games literally designed to manipulate kids into spending. That's not a character issue, it's a design issue. You're gonna have to be the gatekeeper here. Maybe show him how many $8 = a real game he actually owns?
Did he understand he actually SPENT that money or does he think it comes back? That's the first conversation. Some kids don't actually grasp that $8 of their birthday money is gone.
The "free" game trap is real. We did the same thing with our 9yo. We sat down and basically walked through the predatory mechanics - like, here's how they make money, this is why they have so many pop-ups, here's why there's always something else to buy. He was actually mad at the game after that rather than mad at us for saying no.
Set up Family Link or whatever Apple's version is and lock down in-app purchases. But also talk to him about it - not as punishment but as explanation. Freemium games are literally designed by psychologists to get people to spend money. That's not his fault. Your job is to protect him from that until he's old enough to recognize it.
Sign in to join the conversation.
I'd probably frame it as "the game is free to START, but it costs money to play the fun parts. It's a trick." Like, the game developers are trying to get him to spend money. Once he understands he's being manipulated, most kids get it.