My son keeps asking for robux and I finally looked into it. These games are literally designed to get kids addicted to spending money. The predatory mechanics are insane. Started limiting his access but now he's angry with me. Feels like I'm the bad guy for not letting him spend 50 bucks a week on virtual currency. Am I overreacting or is anyone else seeing this?
Yeah Roblox is predatory as hell. I looked into it too when my kid kept asking and basically it's designed to make kids feel like they're missing out if they don't spend money. Classic psychological manipulation wrapped in a game.
Have you talked to other parents about this? Might be worth forming a group to push back on some of this stuff. Game companies are getting too aggressive with monetization targeting kids.
This is a real problem. My son plays Roblox and I finally sat down with him and explained how the game makes money. He actually understood once I broke it down. Might help your kid too.
Yeah, the Robux thing is absolutely designed to feel like a fast food addiction. I finally set a hard limit for my kids and told them they get a monthly allowance for it, period. Took the pressure off and they actually think twice now before spending.
Man, I had this same realization and it stressed me out. The good news is your son's young enough that you can have a real talk about why these games do that. Helped my kids understand it's not a character flaw if they feel pulled to spend.
You caught it, which is huge. A lot of parents don't even realize how predatory these games are until their credit card gets hit. Setting a spending cap on his account is probably the easiest fix if you haven't already.
This infuriates me too. The mechanics in those games are literally the same ones casinos use. My 8 year old has no business learning that spending real money on digital stuff is how you win. I've basically banned Roblox. There's other games that don't have the monetization nightmare built in.
Robux is absolutely predatory. The games are literally designed by people who study addiction psychology. Your son isn't being a brat for wanting it - he's being targeted by a billion dollar company. I disabled the ability to purchase on my kid's account and just told him straight up why. He wasn't happy but he understood.
So glad you looked into it. Most parents don't. Yeah, Roblox is free-to-play with a heavy emphasis on the monetization part. I let my son play but he knows he's getting maybe 50 bucks a year maximum for in-game stuff. The rest? Nope. He's learning that just because something's free doesn't mean it's actually free.
Sign in to join the conversation.
The whole Robux system is basically gambling with extra steps. Your kid's not alone asking for it, that's by design. I set a hard boundary with mine - you earn it through chores or it doesn't happen.