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Shifts in Ronin Dawson’s behavior began almost immediately after he was introduced to mobile video games featuring battling robots and other cute characters. After playing the games, Ronin, 8, would become edgy, says Daniel Dawson, his dad.
Soon, all Ronin talked about was buying “mechs” or “brawl passes,” virtual goods, and paid reward systems in the games Mech Arena and Brawl Stars. Then, the pleas came daily. “His whole life was these games,” says Dawson, 43.
After a series of unsuccessful attempts to limit access to the games, Dawson and his wife decided that enough was enough. At their favorite local Los Angeles eatery, Dawson laid out the new plan for Ronin at a father-son summit. I’ve got to be your dad. I’m taking the iPad away. You’re too young. You’re too vulnerable.
Tears flowed in protest, but Dawson says it was a necessary step. “These apps are designed to turn kids into gambling addicts,” he says.
For digital natives—kids born into a world where touchscreens are ubiquitous—gambling rarely starts with a bet. It can start with a video game or the promise of a high-value Pokémon card. These kids are not gambling for financial return. They are gambling for progress—a stronger character, a rare skin, a hard-to-find collectible, or a shortcut to the next level. Kids don’t have a seat at a blackjack table, but many spend time in front of a tablet or a gaming console where they engage with the same gambling mechanisms used to hook adult brains.
Even those cute-but-ugly monster collectibles hidden inside blind boxes can activate the same brain reward pathways as a slot machine.Today’s kids are growing up in a radically different environment than their parents, but their brains haven’t evolved to match it, says Timothy Fong, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and co-director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program.
“So of course, they’re going to fall into this pattern,” Dr. Fong says. “Of course, they’re going to have eyes like saucers when they get into these activities that really light them up.”
And studies suggest that kids are especially vulnerable. The earlier they’re exposed, the higher the risk of problems later. In a recent Common Sense Media national survey, 36% of U.S. teenage boys ages 11 to 17 reported gambling in the past year. The most prevalent gambling application of choice isn’t sports betting or prediction markets—it’s video games.
Gambling, by any other name
Gambling and gambling-like systems operate on the idea of intermittent reinforcement—invest your time and money in a risky activity, and who knows what you are going to get?
“It’s hard to put away games that use those mechanisms,” says Megan Ice, Ph.D., a psychologist and clinician at The Child Mind Institute.
Combine the highly engaging apps and platforms with increasingly frictionless access and “of course, that’s a recipe for potential harm that can occur super, super fast,” Dr. Fong says.
This is especially true for children whose adolescent brains are not mature enough to resist temptation, he adds. “It’s not that kids lack willpower,” says Dr. Fong. “It’s that they don’t have the neurons for self-control, impulse control, or higher-order judgment.”
When Dr. Fong’s son was 14 years old, a feature popped up on the NBA 2Kvideo game advertising a chance to win virtual trading cards. His son just had to press the button, which was linked to Fong’s credit card.
Bing! He really wanted the Steph Curry card. Bing. Bing.
“Our son doesn’t have an addiction to gambling,” Dr. Fong says. “He spent $1,000 in three hours.”
Parents may hear about these gambling features, called loot boxes or gacha systems, when their kids talk about games. The term varies by game, but the basic idea is similar: Players spend real money or in-game currency for a chance at a randomized reward. In Genshin Impact, for example, randomized pulls are called “wishes” while in Honkai: Star Rail, they’re called “warps.” The wager may not promise a cash prize. But it does offer a kid a chance at progress in the game.
Many video games have these features, and it’s hard for kids to understand that they are also forms of gambling, Dr. Fong says.
The issue isn’t video games as a whole. The concern is more specific: game mechanics that incentivize kids to spend money or in-game currency for a chance at an uncertain reward.
That uncertainty can be even harder to see when games use their own currencies. In games such as EA Sports FC and Genshin Impact, players convert real money into “VC” (virtual currency) or “primogems,” respectively, before they can spend. For kids, that extra step can make it harder to track what money is real and how quickly small purchases can add up—especially when a parent’s credit card is already stored.
Some games, like Clash of Clans, use pay-to-skip features, which let players pay to move faster through difficult parts of the game. That can make an old lesson harder to teach.
“I think that’s where it’s really hard,” Dr. Ice says. “We really want to help [kids] learn that slow and steady is sort of the way to gain skills.”
But not every shortcut works that way. In Marvel Snap, for example, players can pay for a chance at better cards, but still not get the cards they need to advance in the game.
Gambling isn’t new—but the way kids encounter its mechanisms is. It’s not just in video games, either. Trading cards date back to the 1800s, but today, their gambling mechanics are far more pervasive. Pokémon is one of the leaders of the modern-day trading card craze. Demand for these cards is so intense that it has fueled headline-grabbing bad behavior from adults hoping to get a high-value Pikachu card.
But for Jerry Lan, a high school teacher who lives in Temecula, CA, collecting Pokémon cards with his young children is more about time spent together than chasing the thrill of a coveted card. Lan, 33, started CollectDADbles with his children to chronicle his adventures in buying and selling Pokémon cards.
His family engages in the hobby mindfully. Like many kids, Lan’s young children discovered their love for Pokémon, both the show and the cards. Instead of restricting access because of its gambling risk, Lan decided to guide his kids through the trend. Lan chooses to resell the Pokémon card packs rather than opening them. The business, he says, allows for quality time and opportunities to instill entrepreneurial skills in Ezra, 4. The demand for the packs is so high that he usually makes enough of a profit to buy a card Ezra really wants, which takes away most of the random-chance gambling aspect of the activity, he says.
“I think we’re doing a good job as parents, where our kids are honestly just excited about all the cards,” says Lan.
How to keep kids safe
Stay involved.Sit with your child during video game time, Dr. Fong advises. Ask them about what they like about their favorite Pokémon. Parents get to set the tone for how—and how much—gambling systems show up at home.
Keep an eye out for issues. If a child’s hobby starts to crowd out school, friendships, sleep, or daily life, it may be a sign of a problem, Dr. Fong says. In those cases, it’s a good idea to reach out to a professional for help.
Make kids use their own money.With toys, games, and collectibles, it could be beneficial for kids to purchase them with their own money to learn to assess risk and understand consequences, Dr. Ice says. “If you spent the money and you got something that wasn’t actually great,” she adds. “That’s a good learning experience.”
Be a good role model.As parents, it’s also important to examine your own habits. Do you watch your betting app like a hawk during game day? Chances are that your kids are watching you. Be mindful, says Dr. Ice. Are you modeling that the only way to be invested in a game is to have money on it? Are you showing the ability to tolerate losses? A new study says being close to someone with a gambling problem can raise your own risk, making it important to check your own habits.
In the Dawson home, after the initial protest over the iPad ban, Ronin is back to his normal self, his dad says.
Every so often, he tests the boundary—as kids do. Could he get the iPad back next month?
“I’m like, no—never,” Dawson says. “You’re not getting it back.”
