The app wants to know whether the user is of legal age. Please tick the box. Another “age notice” follows, which has to be clicked away, saying that the game is “exclusively for users over the age of 18”, but there is no real age control. Then a green meadow opens up in a brightly colored comic world, on which a virtual village is to be created. The first house is built with a few clicks, but the coins that would be needed for further investments are already spent. No problem, there are supplies. A one-armed bandit floating above the clouds in the child-friendly cute game world spits them out – as long as the player spins and wins. But if you lose, you have to feed the machine. With real money. Otherwise the game won’t continue.
“Coin Master”, as the title is called, is part of Payback’s so-called “game world”. The points of the bonus system are now also available for playing certain mobile phone games. Among them are titles for which the gambling industry has come up with the term “social casino”. They help her to reach younger target groups. Payback points are now apparently also available in the children’s casino.
The more you play, the more points end up in your account. According to Payback, there should be a total of 140 titles with whose providers the company has entered into a corresponding cooperation agreement. Payback does not provide a complete list. The users also do not get an overview of the games to see. You only get a few suggested titles in the “Game World” section in the Payback app. The company’s website talks about a “recommendation system”. When asked how it works, Payback replies that it is based “on an algorithm from our cooperation partner adjoe”. In an attempt by the SZ, the first game suggested was: “Coin Master”.
The addiction researcher finds this “highly problematic”.
In Google’s App Store, users have downloaded the game “Coin Master” more than a hundred million times. The virtual coin packs that the players feed the slot machines cost a few euros each, but that pays off once you’re sucked into the game and want to destroy the villages of your friends or protect your own from attacks. The gaming mechanics – just a little more and then I’ll be through the level! – and that of gambling – it works on the next try! – complement each other.
Florian Rehbein, who researches addiction help and prevention at the Münster University of Applied Sciences and has worked on “Coin Master”, calls the game “highly problematic”. For minors, there is a significant risk. It can serve as an “initial experience” with gambling, i.e. lowering the inhibition threshold to spend money in real casinos – without the candy-colored packaging of the gaming world. In addition, many players also lose significant sums in “Coin Master”. In an as yet unpublished study by the University of Hamburg, more than half showed pathological gaming behavior, and some spend five-digit sums a month. Its provider uses “Coin Master” monthly around 41 million US dollars monthly at. According to one, there are behind him ZDF report Gambling industry financiers. If you download the Coin Master app, titles like “Billionaire Casino”, “Jackpot.de” or “Match Masters” will be suggested in the App Store.
The latter is also part of Payback’s “game world”. The game principle is roughly similar to “Four in a Row”, but it is not only the moves of the players that decide victory and defeat, but also luck – and how much real money they are willing to invest. “Pay to win” is the principle that also applies here, just like in other titles in the “game world” of Payback. The luck algorithm of “Match Masters” is according to one report by radio designed to trick you into feeding the virtual machine more and more real money. Some of the developers of the app have listed providers of classic games of chance as previous employers in the LinkedIn career network. Like “Coin Master”, “Match Masters” is colorful and cheerful. With cute little cartoon animals.
Payback said on request that it was “pure fun games, no gambling or other critical types of gambling”. Even with “Coin Master” nobody is forced to spend money. That’s right, players regularly get a few free slots spins. If they go wrong, they can either wait – and watch as their villages are destroyed. Or pay. Maybe the one-armed scoundrel will be merciful today. Or maybe not.