Wise Geek → Best Mobile Games → Battle Night: Review of Guides and game Secrets

BATTLE NIGHT: CYBER SQUAD is an Android game with a release date of 09/16/ from FT Games. Game genre: Role-playing. In the article, we have summarized tips for leveling from TOP players, developers ’answers to gamers’ questions, guides for beginners from the official website and our secrets of passing the game. Attention, the Wise Geek website is constantly updated, visit us more often.

Better Battle Night download to computer via this link and play in Full HD resolution with maximum graphics, no brakes and with the preservation of progress. Just download the emulator, log in to your Google Play account, install the game in the window that appears and you will become the Wisest.

Contents

1. Tier List (Top Heroes)
2. Character Leveling Guide
3. How to form a battle squad?
4. A Guide to Recruiting New Heroes
5. Crafting and Dismantling Gear in the Garage
6. Secrets of a Successful Start
7. Story Campaign Guide
8. Bounty Hunt
9. Norn Arena Battles
10. Hyperspace Guide
11. Completing missions at the Dawn Cinema
12. Protected Mine
13. Arcade Game
14. Fitness 24
15. Guild Guide
16. Friends in the game
17. Daily Quests and Achievements
18. How to get even more rewards?
19. Timeline Event Overview
20. Proper Use of the Bag
21. Major game currencies
22. What Products Should I Buy?
23. Donate Guide
24. Player Profile
25. Conclusion

Battle Night: Tier List (Top Heroes)

Hero camps. There are 6 hero camps in Battle Night. The camp membership determines how many camp effects a combat unit can use. Types of camps:

1. Cars. By an effort of will, they decompose their own bodies and merge with mechanisms. This process is almost fatal. Accordingly, the survivors are called "reformers."
2. Tamers. These characters can gain strength by absorbing animal mana.
3. Fighters. A group of people promoting kung fu and fighting skills. They are born incredibly strong and strive to develop the potential of the human body. Through endless training, they have unique fighting skills.
4. Nature. They know how to feel the forces of nature and control them. Some nature heroes have even managed to merge with plants.
5. Fallen. These violent people are often called insane. Usually they have a high resistance to poisons, and they can also increase their strength with the help of biochemistry, but their unhealthy craving for power destroyed all humanity in them.
6. Hackers. Advanced technology and brilliant synthesis of skills make this camp the strongest. All of its members have a talent for combat and a sharp mind. Research opportunities and advanced combat gear helped them establish control of the entire Frontier.

Who do you need to download? At the beginning of the game, you get a lot of green quality heroes, but you shouldn’t pump them - use them as consumables in the Shadow Market. Start pumping with heroes of blue quality that have the ability to improve. It is from them that you need to form a party at the initial stages of the game.

As you get it, include purple-quality fighters and higher into the squad, and use the blue-quality heroes in pumping or save them for Hyperspace and Bounty Hunt. The strongest units are formed from orange quality heroes, with several camp effects activated.

Form a team, focusing on the situation, try to activate as many camp effects in the party as possible. Don’t just focus on getting a specific hero. The most important thing is to wisely use those fighters that you have already been able to get.

Shooting list. Our Tier-list contains characters with the greatest development potential. It is they who should be downloaded and displayed in a combat party with the prospect of further improvement to the best quality.

Battle Night: Character Leveling Guide

To enter the leveling menu, click on any hero of the squad on the main screen.

Hero slots. Each hero occupies 1 hero cell. The minimum limit of cells is 50 pieces. Be sure to buy additional hero slots for diamonds - 10 slots for diamonds. Such a purchase is one of the most profitable investments of premium currency, since you will need heroes all the time - to upgrade others, to go to Hyperspace missions, to complete Bounty Hunt missions, etc.

Disposal of fighters in the Shadow Market in order to free cells is an extremely dubious way of disposing of heroes. We do not recommend selling fighters unnecessarily.

Leveling up the hero. The current hero leveling limit is determined by the level of your game account. You pay gold and orbs for pumping. The pumping price does not depend on the quality and stardom of the hero.

Pump your team after each level up of the player. Don’t save up orbs, waste them. It is best to improve the heroes evenly - this way you will achieve the maximum return from your fighters, you will be able to reveal their abilities to the fullest.

The quality and skills of the heroes. Heroes come in green, blue, purple and orange quality. The quality determines the number of fighter’s available skills. Heroes with green quality can have a maximum of two skills, and orange ones always have four skills.

The priority in leveling should always be given to the heroes with the greatest number of skills! They are the most powerful and have the best capabilities in battle.

Raising heroes. Upgrading heroes changes their quality to better: blue to purple and purple to orange. It is the possibility of improving the quality that determines the prospects of the fighter. Many green and blue heroes cannot be upgraded, so they have no development potential.

Always pick up and swing those heroes in the party that you can upgrade to a higher quality in the future!

To increase the quality, you need to go to the Shadow Market and use the specified number of fragments of the required heroes. Then click "Promote". After raising the target hero, you will regain the materials (fragments, gold, energy spheres) that were used to pump the reworked heroes.

Constantly monitor the availability of the fragments you need and gradually collect them to increase the fighters of the main party.

Leveling up stardom. To pump up stardom, you need energy spheres, which are obtained in activities, promotions, packs and for donations. With the receipt of stars, the hero increases his characteristics and unlocks more powerful skills and skill branches.

Energy spheres are hard-to-reach resources. Pump over stardom only those characters that you intend to use for a long time (high quality and with a large number of skills).

Skills action. Each skill has two routes of action. You have to choose which one you will use. You can change and alternate routes as many times as you like and for free.

Experiment and set up different skill routes to find the one you prefer.

Exchange of heroes. Sell unnecessary heroes in the Shadow Market and get hero coins, hero experience, energy spheres and gold - only 80% of the resources that you spent on pumping these characters. The higher the level of the sold hero, the more rewards you can get. Hero coins are used in the shop (Heroes tab).

We recommend selling heroes of green quality and only when you need coins for the store. Do not get rid of your heroes unnecessarily - they can come in handy in Bounty Hunt and Hyperspace.

Hero equipment. The hero can be equipped with 6 items of equipment, with 2 items (weapons) being the main equipment, and the rest (clothing, accessories) - additional. Equipment comes in different quality: white, green, blue, purple, orange. It is also divided into classes: from the lowest (C) to the best (SS).

Change equipment for better if you see a red dot on its icon. Click "Toggle" to automatically select the best ammunition for your character.

Relics. The ability to use relics unlocks when the hero reaches level Relics are mined in the Protected Mine, and also bought in shops. First, use any of the available relics on the hero, gradually pumping them in the relics laboratory.

The combined effect of different relics will help you cope with different opponents. If you are having trouble playing, try rearranging the relics.

To upgrade relics, use relic fragments. To retrieve the fragments, disassemble unwanted relics in the relic lab. By analogy with heroes, relics in the laboratory are sorted by quality - from lowest to highest.

Start with the green relics so you don’t lose the ones you need. Disassembled relics cannot be restored.

Battle Night: How to form a battle squad?

Best build. Ideally, tanks should be in the front row of the squad - fighters that can withstand high damage. If you don’t have any tanks, put the most pumped fighters with high HP and the best defense and defense characteristics among the rest of the party in the front row. The order of receiving damage depends on the placement of heroes, but not the order of moves!

Heroes in the front row should be given better defensive gear, while those in the back row should be given better offensive gear.

Team building. You can form 3 teams for different types of activities. Keep in mind that it is very difficult to gather the pumped heroes of the same camp into a squad, so it is best to form a team of heroes from different camps, but so that at least 3 camp effects work in it - it is easier to pump such fighters, which means they will be able to compensate for those bonuses that remain inaccessible to you.

If you are unable to activate 3 camp effects, put a hero belonging to the camp with a working effect to your team. This will further strengthen this fighter.

Types of camp effects

If there are heroes of the same camp in the squad, the effects of the camp are activated with additional bonuses in battle.

1. Heroes-machines:

• 2 Machine Heroes - Increase the attack of all Machine Heroes by 8%;
• 4 Machine Heroes - Increase the effectiveness of the Bloodsuckers of all Machine Heroes by 10%;
• 6 machine heroes - increased crit frequency. hits on all machine heroes by 15%.

2. Hero Accelerators:

• 2 tamer heroes - increase the HP reserve of all tamer heroes by 10%;
• 4 tame heroes - increase the effectiveness of the counterattack of all tamer heroes by 10%;
• 6 Tamer Heroes - Increase the damage resistance of all Tamer Heroes by 15%.

3. Hero Fighters:

• 2 hero fighters - increase the attack of all hero fighters by 8%;
• 4 hero fighters - increase the effectiveness of "Bloodsuckers" of all hero fighters by 10%;
• 6 hero fighters - increased crit frequency. hits of all hero fighters by 15%.

4. Heroes of nature:

• 2 heroes of nature - increase the HP reserve of all heroes of nature by 10%;
• 4 heroes of nature - increase the effectiveness of the counterattack of all heroes of nature by 10%;
• 6 Nature Heroes - Increase the damage resistance of all nature heroes by 15%.

5. Fallen Heroes:

• 2 Fallen Heroes - Increase the evasion of all fallen heroes by 10%;
• 4 fallen heroes - at the beginning of the battle, the base rage of all fallen heroes is increased by 40;
• 6 Fallen Heroes - Increase control resistance (stun, silence and taunt) of all fallen heroes by 20%.

6. Hero-hackers:

• 2 hacker heroes - increased crit frequency. hits of all hacker heroes by 10%;
• 4 hacker heroes - at the beginning of the battle, the base rage of all hacker heroes is increased by 40;
• 6 Hacker Heroes - Increase control resistance (stun, silence and taunt) of all Hacker Heroes by 20%.

Battle Night: A Guide to Recruiting New Heroes

Types of hiring. Go to the Bee’s backyard club to recruit new heroes. There are 3 types of hiring available:

1. Main. Gives a chance to recruit green or blue heroes for recruitment coins. A free trial is available every 8 hours.
2. Improved. Gives a chance to hire green (%), blue (40%) or purple (%) heroes for improved recruitment coins. A free trial is valid once every 48 hours.
3. Ideal. Gives a chance to hire blue (90%) and purple (10%) heroes for Perfect Hire Coins. There are no free attempts.

Hero Arngrin cannot be recruited from Club B. It can only be obtained in the VIP bundle.

How do I get coins? Hire Coins can be obtained in various activities or purchased. It is best to buy them in the store - they are much cheaper than buying them directly from the club. For every 15 Improved Hires, you earn an additional Ideal Hire Coin.

Using Ideal Hire Coins during the Ideal Hire event will give you a bonus.

The important thing about hiring. At the beginning of the game, you pick up a random purple quality hero for 20 recruits. Further, getting high quality heroes will not be easy. Hiring x10 does not offer any discounts, so it is best to spend coins one at a time. Here are a couple of tricks you should know:

• Don’t waste a lot of coins. If you used a coin and drew a low-quality hero, then do not rush to spend the next one. Better wait. This will increase your chance of success.
• Stock up on coins. You need to have at least 5 coins of the main and improved recruitment "in reserve". You will need them to complete your daily quests. Coins can also come in handy for participating in temporary promotions - during them there is a chance to win great prizes for hiring heroes.

Battle Night: Crafting and Dismantling Gear in the Garage

Kato’s garage is a place where you can create new equipment for your heroes, or dispose of unnecessary things.

Equipment crafting. Use blueprints, gold and parts to craft the appropriate equipment. Crafting results in a random (B), (A), or (S) level gear. B is the lowest level of performance, and S is the highest. There is a chance of crafting equipment of higher quality than the blueprint.

When creating and obtaining new equipment, immediately put it on the hero. This will save your equipment from accidental disassembly and increase the power of your fighter.

Analysis of equipment. Disassemble equipment and get parts to create a new one. For convenience, all types of equipment are sorted into tabs in the garage. To start disassembling, press the "Collect" button - the system will automatically pick up low quality items and place them in the window for disassembly. If you agree to disposal, click "Disassemble". For dismantled things, you get details. The higher the quality of the dismantled equipment, the more parts you can get.

It is better to disassemble level equipment (C) first. Think before disassembling equipment of level (B) and higher - sometimes it can be exchanged for rare items. Also, don’t forget to reserve gear for heroes sent to Hyperspace.

Battle Night: Secrets of a Successful Start

Server selection. In Battle Night, new servers are regularly opened and the best tactic for starting the game is to start developing on the newest server. So you get a chance to get into various ratings, join the best guild and swing along with your friends, which greatly simplifies participation in PvP activities and guild events.

If you are very serious, you can arrange for yourself a "training" - register on any server, play there, understand all the intricacies of pumping, combat and party gathering, and then, being ready "fully armed", start on a new server. As noted by many players, it is this practice that guarantees all-round success.

You need to move to a new server on the day and hour of its opening! Keep in mind that even a 1 day delay can cause a lag in pumping compared to other players. Follow the news in the official groups and the "Announcements" section in the game itself, so as not to miss the launch of the servers.

Account binding. Click on "Account" in your profile to link your game account to Google Play Game or Facebook. Do this without fail to protect data from accidental deletion in the event of a server failure or other force majeure situations.

We recommend linking to Google Play Game - this is the most effective way to secure your account.

The importance of being active. After you have selected a server and linked your account, the most important thing comes - game time. In the early days, online, leveling and unlocking activities is very important. We advise you to take as much time as possible for the game and start exploring the world of Battle Night on a day free from work / study. Further successes will depend on your start, when you can already afford to enter the game less often.

Do not forget to check in the "Daily Login" and receive gifts for entering the game.

Battle Night: Story Campaign Guide

Click "Missions" in the main menu to go to the campaign. As such, the storyline in the game is not traced - the team of your heroes travels across the city maps, moves from location to location, solves various problems and fights with enemies. The further you move along the map, the more valuable prizes you can get for winning.

Sometimes gift boxes appear on the card. Click on them to get prizes.

Additional activities on the map. Pay close attention to the symbols that appear on the map of the current location:

• A pistol - shaped icon - an opportunity to participate in an additional battle. The difficulty of the battle is estimated by the color of the icon (green, blue, purple, orange). The more prestigious a battle is, the more rewards you can get for it.
• The heart - shaped icon represents a traveling merchant’s offer. Here you can buy hard-to-find in-game items at huge discounts.

Whenever possible, buy the items you need from the itinerant merchant. Prices here are lower than in the in-game store.

Campaign battles. The battles in the campaign chapters are fights with common enemies and bosses. You cannot skip battles, but they can be accelerated. At the bottom of the battle screen, you see hero icons (darkened icons - dead heroes) and the camp effects they apply, and at the top of the screen you can see enemy icons and their effects. If necessary, the fight can be paused.

Search for supplies. Finding supplies is your passive income. Click on the supply chest at the bottom of the map to instantly collect the rewards found by your team in 8 hours of offline battles. Among them there is always the player’s experience, the hero’s experience, gold and various loot (equipment, blueprints, etc.). The amount of rewards received per minute depends on the progress in the campaign.

Pump over the heroes and go through the chapters of the campaign as far as possible in order to take the maximum rewards from the search for supplies. You need to receive rewards at least once every 8 hours! Don’t forget to open the supply chest before exiting the game. These awards must not be burned out.

Quick search. Use quick search coins and get instant rewards for 2 hours of battles. As in the usual search for supplies, here you can pick up experience, gold and various items. Quick search coins are obtained in activities or bought for diamonds.

Don’t waste your quick zero search coins. Completing a quick search is one of the daily tasks. You must always have a supply of coins (at least 5 pieces) in order to successfully complete the task every day.

Battle Night: Bounty Hunt

To participate in the Bounty Hunt, go to Backyards and click on "Border Police Department". Here, at the police station, you send your heroes on various missions, after which you collect rewards.

The nuances of completing tasks. Quests come in various qualities (gray, green, blue, purple, and orange). The higher the quality, the more rewards you will receive for completing them. You can complete at least 4 tasks daily. As the VIP level rises, the number of available tasks increases. A closed (completed) task is updated every 24 hours. You cannot update it manually.

For completed tasks you will receive handcuffs. Exchange them for valuable items in the store. The handcuffs are only available until the end of the event.

Updating the list of tasks. Use ammo to update the quest list and replace gray quests with higher quality quests. It is best to close only green, blue and other tasks - this way you can get the most rewards from the "Bounty Hunt". To refresh the entire list in one go, use the Refresh All button. You can block a task from mass updating by setting a lock in it - then this task will remain the same after a general reset.

It is recommended to set a limit on the use of cartridges and not spend them below zero. Otherwise, if during the upgrade you get a gray task and run out of ammo, you will have to complete it.

Departure of heroes. For different tasks, you need heroes of different camps, quality and star level. One hero can only be assigned to one mission. To send it, click on the task and press "Collect" - the desired character will be set automatically. By clicking "Submit", the countdown begins until the end of the task. The higher the quality of the job, the longer it takes.

Try to get as many different heroes as possible in order to successfully pick them up for the Bounty Hunt missions. First, complete short tasks where heroes are involved. Leave the longest tasks for last - this way you will avoid downtime and will be able to close the entire list in a day.

Battle Night: Norn Arena Battles

Features. Place a defense team in the Norn arena and fight offline with teams of other players. If you win, you get victory points, and if you lose, you lose them. The aggregate rating of the arena participants is formed by the number of victory points earned and places in the leagues are distributed. The size of the Norn Arena’s daily and seasonal rewards depends on the ranking.

The more arena points a defeated opponent has, the more reward points you will receive.

The choice of the enemy. To fight, press "Match" and choose your opponent. Always consider the strength of your opponent and choose the one who is higher than you in the rating, but has a lower BM. Do not rely on chance - there are no bugs in the calculation of strength in the game, so if you risk challenging a more powerful player, you will simply lose. You can update the list of proposed opponents - the first time for free, then for diamonds. We recommend that you do not waste your diamonds thoughtlessly. The maximum list of opponents can be updated times, but not more often.

Keep the defense team up-to-date and don’t forget to put your new pumped heroes into it in time! Keep in mind that the arena lineup does not automatically update even if you change the party in the main story campaign.

Attempts to battle. Every 2 hours, 1 challenge attempt is added in the Norn arena. You can accumulate a maximum of 5 attempts. Additional attempts are bought for diamonds. The higher the VIP level, the more attempts you can buy.

Do not let your attempts at battles burn out, actively spend them and participate in battles! Here you get currency and good rewards - try to take as much as possible.

The fight. As in other activities, battles in the arena take place in automatic mode. If you wish, you can speed up the battle or skip it and see the results immediately.

Battle report. See the statistics of wins and losses in the "fight report". The nickname of your opponent, the number of his victory points, the sum of the points taken from you (in case of loss) and received by you (in case of winning) are indicated here. If you wish, you can take revenge on your "offender".

Don’t get carried away with revenge. If the opposing team is stronger than yours, you will definitely lose and lose even more victory points. Don’t waste your energy and resources on meaningless actions.

Types of awards in the Norn arena. In total, for participation in this activity, you can receive 4 types of awards:

1. Major awards. For each attempt at a challenge in the arena, regardless of its outcome, you receive 10 arena coins.
2. Quality awards. Issued 1 time when a player enters a new league;
3. Daily rewards. Every day sent to the post office;
4. Season rewards. Their size is determined based on the results of the arena season, and they also go to the player’s mail.

Check your in-game mail in time, collect your arena rewards and delete the messages you read! The number of messages is limited, with a full box you will not be able to receive your honestly earned prizes.

How to get into the rating? To be a prominent participant in the arena rating, it is enough to comply with two simple conditions: start the game on a new server and not abandon it. Sometimes players leave the game and stop developing. This also applies to the arena leaders. Actively swinging and fighting, you can meet here "dead" players from the top of the rating and easily remove them from the podium. The main thing is to have a goal and go towards it.

Battle Night: Hyperspace Guide

Tiers and tasks. Hyperspace consists of 9 tiers. Each tier contains 4 thematic tasks from the series: battles, trading, gambling and supply. To move to the next tier, complete at least one mission on the current tier. You can complete all tasks. Heroes and enemies are not regenerated in Hyperspace. The strength of opponents on the tiers increases in proportion to the leveling of your account.

Dispose of your heroes wisely and don’t disassemble them unnecessarily. Remember, they all come in handy in Hyperspace battles. If you are using fighters not from the main party, then do not forget to dress them in good uniforms before the battle. If possible, add healers to the party.

Dice. For completing tasks, you will receive dice - you will need them to access the tasks on the next tier. If you don’t have enough dice, you will not be able to complete the task. You enter Hyperspace itself with 3 dice, and for moving to a new tier you get 1 additional dice. The more prestigious the thematic task, the better the rewards for its completion and the more dice you will have to pay for access to it.

We recommend that you complete all tasks on the current tier of Hyperspace to earn maximum rewards. Keep in mind that with each tier, the enemies become stronger, respectively, your chances of successfully completing tasks are reduced.

Bonuses. On some of the tiers you come across supply base missions. Buy useful items on it for your party, but know - you will be forced to use up dice and will not get new ones. It is very important to have a supply of dice in order to get the necessary boosters from the base. For this purpose, close the maximum tasks on the previous tiers. All acquired effects are sent to the supply box. Use them when the need arises.

Buy bonuses that heal and resurrect dead soldiers. The rest of them (strengthening, support) will not have much effect in battle. Simply put, it is a waste of dice.

Completing assignments. For completing tasks in Hyperspace, you will receive Hyperspace tickets for the store, as well as bonuses. Save them to open reward chests. Contents of the chests:

• For 10 bonuses - a regular poker coin, cartridge or diamond;
• For 30 bonuses - a regular poker coin, cartridge or diamond, as well as either a small pile of gold (12 hours), or parts to create. You can get a police token;
• For 50 bonuses - a regular poker coin, cartridge or diamond, as well as either a small pile of gold (12 hours), or parts to create. You can get tickets for the "Rassvet" cinema;
• For 70 bonuses - a regular poker coin, a cartridge, a diamond, an improved recruitment coin, a bag of gold (for 24 hours) and parts to create. There is a chance of finding a film for the Rassvet cinema.

Restarting Hyperspace. Use Hyperspace tickets to restart it if you cannot complete an activity. Every 2 days you have 1 free chance to restart. The required level to participate in Hyperspace battles is

Before restarting, try to additionally pump your heroes and complete the maximum tasks you can. It is possible that you can get even more rewards. Restart Hyperspace wisely only when you have no chance of going further.

Battle Night: Completing missions at the Dawn Cinema

At the 50th account level, the Rassvet Cinema opens. Complete 5 missions with battles here daily and get currency for the cinema store. The hero levels in this activity are the same as the account level.

Types of tasks and their updating. There are three types of cinema tasks: green, blue, and purple. The higher the quality, the stronger the enemies and the better the reward. Upgrade the suggested quests for tickets to replace them with quests of higher quality. Already completed tasks can be updated using the film strip.

Choose at least blue tasks, but do not get carried away with wasting tickets - it is best to have about 20 tickets in stock in case of their shortage in your bag.

Awards. For completing the tasks of the Dawn cinema, you will receive Dawn tokens for the store. You can also purchase positive effects for tokens. After earning a certain number of tokens, you will receive the corresponding reward.

Auxiliary Effects. Before starting a mission, choose auxiliary effects for combat. Keep in mind that they will determine the size of the "Dawn" tokens received if you win! The percentages opposite the proposed effects give hints about how the prize will increase or decrease depending on the applied "boosters".

Be careful when choosing effects. Often they relate to specific camps, respectively, if you do not have these heroes, you will not receive additional tokens. Try and combine different effects to successfully complete the battle. You can replay the task as many times as you like - attempts are counted only if successful.

Boss fight. During the event, a boss fight will open. The selected buffs can affect the amount of damage dealt, on which the rating depends. At the end of the event, rewards will be sent by mail.

Battle Night: Protected Mine

Fight in the Protected Mine for the right to excavate there. Each completed chapter gives access to rarer treasures, including green and blue blueprints (chapters B1 - B5) and relics:

• Chapter B6 - Random relic (B);
• Chapter B7 - Random Relic (A);
• Chapter B8 - Abyssal Gem (A);
• Chapter B9 - Magnetic Stone (A);
• Chapter B10 - Twilight Crystal (A);
• Chapter B11 - Coral Crimson Bone (A).

At any excavation, you are guaranteed to receive parts to create. Their number grows from chapter to chapter.

Collect all blueprints in the Protected Mine. Even from green and blue blueprints, it is possible to create high-end gear in Kato’s garage.

Excavations and battles. There are 5 excavation attempts per day on the completed chapters of the Protected Mine. If you have a VIP level, the number of attempts increases. A new chapter of the mine always opens with a battle. Replay this fight until you win - your defeats do not count. For the first victory in a chapter, you receive additional rewards - energy spheres, random runes, etc.

Try unlocking new chapters in the Protected Mine every day and only then excavate the treasures. The further the chapter, the better the reward. Remember to use 5 digging attempts every day. Passing the Protected Mine is one of the daily quests.

Battle Night: Arcade Game

Arcade is a slot machine in which you can win various prizes: fragments of heroes, blueprints, hiring coins, parts to create, and much more. The game uses poker coins. There are two types of arcades: regular (standard) and royal (with more prestigious awards).

Playing Arcade is one of the types of daily tasks. Don’t forget to follow through.

Refreshing the list. The assortment of the slot machine is periodically updated. The time until the next update is always indicated in the menu. You can forcefully update the list of prizes for diamonds, but we do not recommend doing this, since this is an irrational waste of premium currency.

Bonus: 10 tries. From level 60 and from VIP-2, you have the opportunity to use 10 attempts to play at a time in a regular Arcade. For this you pay 8 coins instead of Thus, 2 games are given to you for free.

Don’t waste your poker coins in excess of your daily quests. Save them until you reach level In the future, you can take advantage of a good discount and play many free games.

Battle Night: Fitness 24

Fitness 24 is 3 types of workouts for your team. For victories in training of each type, you receive the corresponding rewards: hero experience, gold and parts to create. 2 attempts of each workout are available per day. If you lose, attempts are not lost. As you level up your account, you unlock more challenging workouts, where you get even more rewards for winning.

Fitness 24 Battles are a type of daily challenge! Don’t forget to do the activity daily.

The fight. You cannot skip a fight in Fitness, but you can speed up and pause it. When you win, the blitz of this training level becomes available - it is displayed by an icon with a lightning bolt.

Use the blitz to save time and collect the rewards you owe without a fight.

Battle Night: Guild Guide

Joining a guild. Guilds are available from the 17th account level. The community limit is 21 players. To join the guild, see the recruitment orders that are periodically posted in the global chat. Look for strong guilds that will help you develop and complete activities.

If the guild does not differ online and does not show itself in any way in the "Guild Hunt", then it is best to change it and find another one. The possible titles that chapters give to active players won’t get you anything if the community isn’t growing. When leaving the guild, you do not lose the earned coins.

We recommend using the "Guild Hunt" rating for a visual study of the best guilds on the server. If you are in the mood for a serious and long-term game, then your goal is to get into the guild from the TOP-3 of this rating.

Guild Hall. The guild hall displays basic information: guild members, their last online time, a journal with events from the life of the guild, group mail, the guild experience scale. There is also a guild chat, and for the head and deputies - the "Applications" tab, where there are applications for joining from new players.

View information about members from the Guild Hall to assess its activity and development.

Guild coins and shop. Guild coins are the currency that you receive when you enter the guild (the "Enter" button in the guild menu) and while participating in the "Guild Hunt". For the entrance you get the usual coins, and for the "Guild Hunt" - honorable ones. Purchase the earned coins in the guild store, where you can buy blueprints for creating equipment.

Buy the purple blueprints you need in the store. When the entire battle party is wearing purple gear, start acquiring orange blueprints and create the corresponding ammunition. There is no need to purchase orange blueprints before collecting purple kits!

Guild hunting

Players who have reached level 30 can challenge the Guild Hunt. On a day, you have 2 attempts to participate in an activity, while moving to another guild will not increase or decrease the number of attempts. Here you fight bosses that belong to one of 4 categories:

• Evasion: each round increases evasion and at the same time deals damage to the attacker;
• Critical attack: each round strengthens a critical attack, which deals additional damage;
• Defense: each round increases resistance;
• Negative effects: while attacking, adds bleeding damage.

Bosses are refreshed every 2 days and cannot be defeated due to unlimited HP. For each battle, you receive rewards - guild coins, diamonds and crafting parts. Also, upon reaching the desired threshold of damage to the boss, you get additional prizes (guild coins, parts for creating, etc.).

The damage inflicted on the boss by all members of one guild is summed up in the "Guild Hunt" summary rating, which can be used to judge the best guilds on the server. There is also a rating of the players who showed themselves the best in this activity. With the advent of new bosses, all results for the previous ones are reset.

Battle Night: Friends in the game

Friends are not only communication and play in the company, but also an opportunity to get coins of friendliness. So that your friends will delight you with pleasant gifts and help you in development, build your friends list wisely.

Which players to add as friends? First of all, pay attention to the player’s level. You should not add newcomers and low-level accounts as friends, as these people may not stay in the game and take a vacant place on your list in vain. All submitted add requests are displayed on the Requests tab.

We recommend accepting requests and sending friendship invitations to players who are at the same account level or higher with you. As a rule, successful players are more reliable comrades and are inclined to play actively.

How to find new friends? The game provides a search for friends (the "Search" button), but the chance that you will find such active players is small. It is best to look for friends in the world chat - to do this, send the message "Add me" there or browse the chat yourself for such requests. To send a friendship request, click on the avatar of the desired player and click the icon with the "+" sign - your application will be sent.

Cleaning the list. You can add 20 players as friends. The limit is small, so the list needs to be tracked and cleaned. If your friend has not been online for three or more days, then it is better to take another active player in his place. To remove a friend, click on him in the list and click on the trash can icon.

Friends are ranked by activity level. The players who have been offline the longest are shown at the end of the list.

Sending and receiving gifts from friends. Send gifts to your friends and get coins of friendliness for this for the friends store. You also get coins of friendliness when your friends send you gifts. This is the process of "exchanging coins" between players, respectively, the more active your friends list, the more currency you can get.

To take a gift, go to the friends menu and check who managed to please you. To send a gift to a friend, click the "Send" button opposite his name. Gifts are free and paid - for diamonds. Evaluate the feasibility of sending paid gifts according to the situation and your diamond account.

Use the buttons "Get all" and "Send all" to take and present gifts to all your friends in 1 click.

Battle Night: Daily Quests and Achievements

Types of daily tasks. These include:

• Participation in the "Gold Rush" - 2 times. Reward: diamonds;
• Sending a flower - 1 time. Reward: diamonds;
• Completion of 1 main hiring. Reward: Crafting Parts;
• Completion of 1 improved hire. Reward: diamonds;
• Arcade Victory - 2 times. Reward: diamonds;
• Execution of a quick search - 1 time. Reward: diamonds;
• Development of a closed mine - 1 time. Reward: Gold.
• Call to Fitness - 2 times. Reward: Gold.
• Completing the "Bounty Hunt" task - 2 times. Reward: hero experience;
• Arena challenge - 3 times Reward: hero experience;
• Equipment dismantling - 1 time. Reward: Crafting Parts.

Be sure to close the daily quests to collect all the rewards. These tasks are not difficult and correspond to the main activities of the game. The progress is updated once a day.

Points and general awards. For each completed task, you are awarded points. Collect the general rewards of daily tasks as you accumulate 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 points. Best award (for 10 points) - 10 pcs. energosphere.

Do not forget to click on the rewards when you accumulate the required number of points to receive them. Otherwise, you will not take them. Rewards not collected in a day will expire.

Achievements . Achievements - your progress in completing the activities of the game. For overcoming the next threshold, in addition to the main rewards, you also get diamonds in the "Achievements" tab. Types of achievements:

1. Joining a guild;
2. Missions: Completing the chapters of the campaign;
3. Protected mine: completion of the passage of the level;
4. Hero recruitment : making improved recruitment;
5. Epic Heroes: Hire a purple (or better) hero.
6. Legendary Heroes: Hire an orange (or better) hero;
7. Best Sheriff: Complete the Bounty Hunt quest.

Battle Night: How to get even more rewards?

Entering the game. Come into the game every day and get gifts in the permanent "Daily Login" promotion. In total, you can get 30 gifts per month, and if you have a donated premium pass - additional prizes.

Online award. Required online varies from minutes to hours, and the size of the gifts increases as it lasts. The only requirement for these rewards is to be in the game.

To receive online rewards, turn off sleep mode on your phone and leave the game on.

A special matter. Complete all the tasks of the "Special Business" and receive rewards for each, and upon completion of all tasks - K gold, 1K diamonds and parts for creating equipment. Types of tasks:

1. Reach player level 50;
2. Completed Chapter 7.
3. Complete Mine Level 70;
4. Win the arena 25 times.
5. Collect over keys in hyperspace;
6. Get 10 items of equipment above blue quality (A / S).

Artifact testing. Complete the following quests to earn the Blueprint for Garpa’s Exclusive Weapon. Task list:

1. Level Quest: Upgrade 4 heroes to level 50 or higher;
2. Quest "Garage": get 15 items of equipment above blue quality (A / S);
3. Star Quest: Get 5 Heroes with 3 Stars;
4. Hire a Purple Hero: Get 6 Heroes of Purple or higher quality;
5. Hire an Orange Hero: Hire the orange hero "Night Lion - Garp".

For completing all tasks, you will additionally receive 8K parts for creating equipment and 8M gold.

Battle Night: Timeline Event Overview

The game constantly hosts temporary events that provide additional opportunities to increase the stocks of currency and items. As a rule, current events are thematically related to the performance of any one game activity. At the end of the time, the theme changes. Below we will look at examples of block of temporary events related to recruiting heroes.

Visit the events menu more often and don’t miss your chances to receive rewards and bonuses.

Hiring newbies. During this event, complete a certain number of improved hires, earn points and receive rewards. The more points, the more cool rewards you can pick up. Among them are bags of gold, curved hourglass, energospheres, etc.

Improved recruitment coins do not count towards cyclic events, feel free to use them. For every 15 Improved Hires, you can earn an additional Ideal Hire Coin.

Perfect rental. You need to complete a set number of ideal hires to accumulate points and receive rewards based on their number.

Weekly hiring card. During this event, you will receive free rewards daily under the Events - Weekly Recruitment Card tab. When you donate a weekly premium card, the amount of rewards increases.

Track the start of the "Weekly Recruitment Card" event so as not to miss the issuance of prizes. This event is cyclical.

Limited hiring. Offer for donators. During the start of the event, it is possible to purchase sets of items with excellent discounts. Each purchase will earn you VIP XP.

Equipment market. During a market event, use a certain amount of good quality gear to exchange for higher level gear blueprints.

Gear Market - A chance to use low-tier gear to get high quality gear. Don’t miss the start of the event!

Hiring a specific hero. During the recruitment event for a specific hero, you will receive a specific hero and the corresponding rewards. The reward can only be received once.

Battle Night: Proper Use of the Bag

All game inventory is stored in a bag and is divided for convenience into 4 tabs: items, equipment, relics and fragments.

Bag limit. The number of items that can be placed in each tab of the bag is not endless. Be sure to keep track of how full your bag is and dispose of low-quality and unnecessary items in time. At the same time, some elements, on the contrary, should be kept and spent wisely. This primarily concerns the "items" tab.

Types of items and how to use them. Items include:

1. Curved hourglass. Needed to reset the hero’s leveling. When used, they return the spent materials, as well as equipment and relics.
2. Sacks of gold. Get it in the campaign. When used, you receive gold equal to 12 hours spent in the current chapter of the campaign.
3. Improved Hiring Coins. Used to improve the recruitment of heroes in the B club;
4. Rassvet cinema ticket. Allows to update orders of the Rassvet cinema;
5. Temporary accelerator. Used to quickly collect automatically found items;
6. Main hire coin. Used in club B for main recruitment;
7. Poker coins. Used in the Arcade to win;
8. Cartridges. Used to re-complete the Bounty Hunt quest at the police station;
9. Hero experience. Gives the hero experience equal to 4 hours spent in the current chapter of the campaign;
10. Blueprints. Fragments of equipment.

Save up the "Bags of Gold" and "Hero Experience" items, do not waste them on the first chapters of the campaign. Remember that the further you go, the more gold and experience you earn. In the initial chapters of the campaign, you can get very modest amounts from 1 item, and in the later chapters, you can significantly replenish your supplies.

Synthesis of fragments from the bag. The resulting fragments can be universal and named. Synthesize new heroes when you accumulate 20 fragments - this is indicated by a red dot on the corresponding bag tab and on the fragment itself. To synthesize, click on a fragment, select the number of fragments (if you have more than 20 in stock) and click "Hire".

Battle Night: Major game currencies

There are two main currencies in Battle Night - gold and diamonds. Both currencies are earned in activities and are used to upgrade heroes and purchase the necessary items in stores. The current amount of currency is displayed in the game menu.

Gold. Gold is the main currency. It is gold that you most often mine in the campaign and other activities. Mostly spent on leveling heroes. Despite the availability, you may run into a gold deficit. To prevent this from happening, use all available methods to obtain it.

Use the Sacks of Gold item to replenish your supplies, but only in the middle and late stages of the campaign - this way you will receive much more gold than at the beginning of the game!

How to earn gold in the Gold Rush? Click on the "+" next to the amount of gold to enter the "Gold Rush". Get free gold here or exchange diamonds for it. Every 8 hours there are 5 attempts to receive, with an interval of 21 minutes between free attempts. Sometimes you get a x2 bonus - in this case, you get double the gold.

Be sure to use all 5 attempts to get gold every 8 hours! Come into the game more often, set reminders or an alarm clock so as not to miss your chances.

Diamonds. Diamonds are obtained in activities, promotions, or purchased for donation. Check the offers in the Hypermarket - you can also take diamonds for viewing them. This currency is used to obtain new heroes and valuable in-game items.

It is best to spend diamonds on new heroes, since they are the hardest to get. Don’t hoard diamonds, use them to upgrade your team. The faster you get capable fighters, the more successfully you will advance in the game.

Battle Night: What Products Should I Buy?

The in-game store is rich in product offers and is divided into tabs that correspond to the currency used and the activities where it can be earned.

The "Special" tab. Here you can buy whatever your heart desires: from hero fragments to poker coins. Currency used: diamonds and gold. The assortment is updated once a day, a forced update is available for diamonds.

Buy items that are in short supply and are difficult to obtain. We do not recommend spending diamonds on early updating of the store’s assortment - you better wait.

Heroes tab. Buy here the heroes of the necessary camps to upgrade the characters of the main battle party. Also, these suggestions will be very useful when you lack a certain number of fragments for synthesis. Each item can be purchased three times. Heroes Tab Currency: Hero Coins earned by selling on the Shadow Market.

Friendly tab. This uses the Coins of Friendliness that you earn when you give and receive gifts from friends. The best suggestion of the tab is the fragments of purple heroes. Collect coins of friendliness to purchase high-quality party heroes here.

If necessary, purchase energy spheres to pump the level of heroes. It is better not to spend currency on other goods (cartridges, poker coins, cinema tickets, etc.).

Arena and Hyperspace tabs. Purchase fragments, energy spheres, and more with arena coins and hyperspace tickets. Similar to the other tabs, the focus here is on buying missing hero fragments. This is the best investment of currency for pumping fighters and getting new ones.

Do not buy secondary items that can be easily obtained in activities! Spend your currency wisely and invest in increasing your combat power.

"Dawn Cinema" tab. Purchase goods for Dawn tokens obtained on the Dawn Cinema missions. Fragments, equipment, craters in the heart of the ocean, the eye of the limb, fragments of relics, etc. Buy here the items you need, but remember to prioritize fragments and gear.

The best products. Based on the analysis of the assortment of the in-game store, we can say that the best goods in it are fragments, energy spheres and coins of improved hiring. The latter will cost you much cheaper than when you buy it at the Bee club. As for other offers, it is better to ignore them and try to make money on your own. With the proper use of the store and the distribution of game currencies, you will not experience a shortage of the necessary resources and will be able to steadily swing fighters.

Battle Night: Donate Guide

VIP system. You earn VIP experience by making in-game purchases with real money. Depending on the size of the invested amount, you increase in the VIP-level, receive gift sets of various values and the following privileges. Their exact number depends on the VIP level itself (12 in total). Types of privileges:

• Increasing the maximum number of cells;
• Additional daily arena attempts;
• Increasing the limit of daily tasks in Fitness;
• Additional tasks in the "Bounty Hunt";
• Additional daily attempts in the "Gold Rush";
• Extra chances for a complete cleanup;
• New restrictions on cleaning in each chapter of the "Protected Mine" location;
• A quick search that you can buy for the day.

We recommend donating a small amount of money in the store to receive the first purchase bonus: the purple hero A-Zhao. It is quite difficult to win new strong heroes in the game, so this is a very advantageous offer from the developers

Buying diamonds. Diamonds are the premium currency of the game. It can be obtained in activities or bought for real money. Click on the "+" next to the number of your diamonds to get to the store. The first time you purchase each set, you get double the size.

Buy each of the presented diamond sets, from the smallest to the largest, to get the maximum bonus on your first purchase.

Temporary offers in the Hypermarket. Check out the daily, weekly and monthly offers at Hypermarket. As a rule, the products displayed there are sold with good discounts. For any purchase you will receive a VIP experience. The purchase of goods in the Hypermarket is limited, limited to 1 purchase at a time.

For viewing offers in the Hypermarket, you get free items, including diamonds.

Foundation level. Purchasing a "Level Fund" gives you access to additional rewards for increasing your account level - a total of 28, diamonds. Also, with the purchase of the "Level Fund" you get diamonds instantly and 80 VIP-experience.

Premium pass. Purchasing a Premium Pass gives you the opportunity to receive increased rewards for logging into the game every day. The total cost of these awards is 9, diamonds. With the purchase of the premium pass, you simultaneously receive VIP-experience and diamonds.

The level fund and the premium pass are a profitable investment for players who are determined to play long and secure a high place in the TOPs.

Purchase a weekly premium hiring card. This card allows you to earn additional rewards during the Weekly Recruitment Card event. If you purchase a card later than the start of the event, you will immediately receive all the rewards for the previous days. After the end of the event, all unreceived awards will be sent to your mail. Players who have not taken their weekly card can receive all rewards the next time they receive the weekly card.

One weekly card will bring you additional rewards for 7 days.

Battle Night: Player Profile

The profile contains basic information about the player:

• Your current level;
• Your experience;
• VIP level;
• Player ID for contacting technical support;
• Player name.

We recommend that you come up with an interesting and memorable name in the game. This will make it easier for other players to remember you and make it easier for you to find friends and join the guild.

Player progress. By participating in activities, you accumulate gaming experience. When the experience bar is fully filled, your account is leveled up. The level determines the current threshold for pumping characters and equipment, as well as the unlocking of activities. At the moment there are levels available in the game.

As you level up, don’t forget to visit the "Level Fund" to receive additional rewards for your progress!

Social network games. In the player profile, buttons are available to visit the game’s official Facebook group and the Discord channel. Do not ignore these links and often go to both social networks - the latest news about updates in the game is posted there and contests are held with a chance to get good gifts.

Go to the official game groups and receive a gift - diamonds. You do not need to do any reposts and other things - the very fact of visiting the pages is important! This is a great opportunity to get diamonds without any effort.

Avatar. Avatar - a picture next to your name that other players will see. As an avatar, you can choose an image of any hero you open. Changing your avatar is free.

Battle Night: Conclusion

Battle Night is one of the few modern cyberpunk games. Infused with great music and graphics. Offers a multi-faceted character leveling system and diverse activities that will surely interest players. It loads quickly and immerses you in the atmosphere of a city drowning in neon lighting, on the outskirts of which dark deeds are performed.

A small drawback of the game is its energy consumption, however, with the correct graphics settings, you will quickly solve this problem. It is definitely worth playing Battle Night because of the beautifully drawn characters and the mood of cyberpunk, which, unlike other similar games, is able to bring novelty and give an opportunity to look differently at the gameplay we are used to.

The author of the article: Nadezhda D., Yaroslav I.

"Loot crate" redirects here. For the subscription box company, see Loot Crate.

Purchasable video game item containing random rewards

Mock-up image of opening a loot box in a video game

In video games, a loot box (also called a loot/prize crate) is a consumable virtual item which can be redeemed to receive a randomised selection of further virtual items, or loot, ranging from simple customization options for a player's avatar or character, to game-changing equipment such as weapons and armor. A loot box is typically a form of monetisation, with players either buying the boxes directly or receiving the boxes during play and later buying "keys" with which to redeem them. These systems may also be known as gacha (based on gashapon – capsule toys) and integrated into gacha games.

Loot box concepts originated from loot systems in massively multiplayer online role-playing games, and from the monetisation of free-to-playmobile gaming. They first appeared in through , and have appeared in many free-to-play games and in some full-priced titles since then. They are seen by developers and publishers of video games not only to help generate ongoing revenue for games while avoiding drawbacks of paid downloadable content or game subscriptions, but to also keep player interest within games by offering new content and cosmetics through loot-box reward systems.

Loot boxes were popularised through their inclusion in several games throughout the mids. By the later half of the decade, some games, particularly Star Wars Battlefront II, expanded approaches to the concept that caused them to become highly criticised. Such criticism included "pay to win" gameplay systems that favor those that spend real money on loot boxes and negative effects on gameplay systems to accommodate them, as well as them being anti-consumer when implemented in full-priced games. Due to fears of them being used as a source in gray-market skin gambling, loot boxes began to become regulated under national gambling laws in various countries at the same time.

Design[edit]

The opening of a loot box from Overwatch. Elements such as the box shaking, the flying discs with rarity indicated by colour, and the final reveal, are designed to heighten the appeal of opening loot boxes. Once the process is done, the player is presented with a button to take them to the shop to buy more boxes.

A "loot box" can be named several different ways, usually related to the type of game that it appears in. A "loot box", "loot crate" or "lockbox" is often applied to shooter games since one obtains new equipable outfits or gear from it. Digital card games may use the term "booster pack" following from collectible card game roots.^[1]

Loot boxes are often given to players during play, for instance as rewards for leveling up their character or completing a multiplayer game without quitting.^[2][3] Loot boxes may also be given out through promotions outside of gameplay, such as watching certain streaming events.^[4][5] Players can also buy them directly, most often with real-world funds but also through in-game currency (sometimes, in-game currency can or has to be paid for with real-world funds to obtain lootboxes).^[6][7] Some loot boxes can be redeemed immediately, while redeeming others requires further consumable items dressed as "keys".^[8]

Loot boxes are generally redeemed through an in-game interface which dresses the process with appealing visual and audio effects.^[2][9] Some such interfaces are explicitly modeled on slot machines or roulette wheels, designed to create a psychological response to increase player excitement.^[9][10][11] When the player runs out of loot boxes or keys, a prominent button may be displayed with which they can buy more.^[12]

The items that can be granted by a loot box are usually graded by "rarity", with the probability of receiving an item decreasing rapidly with each grade. While the set of items given are randomly selected it can come with certain guarantees, for instance that it will contain at least one item of a certain rarity or above.^[13] In some redemption processes, yet-revealed items are presented with a colour that corresponds to its rarity level, further heightening the excitement of revealing the items.^[9] Some game systems include a "pity-timer" mechanic, which increases the player's chances to receive a rarer item from a loot box if the player has not received one in the last several loot boxes they have opened. This pity-timer mechanic may also be used if the player purchases loot boxes in bulk rather than individually, such that one of the loot boxes in the bulk purchase is assured of having a rarer item.^[14]

The player's inventory is managed in server databases run by the game's developers or publishers. This may allow for players to view the inventory of other players and arrange for trades with them.^[8] Items obtained from loot boxes and equipped or used by the player's character are nearly always visible to all other players during the course of a game, such as seeing a character skin or hearing a voice line.^[12]

Most loot-box systems grant items without regard for what the player already owns. Means are provided to dispose of these duplicates, often involving trading them with other players or converting them into an in-game currency. Some loot-box systems allow players to then use this currency to directly purchase specific items they do not have.^[3][15]

Some loot-box systems, primarily from Asian developers, use an approach adapted from gashapon (capsule toy) vending machines.^[16] These gacha games offer "spins" (analogous to turning the crank of a capsule machine) to get a random item, character, or other virtual good. One form of gacha called "complete gacha" allows players to combine common items in a set in order to form a rarer item.^[17] The first few items in a set can be rapidly acquired but as the number of missing items decreases it becomes increasingly unlikely that redeeming a loot box will complete the set. This is particularly true if there are a large number of common items in the game, since eventually one single, specific item is required.^[17] This particular practice was banned in Japan by the Consumer Affairs Agency in , though gacha games at large remain.^[17]

Some games may include seasonal or special event loot boxes which include specific items only available during the time of that event.^[18] In the case of digital collectible card games which rotate expansions in and out as part of keeping a viable meta-game, booster packs of a certain expansion may only be purchasable while that expansion is considered in standard play, and once it is "retired", these cards can no longer be earned in packs, though still may be gained from the use of in-game currency and used outside standard play.^[19]

History[edit]

An array of gachapon(capsule toy) machines in Hong Kong. Loot boxes were inspired by the random distribution of gachaponone could acquire through these machines.

Loot boxes are an extension of randomised loot drop systems from earlier video games, frequently used to give out randomised rewards in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMO or MMORPG) or similar games.^[1][20] Loot boxes took this approach and formulated a monetisation approach used by free-to-play games in mobile gaming.^[1] Loot boxes also incorporate elements of the randomness of acquiring gachapon capsule toys.^[16]

The first known instance of a loot-box system is believed to be an item called "Gachapon ticket" which was introduced in the Japanese version of MapleStory, a side-scrolling MMORPG, in June Such tickets were sold at the price of Japanese yen per ticket. Like real-life gachapon machines, players attained randomly chosen game items when they used the ticket on "Gachapon", an in-game booth that was distributed across the game world.^[21]

The Chinese free-to-play game ZT Online (or simply Zhengtu) which was released in by the Zhengtu Network is also considered to be one of the early examples of video games that contained loot boxes as a part of its game system.^[9] Players in Asian countries typically do not have the funds to purchase full-cost titles, and use Internet cafes or PC bangs to play the game for free, or resort to copyright infringement to obtain copies of games for free. Instead of trying to change this approach, Asian games like ZT Online introduced loot boxes as a means to assure monetisation from a game that they would otherwise not receive revenue from the base sale.^[22] Within a year, Zhengtu Network reported monthly revenue from ZT Online exceeding US$15 million, justifying the profitability of this scheme.^[23][24] This led to the approach of releasing games as free-to-play with microtransactions atop the title.^[22] Many free-to-play mobile games in Asian regions would offer loot-box approaches, most notably Puzzle & Dragons, released in , which used its gacha approach to be the first mobile game to earn more than US$1 billion from its monetisation scheme.^[16]

In Western regions (North America and Europe) around , the video game industry saw the success of Zynga and other large publishers of social-network games that offered the games for free on sites like Facebook but included microtransactions to accelerate one's progress in the game, providing that publishers could depend on revenue from post-sale transactions rather than initial sale.^[22] One of the first games to introduce loot box-like mechanics was FIFA 09 in March which allowed players to create a team of association football players from in-game card packs they opened using in-game currency earned through regular playing of the game or via microtransactions.^[25] Another early game with loot box mechanics was Team Fortress 2 in September , when Valve added the ability to earn random "crates" to be opened with purchased keys.^[12] Valve's Robin Walker stated that the intent was to create "network effects" that would draw more players to the game, so that there would be more players to obtain revenue from the keys to unlock crates.^[22] Valve later transitioned to a free-to-play model, reporting an increase in player count of over 12 times after the transition,^[24] and hired Yanis Varoufakis to research virtual economies. Over the next few years many MMOs and multiplayer online battle arena games (MOBAs) also transitioned to a free-to-play business model to help grow out their player base, many adding loot-box monetisation in the process,^[24][26] with the first two being both Star Trek Online^[27] and The Lord of the Rings Online^{[citation needed]} in December

Separately, the FIFA series from Electronic Arts (EA) included a "FIFA Ultimate Team Mode" that allowed players to use virtual trading cards to build a team. Initially released as downloadable content, the "FIFA Ultimate Team Mode" transitioned to a free add-on to the base game with the release, with the ability to buy card packs as a means to generate revenue for the game.^[22] EA took the success of this transition for Mass Effect 3 in March Mass Effect 3 offered "packs" that would offer uncommon gear, otherwise obtainable only by "grinding" through online gameplay. According to the game's producer Jesse Houston, these were used as a means to offset the development cost of the game's multiplayer mode. The Mass Effect 3 team worked closely with the FIFA team to get the rollout of these packs right, which Houston compared to opening a Magic: The Gathering booster card pack to make a player feel like they were always getting value from the pack.^[22][28]

Other early examples of packaged games with loot boxes included Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in August , adding "weapon cases" in an update,^[29] and Battlefield 4 in October , adding "battlepacks", though they did not become purchasable until May and never granted duplicate items.^[30][3]Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, released in November , included "supply drops" that contained randomised items including different variants of the game's weapons, character gear, and experience points that could be used to customise one's character.^[31]

With the financial success of Overwatch and its loot-box systems, several games—particularly from popular franchises—in and included the mechanic as part of its meta-game. This included Call of Duty: WWII, Halo Wars 2, Gears of War 4, Assassin's Creed Origins, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, and Forza Motorsport 7.^[32][33][34] By October , this had led to critical review of the practice. In particular, the highly-visible Star Wars Battlefront II, released amid criticism of its loot-box systems in November , led to renewed discussions at various government levels related to the legality of these systems.^[35][36] The review aggregator OpenCritic announced plans to include a "business model intrusiveness" for games that provide a metric on how much a game's loot and DLC system can impact the game.^[37] The reaction to loot boxes in the last half of was considered one of the major trends in the video game industry in ^[38][39][40]

Criticism[edit]

Player investment and gambling concerns[edit]

A row of slot machines in a legal casino. Various independent studies concluded or suggested that the mechanisms of loot boxes in video games share many crucial similarities with traditional slot machines in casino.

Loot boxes are considered part of the compulsion loop of game design to keep players invested in a game.^[9] Such compulsion loops are known to contribute towards video game addiction and are frequently compared to gambling addiction.^[1][9][41] This is in part due to the use of a "variable-rate reinforcement schedule" similar to how slot machines dole out prizes.^[42] While many players may never invest real-world money in a loot-box system, such addictive systems can bring large monetary investments from "whales", players who are willing to spend large amounts of money on virtual items.^[34] Gambling concerns are heightened in games that offer loot boxes and are known to be played by children.^[43] Loot boxes also feed into the social anxiety around the "fear of missing out" (FOMO), as some random drops from loot boxes may be available for only a limited time, and players will be more inclined to spend money to obtain loot boxes so they do not miss out on these items.^[44] The use of pity-timers in loot box redemption also can feed into the gambler's fallacy, appearing to give credence to the player that they will be assured of a high-rarity item if they open enough loot boxes.^[14]

Video games have generally been considered games of skill rather than games of chance and thus are unregulated under most gambling laws, but researchers from New Zealand and Australia, writing in Nature Human Behaviour in , concluded that "loot boxes are psychologically akin to gambling".^[45] A separate report from researchers in England in also concluded that loot boxes "are structurally and psychologically akin to gambling".^[44][46]

Proponents for the use of loot boxes have countered complaints that they are gambling systems by likening them to opening collectible toys such as Hatchimals^[47] or booster packs from physical collectible card games (CCGs) like Magic: the Gathering. In the United States CCGs have been subject to previous legal challenges related to if they are a form of gambling, but were not found liable.^[48] Some countries like Belgium have specifically exempted CCGs from gambling legislation because these games do not offer any type of gambling element.^[49] However, opponents of loot boxes address the fact that the process of opening a digital loot box is designed around a sensory experience and immediate return that can affect those that may be prone to gambling, a factor that does not exist with physical booster packs.^[48]

Some have argued the increased use of loot boxes in games since FIFA was due to the perception that the act of opening loot boxes is an exciting element for a game for both the player, and those watching the player either on YouTube videos or through live streaming, creating a number of multi-million subscriber video streams solely dedicated to opening loot boxes.^[50]NPD Group, which tracks video game sales, says that for games released through September , there was no sign of consumer purchase change, positively or negatively, on games that included loot boxes.^[51] NPD reported that NBA 2K18, which had been criticised by players for its loot-box system at its September launch, ended up as the best-selling game in North America for that month.^[52] Juniper Research estimated that the global video game market, worth around US$ billion in , is set to grow to about US$ billion by , buoyed by the increased use of loot boxes, particularly within China.^[53] For these reason, some developers see loot boxes as an essential means to monetise games, knowing that there will always be players willing to buy these even if most others do not.^[54]

Games with randomised in-game rewards, including those from loot boxes, and which offer the means to trade these items with other players, are known to attract the use of skin gambling. In skin gambling, these customization items, "skins", become a black market virtual currency among players and operators of websites that allow players to trade the items for real-world funds, or to use those items to gamble on esports or other games of chance; subsequently these activities have been identified as gambling by legal authorities, and several legal challenges arose in the last half of to stop this practice. Valve's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, updated in to include randomised loot drops from in-games, has been the most visible example of skin gambling by mid^[55] Several games which followed in and onward that used loot boxes or other randomised rewards, including Rocket League and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, did not include the ability to trade items or placed limits on trades, thus eliminating skin gambling from these games.^[56][57]

Impact on game design[edit]

Some loot-box systems within free games are criticised as "pay-to-win" systems, and may be derogatorily referred to as "pay-to-loot". In these cases, the contents of the loot box contain items, beyond superficial customization options, which directly affect gameplay, such as booster packs for a digital collectible card game, and with the impact on gameplay proportional to the item's rarity. This can tie the quality of a player's ability to compete with others to the random generation systems of the loot pack, and may drive players into paying for additional loot boxes to obtain high-rarity items to fairly compete with others.^[1]Blizzard's digital card game Hearthstone, released in , is frequently considered to require financial investment in booster packs to be a successful player.^[58] To minimize the effect of pay-to-win in Hearthstone, Blizzard implemented its Standard gameplay mode to only allow players to use cards from the core set or from any expansion released in the prior two year prior, helping to give newer players a better chance to compete against experienced players who may already have all prior card sets.^[59]

Some commentators expressed concern that for these types of loot-box models to be successful for the publishers, the game itself has to be designed around promoting and encouraging the player to purchase loot boxes, which fundamentally impacts core game design principles and may weaken the underlying game mechanics.^[60][61] This may include the use of loot boxes as a means to bypass the need to grind missions repeatedly to get gameplay-changing items that significantly help towards completing a single-player game, which drives players to use real money to purchase these to avoid the time sink. For example, Middle-earth: Shadow of War has a second, true ending requiring the player to gain many more stronger allies to meet its higher difficulty. While the developers playtested the balance of the game without the loot-box system activated, assuring the game could be completed without additional monetisation, reviewers found that the game required a great deal of time needed to complete numerous additional missions for the chance to acquire stronger allies, and with the consistent presence of the in-game market for loot boxes, made it difficult to avoid the allure of paying real money to bypass this grinding, creating a negative on the overall experience.^[62][63] The presentation of a storefront within a game which allows one to use real-world funds to purchase loot boxes or other equipment can also impact the sense of immersion a player has with a game.^[64] By July , the developers of Shadow of War had released patches that completely removed the in-game storefront and loot-box system.^[65][66]

Incentives for monetisation[edit]

The implementation of some loot-box systems are considered anti-consumer by some players and commentators. Full-priced games which already provide downloadable content and then include a loot-box system have been heavily criticised by players.^[33] Some gaming journalists identify the inclusion of loot boxes in multiplayer games as a justified part of the publisher's cost for maintaining the game servers, but see their use in single-player games as only a means for the publishers to profit.^[61]

Developers and publishers consider loot boxes part of a necessary process of monetising AAA video games beyond their initial sale. Publishers have been hesitant of raising the base price of AAA games beyond US$60 (as of ) for fear of immediately losing sales,^[67] and instead seek post-release revenue streams to cover the increased costs and pace of the development process, the stagnation in growth in video game audiences, and a shortening window of time in which to gain full-price sales of their games after release. Monetisation schemes like loot boxes can help provide long tail revenue, well after the release of the game.^{[61][68][69][70][71][72]} Post-release monetisation is believed by publishers to be necessary to compete with the mobile gaming sector, which predominantly uses free-to-play monetisation schemes.^[73] An analyst for KeyBanc Capital Markets, in the wake of the Star Wars Battlefront II controversy, said that the price of video games, even with added purchases for loot boxes and micro-transactions, remains lower than other forms of media on a per-hour basis, and that games are generally underpriced for what value they give.^[74]

Developers noted that the decision to include loot boxes in a game, and how they will be priced in real-world funds, may come from their publisher or upper management, but the implementation of their mechanics, including what they include, how they are doled out, and the like, are frequently set by the developers themselves.^[73] Some developers argue that the loot-box approach can mesh well with certain types of games, as long as they are not implemented to be a predatory manner towards consumers, and the decision to implement loot boxes within a game may be chosen by the developers rather than a mandate from the publisher.^[75] When the loot-box systems are used principally as a means to gain post-sales revenues rather than as an incentive to continuing playing the game, developers feel this requires them to significantly alter the game design away from challenge in gameplay and onto getting players to spend money.^[73] They found that games where the baseline gameplay does not encourage or require spending money for loot boxes, the addition of new content obtained from loot boxes is generally celebrated within that community and may gain brief revenue from that.^[73] Further, loot-box systems are generally better handled when their use is determined early in development so the developers can design around it, rather than a last-minute addition.^[73] Developers found that the mechanics of loot boxes are more accepted by non-Western audiences and younger Western audiences, where these groups have developed different consumption patterns than older Western players, particularly as a result of growing up playing free-to-play mobile titles.^[24][75]

Specific examples[edit]

Overwatch[edit]

Blizzard Entertainment's Overwatch's loot box implementation does not impact gameplay, but other aspects of the system are subject to criticism. A free crate is given to the player each time the player reaches enough experience to level-up, but the rate of experience acquisition varies with player skill. While any item contains only cosmetic appeal and has no influence on gameplay, the desire for a specific item creates a strong incentive to purchase additional crates.^[76]Overwatch's producer Jeff Kaplan detailed the desire to create an in-game currency allowing players to directly acquire an item independent of luck or skill, but currency is only given to a player after opening a crate.^[77][78][79]Overwatch'ssoftware-as-a-service model delivers continued revenue as Blizzard adds new items to obtain through loot boxes.^[60] In response to criticism, Blizzard has made adjustments to its loot box system; for example, reducing the frequency of obtaining duplicate items from loot boxes while attempting to maintain the same in-game currency earning rate in June ^[80] Blizzard's CEO Mike Morhaime said that with Overwatch's loot boxes, Blizzard avoided inclusion of pay-to-win, gameplay-changing elements and the ability to convert rewards from loot boxes back into real-world money, and thus "don't think Overwatch belongs in that [loot box] controversy".^[81] Industry analyst Michael Pachter speculated that the loot box model of Overwatch that uses only cosmetic items will become the more preferred method of offering this monetisation in the future.^[82] Despite this, Overwatch's system still does not allow players to directly use real-world funds to purchase a specific cosmetic item, and the rate which they earn in-game currency towards loot boxes can be slow, both aspects which contribute towards in-game spending and the potential for gambling.^[76][79]

Star Wars Battlefront II[edit]

Conversely, Electronic Arts's Star Wars Battlefront II, developed by EA DICE studio and released in November , received heightened attention in the wake of the October loot-box criticism. Principally an online multiplayer shooter, Battlefront II was developed to eliminate the "season pass" approach that the original game had used, which was found to have split the player base over those that paid for the added content and those that did not.^[67] Instead, Battlefront II brought in other micro-transaction schemes that would still allow all players to play together but provided the desired revenue streams for EA. These schemes include a loot-box system providing, among other rewards, "Star Cards" that provide boosts to a specific character class, and which have tiered levels tied to rarity that provide greater boosts. Because these higher-tier Star Cards give direct advantages to players willing to acquire many loot boxes with real money than at the rate one would obtain simply playing the game, its loot-box system at the time of its open beta period had been described as one of the more egregious "pay-to-win" systems for a full-price game.^[69][83][84]

EA did re-evaluate this approach in response to criticism, and prior to full release, reworked the loot-box system so that some items still offered in loot boxes like Star Cards could also be earned through other routes such as in-game achievements, in-game currency, or through direct monetary purchase.^[85][86] Just prior to release, members of EA Access that had early access to the release version of Battlefront discovered that its other in-game currency and micro-transaction systems required players to spend numerous hours in game matches to earn credits at a sufficient rate to unlock special hero characters, or alternatively spend real-world funds to buy in-game currency or loot boxes that offered that currency as a possible reward. The combined loot-box and micro-transaction systems, all elements of "pay to win" schemes, drew even more criticism. Just hours before the game's official launch, EA and DICE temporarily disabled all micro-transaction purchases until they figured out a way to offer these systems in a favorable manner for consumers; DICE stated: "We will now spend more time listening, adjusting, balancing, and tuning" before they are reintroduced.^[87] According to The Wall Street Journal, the decision to remove the micro-transactions just before launch was demanded by Disney, which owns the Star Wars properties. Disney, knowing the franchise draws in younger players, feared the loot-box systems would contribute towards gambling behavior in children.^[88][43] EA later affirmed its revamped approach to micro-transactions within the game to be released in March , eliminating any pay-to-win elements like Star Cards as potential rewards from loot boxes: Star Cards would otherwise only be earned by an experience-point-based progression in the game, while loot crates would be limited to only cosmetic items or in-game credits to buy these items.^[89]

The player reaction to Battlefront's loot-box system led to the Belgian Gambling Commission to evaluate the nature of loot boxes specifically in Battlefront. In the United States, it generated legislative debates about a potential sales ban within Hawaii and some other US states.^[90] EA has stated that they do not consider the approach of loot boxes in Battlefront as gambling, as it is strictly an optional feature.^[91] The reaction and change to the loot box/monetisation scheme caused sales of Battlefront to fall from expectations, and EA's stock lost 8% of its value a week after the game's release (equal to about US$3 billion). Analysts expect that EA will have to re-evaluate how they monetise games in the future to avoid similar backlashes, which may further reduce future revenues.^[92] In its fiscal quarter results following the release of Battlefront II, EA reported missing their sales mark of 10 million units by about 10%, which EA CFO Blake Jorgensen attributed to the loot-box controversy over the game. This, coupled with the removal of micro-transactions from the game while they readdressed the loot-box approach, led to the game missing EA's revenue projections for that quarter.^[93] In April , EA's Patrick Söderlund stated that the loot-box controversy over Battlefront impacted the company significantly, which included a reorganisation of executive positions, and that: "For games that come next, for Battlefield or for Anthem, [players have] made it very clear that we can't afford to make similar mistakes. And we won't."^[94]

FIFA[edit]

Electronic Arts also published the FIFA series of association football games in annual installments, using the appearances and attributes of the real-world athletes in the teams on the league. Part of more recent entries in the system include its "Ultimate Team" mode, where players can form their own teams by collecting "cards" of these players, which have been offered through virtual card packs that can be purchased with in-game currency or real-world funds (Points currency). While this is a similar mechanism to other games using loot box mechanics, the use here is criticised due to the fact that cards earned from one version of the game do not carry over into the next year's version. Thus, players must work to regain a competitive team by re-earning in-game credits or spending more money by buying additional points, with the potential to continue that cycle each year.^[95] EA has since implemented Ultimate Team-like mechanics in other sports simulation series, including Madden NFL, NBA Live, NHL, and UFC.^[96] In , EA reported that revenue from Ultimate Team pack purchases was US$ million a year, roughly half of their total revenue from microtransactions across their portfolio, and 30% of their entire digital sales revenue.^[97]CBC reported from a leaked EA presentation of the company's intent to drive FIFA 21 players to the Ultimate Team mode as the "cornerstone" of the game.^[98] In a reply, EA stated that they do not "push" players to spend money in their games and that the majority of FIFA players do not spend any money in-game.^[99]

Regulation and legislation[edit]

Because of their use of random chance to gain items after committing real-world funds, games using loot boxes may be considered a form of gambling.^[26] While gambling laws vary from country to country, a common theme that tends to distinguish loot boxes from gambling is the inability to transform the contents from a loot box back into real-world money by legitimate means within the video game.

Games with loot-box systems have become subject to regulation in several Asian countries, while questions of the legality of loot boxes are under consideration in some Western ones.^[] Steven Wright for PC Gamer observed that several of the concerns for loot boxes related to gambling had been previously experienced through lawsuits in the s against the baseball card industry as well as with the physical Pokémon Trading Card Game, but these cases did not impact either arena to a significant degree.^[]

Asia and Oceania[edit]

China[edit]

In December , China's Ministry of Culture announced legislation which required "online game publishers" to publicly release from May onwards the "draw probability of all virtual items and services".^[] When the law came into effect publishers complied, resulting in a variety of statistics being released which quantified the odds of Chinese players receiving different categories of item from each loot box, some of which were as low as %.^[] Other changes mandated by the new regulations required publishers to limit the number of loot box purchases any player can purchase in a day (including limiting the size of multiple loot box bundle packages), and requiring the publisher to give more favorable odds to the player to get rare items with the number of loot boxes they have opened, effectively assuring a player of receiving a rare item by opening a fixed number of loot boxes.^[] A paper evaluated the state of many Chinese games that used loot boxes, and found that of the current top games offered on China's Apple App store, 91 of those games included loot boxes but only about 5% of these made full, proper disclosure of loot box probabilities to China's law.^[14]

The law also banned game publishers from directly selling "lottery tickets" such as loot boxes. In June , Blizzard Entertainment announced that, "in line with the new laws and regulations", loot boxes in their game Overwatch would no longer be available for purchase in China. Players would instead buy in-game currency and receive loot boxes as a "gift" for making the purchase.^[]

Effective November , China's General Administration of Press and Publication prohibited the sale of loot boxes to users under eight years of age and restricted their sale to older users under 18 years of age to a maximum monthly spending limit ranging from renminbi to renminbi.^[]

Japan[edit]

Following the success of the gacha model from Puzzle & Dragons in , it became recognised in Japan that the system was essentially gambling, particularly for younger players.^[16] By May , Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency banned the practice of "complete gacha", in which a predetermined set of items gained from loot boxes would combine once completed to form a rarer and thus more valuable item. This was done not by introducing any new legislation, but by issuing a legal opinion that virtual items could be considered "prizes" under existing legislation written in to prevent the complete gacha practice in the context of baseball trading cards. Within a month of the opinion being issued, all major Japanese game publishers had removed complete gacha rules from their games, though many developers found ways around these rules.^[17][16] Japanese mobile game developers, including GREE and DeNA, worked to establish a self-regulating industry group, the Japan Social Game Association.^[16]

South Korea[edit]

In March , members of South Korea's National Assembly, led by the Liberty Korea Party, proposed amendments to the country's existing games industry regulation that would require games companies to release "information on the type, composition ratio, and acquisition probability" of items granted by loot boxes.^[] Though the amendment did not pass, it led to attempts by the South Korean games industry to self-regulate.^[] This has not convinced assembly members, who have continued to propose statutory regulation.^[] However, there have been several revisions to the self-regulation (most recently, in July ), which now requires all video games to clearly display the payout rates of the items from the loot boxes to the player.^[] There are also plans in the near future to expand the scope of this regulation to include other in-game purchases, such as the success rate of a paid consumable item whose purpose is to enhance another virtual item.^[]

The Fair Trade Commission still oversees consumer issues related to loot boxes and video games; in April , it issued a US$, fine against Nexon related to its game Sudden Attack for deceptive loot-box practices, as well as two smaller fines to other companies.^[]

Singapore[edit]

In October , Singapore's parliament passed The Remote Gambling Act, which introduced a ban on unlicensed gambling websites and fines for anyone violating it. The law's definition of gambling included staking "virtual credits, virtual coins, virtual tokens, virtual objects or any similar thing that is purchasedin relation to a game of chance",^[] leading to concerns that it would require producers of any game in which players paid money and received a randomised outcome to seek a license to operate from the government.^[]

In response to games industry lobbying home affairs minister S. Iswaran clarified the law in parliament, stating that "the Bill does not intend to cover social games in which players do not play to acquire a chance of winning money and where the game design does not allow the player to convert in-game credits to money or real merchandise outside the game". The minister also specifically excluded platforms which offered "virtual currencies which can be used to buy or redeem other entertainment products", such as Steam, from the provisions of the bill.^[]

However, the minister also said:

The fact is that the line between social gaming and gambling is increasingly becoming blurred. What may appear benign today can quickly morph into something a lot more sinister tomorrow in response to market opportunities and consumer trends. That is why the legislation is cast broadly.

The Remote Gambling Act was placed under review by Ministry of Home Affairs of Singapore in with the aim to amend the law be technology agnostic, and may potentially include regulations for loot boxes among other types of non-traditional gambling products.^[]

Australia[edit]

Within Australia, games with loot boxes would fall under gambling restrictions if they can be played "for money or anything else of value"; the question remains if items that only exist within game have "value" that can be quantified, even if this is related to an item's prestige.^[] The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation has stated that it considers loot boxes to be gambling, but does not have the authority to prosecute companies registered overseas. The commission has suggested "an immediate R rating" for any games which feature loot boxes as a solution to this limitation.^[] In March , the Australian Office of eSafety published a list of safety guidelines on the dangers of online loot boxes.^[]

The Australian Senate passed a motion, led by Jordon Steele-John, in June directing the Environment and Communications References Committee investigate loot boxes and report back to the Senate in September The investigation, which started in August , evaluated the use of loot boxes in video games and considered them under issues related to gambling and effects on children.^[][] The report, released in mid-September , found that loot boxes are "psychologically akin to gambling", and that games with loot boxes are potentially "exploiting gambling disorders among their customers". The Committee recommended that games with loot boxes be labeled to warn of parental guidance and indicate that they contain "in-game gambling content" and suggest that such games be rated to represent the legal gambling age in the country.^[] In the final report, the Committee urged the Australian government to "undertake a comprehensive review of loot boxes in video games" through a multi-departmental effort to determine what legislative and other actions need to be taken.^[]

A February report from the Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs that focused on Internet content that should be blocked behind age verification gates recommended that the Office of the eSafety Commissioner or similar body "report to the Australian government on options for restricting access to loot boxes and other simulated gambling elements in computer and video games to adults aged 18 years or over, including through the use of mandatory age verification".^[][]

By August , the Australian Classification Board (ACB) had updated it regulations that games with any microtransaction, including loot boxes, must be labeled on its cover as containing "in-game purchases" as part of the ratings classification.^[]

MP Andrew Wilkie announced in July his intentions to introduce a bill in August that would require video games with loot boxes to be automatically rated by the ACB as R18+. By existing law, R18+ games are restricted from sale to minors. Wilkie stated that he believed that loot boxes in video games were grooming minors "for future gambling" as a rationale for the bill.^[]

New Zealand[edit]

The Gambling Commission within the Department of Internal Affairs for New Zealand stated, in response to a citizen's email, that currently in their view "loot boxes do not meet the legal definition of gambling", but are reviewing the situation as it progresses.^[]

Europe[edit]

United Kingdom[edit]

In March , the UK's Gambling Commission issued a position paper "Virtual currencies, esports and social casino gaming".^[8] The paper took the position that virtual items are "prizes", and that, in general "Where prizes are successfully restricted for use solely within the game, such in-game features would not be licensable gambling".^[8][35] However, the paper continues that:^[35]

In our view, the ability to convert in-game items into cash, or to trade them (for other items of value), means they attain a real world value and become articles of money or money's worth. Where facilities for gambling are offered using such items, a licence is required in exactly the same manner as would be expected in circumstances where somebody uses or receives casino chips as a method of payment for gambling, which can later be exchanged for cash.^[8]

In August , the commission opened an investigation into skin gambling.^[] Later, in November, the commission's executive director Tim Miller was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 where he confirmed that the commission had also been investigating loot boxes and suggested self-regulation of the games industry.^[] The Commission issued a statement that month recognising that they cannot make the determination when loot boxes crosses over into gambling, as that they can only enforce what Parliament has issued as the law for gambling, and restating the legal definition of gambling in this regards from their earlier position paper.^[] Miller said while they cannot take action toward loot boxes until Parliament changes the law, they can raise awareness of issues with loot boxes that might affect children and their parents, and are trying to evaluate the risks and issues associated with that as part of their August skin gambling investigation. Miller further stated that even if other countries were to pass laws or regulate loot boxes, the Commission would still need to follow the UK's laws.^[]

In October , a month prior to the Battlefront II controversy, MP Daniel Zeichner of Cambridge, on behalf of a constituent, submitted a written parliamentary question "to ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), what steps she plans to take to help protect vulnerable adults and children from illegal gambling, in-game gambling and loot boxes within computer games".^[] In response, MP Tracey Crouch, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Department, referred back to the stance of the Gambling Commission's position paper, and said that:

The government recognises the risks that come from increasing convergence between gambling and video games. The Gambling Commission is keeping this matter under review and will continue to monitor developments in the market.^[]

Separately, over 10, British citizens signed a petition requesting that the British government "adapt gambling laws to include gambling in video games which targets children", which includes issues over loot boxes.^[] The government's response stated that the Video Standards Council is in discussions with Pan European Game Information (PEGI) to determine if there are any changes needed in the PEGI standards in relationship to gambling in games, and that the Gambling Commission is also considering the interaction between these games and younger players. The response also referenced the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations law which, according to the response "includes a requirement on businesses not to subject anyone to misleading or aggressive marketing practices, or, for example, direct exhortation to buy products, such as games content, including in-game purchases such as loot boxes".^[]

In March , MP Anna Turley of Redcar asked the government to "bring forward legislative proposals to regulate the game mechanics of loot boxes". In response Minister of State MP Margot James said that "PEGI informs consumers purchasing products from major app stores if they contain further purchases and are considering the possibility of placing these notifications on boxed products", and that "regulators such as PEGI and the Gambling Commission are speaking to industry to ensure that those who purchase and play video games are informed and protected".^[]

The Gambling Commission issued a report in November on the state of gambling and its effect on youth. While news outlets had stated that the Commission determined that loot boxes can be considered a gateway for youths to undertake gambling in other scenarios beyond video games,^[][] the Commission clarified that they had not made any direct conclusion, and only found that about 3 in 10 children in the UK have opened loot boxes in games.^[] Starting in January , the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport of the House of Commons opened up public input on how immersive technology like virtual reality may impact culture, with a specific focus on "the addictive nature of some technologies".^[] The Department has also held public hearings with members of the video game industry to solicit their input.^[47] MP Margot James, the current Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, stated in these discussions that the UK's approach to how they treat loot boxes will likely be different from how other European states like Belgium have done, as the countries do not share similar laws for other gambling activities. James said "Loot boxes are a means of people purchasing items, skins, to enhance their gaming experience, not through an expectation of an additional financial reward. And also, more importantly, they can't be traded offline for money. So I think there are big differences, and I don't think really it is true to say loot boxes are gambling."^[]

The Gambling Commission issued a statement in July that they cannot oversee the sale of loot boxes in most video games as there is no way to monetise the items within the loot box, a core distinction from gambling as written in current legislation. The Commission did caution that there are third-party sites that enable the means to monetise loot box items, similar to skin gambling, but they are not in a position to monitor those sited, and urged companies like Valve to take better steps to prevent skin gambling monetisation.^[]

In its final report, published 9 September , the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport recommended that the British government take precautionary steps to prevent the sale of games containing loot boxes to minors, and to work with PEGI to make sure that games with loot boxes are labeled as having gambling mechanics. Further, the report stated that "We consider loot boxes that can be bought with real-world money and do not reveal their contents in advance to be games of chance played for money's worth." and urged the government to add games containing loot boxes as regulated under the Gambling Act , which would restrict their sale. The report also agreed with the conclusions of the Gambling Commission that game publishes and developers must take more steps to limit the grey market of skin gambling.^[95] The Children's Commissioner for England came out with a report the following month echoing the same concerns, that loot boxes are akin to gambling for minors, and encouraged updates to gambling laws to reflect how games may use them to draw minors to continue to spend money.^[]

The National Health Service director of mental health Claire Murdoch stated in January that the Service was incorporating concerns related to loot boxes and the mental health of youth into their Long Term Plan, but cautioned that "no company should be setting kids up for addiction by teaching them to gamble on the content of these loot boxes. No firm should sell to children loot box games with this element of chance, so yes those sales should end."^[]

In June , the Department of DCMS began requesting evidence from game companies related to loot boxes as part of a further investigation.^[]

The House of Lords Gambling Committee released a special report on the state of gambling in the UK on July 2, The report identified the ongoing issue of loot boxes, how they may be seen as gambling and their effect on the youth," and concluded that "Ministers should make regulations under section 6(6) of the Gambling Act specifying that loot boxes and any other similar games are games of chance, without waiting for the Government's wider review of the Gambling Act."^[][]

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) issued guidance on mobile games in September aimed at how such games advertise their in-game premium currency. Among these factors, the ASA's guidance stated that games that included loot boxes must disclose this information on store pages and any advertising for the game. While the ASA cannot penalise companies that fail to follow their standards, being named by the ASA as going against their guidelines can be seen as a deterrent.^[]

In February , the Isle of Man's Gambling Supervision Commission updated their regulations to explicitly define virtual items as being "money's worth" even when not convertible into cash, explicitly bringing loot boxes under statutory regulation.^[][]

Netherlands[edit]

In April , the Dutch Gaming Authority issued a legal opinion that games which both sell loot boxes and permit the "transfer" of yielded items are illegal. In its report "Study into loot boxes: A treasure or a burden?", the authority stated that four games of the ten it studied violated gambling law in this way. It concluded that while the loot-box systems in the six remaining games did not meet the threshold for legal action, they "nevertheless foster[ed] the development of addiction" and were "at odds" with the authority's objectives.^[]

The authority gave the developers of the four unnamed games eight weeks to correct their loot-box system or face fines and potential bans on sales of the games in the Netherlands.^[] Valve disabled the ability for players to trade in-game items from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2, stating that they were told by the Dutch Gaming Authority that they had until June 20, to remedy the loot-box situations within these games.^[] On July 11, Valve re-enabled the ability for players to trade in-game items from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but restricted customers from the Netherlands and Belgium from opening loot boxes.^[][] EA had not modified FIFA, leading to the Gaming Authority to seek fines from EA. EA had sued, but lost its case in October , with the judge agreeing with the Gaming Authority's decision related to gambling, and was ordered to remove the ability to sell loot boxes to player in FIFA within three weeks or be fined a total of €, per week up to a maximum €5 million until they were removed. EA has planned to appeal this decision.^[] EA appealed the decision to the Dutch Administrative Jurisdiction Division, which overturned the decision in March The higher court ruled that since the Ultimate Team packs were part of the larger game of skill, it did not violate the Dutch gambling laws, reversing the fine against EA.^[]

The authority's investigation was opened following a parliamentary question tabled by MP Michiel van Nispen in November Announcing the investigation, the regulator warned of the "possible dangers" of "addiction and large financial expenses".^[][]

Following its April announcement, the Gaming Authority began to solicit other European Union countries to help harmonise their ruling on loot boxes among the Union.^[]

In April , Psyonix disabled the ability for players in the Netherlands (and Belgium) to open loot crates with keys in Rocket League due to government regulations.^[]

Belgium[edit]

Belgium's Minister of JusticeKoen Geenshas led some of the country's decisions on restricting loot boxes and seeks to extend Belgium's approach to all of Europe.

In April , shortly after the Netherlands' decision on loot boxes, the Belgian Gaming Commission completed its study of loot-box systems in four games, FIFA 18, Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Star Wars Battlefront II, and determined that the loot-box systems in FIFA 18, Overwatch, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive were considered games of chance and subject to Belgium's gambling laws. The Commission stated that for loot boxes in Overwatch, the action of opening a loot box is a game of chance to receive items of some perceived value to players, and there is no means to directly purchase in-game currency to obtain a specific item, while games like FIFA 18 merge reality and fantasy by using real-life athletes to promote the loot-box system.^[49] Belgium's Minister of JusticeKoen Geens stated in these findings that "A dialogue with the sector is necessary" and that "It is often children who come into contact with such [loot box] systems and we cannot allow that".^[72] The study was conducted starting in November ,^[90] during which Battlefront II had temporarily removed loot boxes, so was not considered in violation. The Commission ordered that the loot-box systems from these three games be removed, or otherwise the publishers could face criminal offenses and fines up to €,^[] Geens called for a European Union-wide ban of loot boxes, saying that "mixing gambling and gaming, especially at a young age, is dangerous for the mental health of the child".^[]

In response to the announcement, several companies made their games with loot boxes unavailable to customers in Belgium with no financial recourse to customers who bought or paid for merchandise in the games:

• Valve said that they were "happy to engage with the Belgian Gambling Commission and answer any questions they may have". EA and Activision Blizzard declined to comment.^[72] As described above for the Netherlands, a patch to Counter Strike: Global Offensive in July prevented players from Belgium or the Netherlands from opening loot boxes.^[]
• 2K Games modified NBA 2K to comply with the ruling by removing the ability to buy MyTeam random card packs with real-world funds for Belgian players, though they can still be purchased through in-game currency.^[] 2K still asserted that loot boxes did not violate Belgium's gambling laws, and encouraged players to contact their local representatives regarding these removals.^[]
• Blizzard Entertainment will block Belgian players of Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm from buying loot boxes, though they can still earn these through in-game rewards.^[]
• ArenaNet disabled Belgian users from purchasing in-game currency with real-world funds from Guild Wars 2. While the game does not have loot boxes, it does have "Ecto Gambling" that allows players to use in-game currency to obtain random selections of items, which would similarly run afoul of Belgium gambling laws as they found for loot boxes.^[]
• Square Enix announced the recall from app stores of three of its mobile games that include loot-box mechanics: Mobius Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts Union X, and Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia.^[]
• Konami disabled the ability for those in Belgium from purchasing in-game currency in Pro Evolution Soccer , which could then be used to buy loot boxes. Players are still able to earn this currency in-game.^[]
• Simultaneously with its actions in the Netherlands in April , Rocket League's developer Psyonix disabled the ability for Belgium players to open loot boxes.^[]
• Nintendo closed down two of its mobile games, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes for Belgian users, as both offer the ability to use real-world money to buy a random in-game item.^[]

Electronic Arts' games FIFA 18 and FIFA 19 were also called out by the Commission; however, EA did not make any modifications to these games; EA had previously stated in May that it did not believe the implementation of loot boxes in their games constituted gambling.^[] As such, the Commission has started actions with the Belgian courts to initiate legal action against EA by September 10, , though whether such action is possible would be a decision of the public prosecutor's office.^[] Ultimately on January 29, , EA announced that it would stop selling FIFA Ultimate Team packs with microtransactions to players in Belgium by February, bringing them into compliance with the Commission.^[]

France[edit]

Following the controversy on loot boxes and microtransactions on release of Star Wars Battlefront II, French Senator Jérôme Durain wrote to ARJEL, a government-mandated authority that oversees online gambling, to ask them to investigate the situation with pay-to-win loot boxes. Durain's letter stated his concerns that "some observers point to a convergence of the video game world and practices specific to gambling" in his request.^[] ARJEL's report, released in June , does not immediately consider loot boxes as gambling, but does address the need to continue to investigate them further following a planned report to be published by the Gaming Regulators European Forum. ARJEL noted that items from loot boxes do not normally have monetary value, and even when they are traded through skin gambling, the publisher of such games do not participate in that arena, thus distancing loot boxes from other forms of gambling.^[]

Germany[edit]

In February Germany's Commission for Youth Media Protection announced research into loot boxes undertaken at the University of Hamburg which concluded that they present features "typical of gambling markets". Commission head Wolfgang Kreißig said that it was "conceivable that loot boxes could violate the ban on advertising to children and adolescents".^[][] The commission concluded in March that loot boxes can possibly violate the prohibition of direct advertisement appeals to buy products directed towards minors; however, the games that they studied were rated for players of at least 16 years old, and thus were not targeted to be played by minors. The commission remained open on hearing complaints towards loot boxes on specific games, though have no legal authority to enact any fines or penalties should they be found to be against law.^[]

In October , the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons (BPjM) stated it was looking into blacklisting the game Coin Master for distribution in Germany after Jan Böhmermann had discussed issues with the game's monetisation mechanics. While Coin Master does not use loot boxes, the game uses a gameplay mechanism that requires the player to play a virtual slot machine to advance in the game, with the opportunity to use items purchased with real-world funds to influence or bypass the slot machine to achieve desirable results, a model adapted by many other games and one that can encourage or trivialise excessive gambling. If Coin Master had been blacklisted the BPjM may have opened the door for other games with similar monetisation routes to be reviewed.^[] By March , BPjM opted not to blacklist the game, but later announced in July that it may consider requiring games like Coin Master and games with loot boxes to be rated at a higher ratings level under a new Youth Protection Act that is expected to be passed and in enforcement in early ^[]

Germany's Bundestag passed revisions to the Youth Protection Act in March that would update the ratings systems for games to mark those with loot boxes or similar mechanics as "cost traps".^[]

Sweden[edit]

Also in February , Ardalan Shekarabi, the Swedish Minister for Public Administration, stated that he was "ready to ask [the] authorities to take a closer look at the phenomenon of loot boxes and see if there is a need to change legislation in order to strengthen consumer protection." He raised the prospect of loot boxes being classified as a lottery by ^[] Shekarabi instructed the Swedish Consumer Agency in May to review consumer protection around loot boxes, particularly in how well they protect minors and children.^[]

Poland[edit]

In February , the Polish Ministry of Finance issued a statement saying that loot boxes are not gambling in the light of the Polish law, although it noted that they may well constitute gambling in other jurisdictions. Polish law defines gambling very specifically, and the current definition is not applicable to loot boxes.^[][][]

European Union[edit]

A July report prepared on behalf of the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCP), "Loot boxes in online games and their effect on consumers, in particular young consumers", was one of the first reports to reframe loot boxes as a matter of consumer protection rather than a gambling concern.^[] The report identified that loot boxes in video games have "problematic design features" that create an "irresistible urge to play" and a "growing tension that could only be relieved by playing" in an addictive loop.^[] While the report identified this had similarities with gambling, the authors also urged that the European Parliament consider the loot box issue at a consumer protection standpoint since it can create addictive behavior particularly in young persons. The report included recommendations such as restrictions on design features that encourage the addictive loop, better disclosure from publishers to players on loot box odds and the risks of playing such games, parental controls, and consumer testing with governmental oversight.^[][]

North America[edit]

United States[edit]

There are presently no laws in the United States targeting loot boxes, though the renewed interest in the issues with skin gambling from mid highlighted several concerns with using virtual items for gambling purposes.^[] In past case law, courts have ruled that gambling with virtual currency within a video game is not illegal as long as there are no ties to real money, steps Blizzard Entertainment and Riot Games have done with their titles.^[] Further, most states define gambling laws based on receiving something of value from paying for a game of chance, and traditionally, in-game items are considered to have no value in previous case law. However, with more technically-literate court judges that may consider "value" more than just a financial value, alongside new perception of how much value in-game items can have resulting from the skin gambling situation, could change how the framework in the United States would classify loot boxes.^[]

Hawaii state representatives Chris Lee and Sean Quinlan issued a statement in November taking a stance against loot boxes. "These kinds of lootboxes and microtransactions are explicitly designed to prey upon and exploit human psychology in the same way casino games are so designed." They plan to introduce legislation in the State of Hawaii, specifically to block sale of Star Wars Battlefront II, and that they have spoken to lawmakers from other states to enact similar laws, such that federal legislation could be possible if enough states take action.^[][] Quinlan stated:

I realized just how bad it has gotten. We've been on this path for 15 years with day-one DLC, subscription passes, pay-to-win. We as consumers kept accepting that, kept buying those games. Now we're at a place where we need to consider, do we need to legislate? Does the ESRB have to consider a new rating that could deal with gambling and addictive mechanics?^[]

Rather than passing legislation that could have a slippery slope of harmful effects on the industry, Quinlan stated he would prefer to see the industry self-regulate, either by excluding gambling-like mechanics in games marketed to children, or have the industry rate games with these mechanics for more mature audiences which would affect how they would be sold and marketed.^[] Lee later outlined how he would present a law, which would ban the sale of games to anyone under 21 if it contained a gambling element, defined if real-world funds are used to provide a "percentage chance" of receiving a specific in-game item rather than the item directly, applied both at retail and at digital distribution.^[] By February , two separate bills were introduced in Hawaii's state legislature: one bill would require retail games featuring loot-box mechanisms to have clear labeling stating "Warning: contains in-game purchases and gambling-like mechanisms which may be harmful or addictive", while a second bill would regulate sale of these games to only those 21 years of age or older, the minimum age for gambling within the state.^[] However, by March , the bills failed to meet necessary requirements to be considered in the legislation, and were dropped.^[]

In January , three senators in Washington state introduced Senate Bill (S) in the state legislature,^[] which would, if enacted, order the Washington State Gambling Commission to investigate loot boxes and their potential effect on underage gambling.^[][]

Minnesota introduced a bill in April that would prohibit sale of games with loot-box systems to children under 18 years of age, and require specific labelling on these games to alert consumers to the loot-box system.^[48]

In early May , Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri announced that he intends to introduce a bill named "The Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act" that would ban loot boxes and pay-to-win microtransactions in "games played by minors", using similar qualifications to determine this as previously defined in the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The Federal Trade Commission would be responsible for enforcing the bill by making judgements and leveling fines for games that fail to take these steps.^[] The bill was formally introduced in the United States Senate in the th Congress on May 23, as Senate Bill , with co-sponsors Ed Markey (Massachusetts) and Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut), both Democrats.^[][] The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation at that time, and no further action was taken on it, with the bill expiring at the end of the th United States Congress on January 3, ^[]

Multi-national[edit]

In September , members from the gambling commissions from fifteen European nations, including Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, UK, as well as the state of Washington from the United States, announced a collaborative effort to "address the risks created by the blurring of lines between gaming and gambling". While the group's specific focus will be on skin gambling sites, they will be looking to "ensure that features within games, such as loot boxes, do not constitute gambling under national laws".^[]

Self-regulation[edit]

Further information: Industry self-regulation

Video game industry bodies have generally stated that they cannot regulate loot boxes as gambling unless the law of their countries specify what counts as gambling within games.^[35]

Europe[edit]

In many European countries, voluntary ratings for video games are provided by PEGI. PEGI has stated that a game having a loot-box system will not automatically require its "gambling content" descriptor. PEGI further stated that "It's not up to PEGI to decide whether something is considered gambling or not—this is defined by national gambling laws".^[35]

Parliamentary questions in the United Kingdom revealed in March that PEGI is "considering the possibility of placing [in-game purchase] notifications on boxed products".^[] PEGI announced in April that it will add the supplementary label "Includes Paid Random Items" for games featuring loot box-like mechanics.^[]

Japan[edit]

Before the disbanding of the Japan Social Game Association (JSGA) in , it issued 2 self-regulatory guidelines for in-game gacha: provide a minimum 1% payout rate and establish a payment ceiling. For example, if a player has poured certain amount of money in gacha, the player is given a chance to choose whatever reward they want from the gacha pool freely. The association recommended a 50,yen ceiling.^[]

The Japan Online Game Association (JOGA), which now serves as the Japanese video game industry's self-regulatory body in lieu of JSGA, also issued similar guidelines with further specifications such as "listing all available rewards from the lootbox and payout rates of all rewards" and "listing changes to all available rewards and payout rates upon software revision, specifically during festive campaign with a deadline". While the new guideline does not recommend any payment ceiling, it recommends to display the expected maximum bet in order to guarantee obtaining the item if it exceeds 50, yen.^[]

United Kingdom[edit]

UKIE, the video game industry trade organisation for the United Kingdom, asserted its stance that loot boxes do not constitute gambling and are "already covered by and fully compliant with existing relevant UK regulations".^[35]

United States[edit]

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), like PEGI, provides voluntary video game content ratings for games in the United States. ESRB does not consider loot boxes as a form of gambling, and will not rate such games with their "Real Gambling" content descriptions. ESRB considers that loot boxes are equivalent to collectible card game booster packs, and that the player is always receiving something of value with opening a loot-box purchase, even if it is not something the player desires. The Board further stated that games that are labelled with "Real Gambling" will likely be then rated "AO" (Adults Only), to comply with gambling laws; retailers typically do not stock such games, and would thus harm a publisher.^[] Additionally, the ESRB also sees themselves as responsible to help guide parents on video game content. As an example, they found that parents were more worried about children spending money in-game and not any gambling aspects, and thus did not include loot boxes as one of its content descriptions, though would like to add them in the future should legislation or other industry standards establish gambling as a critical issue.^[]

The Entertainment Software Association, the parent organization of the ESRB, asserted loot boxes are not a form of gambling, stressing that they are a voluntary and optional aspect in these games.^[] Major publishers Electronic Arts^[91] and Take-Two Interactive^[] have also stated they do not see loot boxes as gambling due to their voluntary nature. Electronic Arts' CEO Andrew Wilson stated in May that they will continue to include loot boxes in their games, and "While we forbid the transfer of items of in-the-game currency outside, we're also actively seeking to eliminate that where it's going on in an illegal environment, and we're working with regulators in various jurisdictions to achieve that".^[]

While other publishers have acquiesced to governmental concerns about loot boxes, Electronic Arts has been generally steadfast in that they do not believe their implementation of loot boxes is a form of gambling. In statements made at hearings with the British Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee, EA representatives compared loot boxes to "surprise mechanics" that one would find with Kinder Surprise eggs, and believe that their implementation of loot boxes are "quite ethical and quite fun, quite enjoyable to people".^[47]

In the wake of the criticism over Star Wars Battlefront II, financial analysts suggested that the video game industry will need to develop self-regulating principles to better handle monetisation and loot-box schemes to avoid government intervention into the industry.^[92]

Sen. Maggie Hassanurged the ESRB to self-regulate the industry with respect to loot boxes in February

In February , Senator Maggie Hassan brought up the issue of loot boxes during a hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to four Federal Trade Commission nominees, which the Commission oversees. She asked the nominees if "that children being addicted to gaming - and activities like loot boxes that might make them more susceptible to addiction - is a problem that merits attention?"; all four nominees agreed attention would be necessary.^[] The same day, Hassan authored a letter to the ESRB "to review the completeness of the board's ratings process and policies as they relate to loot boxes, and to take into account the potential harm these types of micro-transactions may have on children" and "to examine whether the design and marketing approach to loot boxes in games geared toward children is being conducted in an ethical and transparent way that adequately protects the developing minds of young children from predatory practices." Though neither the hearing nor the letter called for regulation, Brian Crecente of Glixel considered these as pretense to get the ESRB to act on its own before Congress would be forced to take legislative action.^[]

In response to Hassan's letter, the ESRB announced in February that it would require any rated game that offers any type of in-game purchase with real-world funds, encompassing loot boxes, would be required to be labeled as such. ESRB stated the labeling was primarily meant to help parents watch for games for their children, and because of the brevity of space they have on retail packaging, did not opt to required publishers to identify the specific form of microtransaction. However, the board still asserted that they still do not believe loot boxes themselves are a form of gambling.^[][] While Sen. Hassan called the ESRB's decision a "step forward", she still remained concerned of "the ESRB's skepticism regarding the potentially addictive nature of loot boxes and microtransactions in video games", and stated "I will work with all relevant stakeholders to continue oversight on these issues and ensure that meaningful improvements are made to increase transparency and consumer protections."^[] The ESRB introduced this new label "In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)" in April to be used for games that include loot box-style mechanics.^[]

During a November Congressional hearing over problems with Cambridge Analytica's data leak and associated with Facebook and Google, Joseph Simons, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), promised to Congress that the FTC will investigate loot boxes, considering the potential market value of microtransactions.^[] After the government had shut down in early , delaying the FTC review, Hassan pushed on the FTC to provide an update on their review of loot boxes.^[]

The FTC held a public hearing on loot boxes on August 7, , addressing industry representative and reviewing public comments submitted prior to the meeting.^[][][] During the meeting, ESA representatives stated that Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony are working on developing requirements for new or updated games using loot boxes, published on their respective console systems, to disclose the odds for items from loot boxes. Other publishers within the ESA, including Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Bethesda, Bungie, Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, Ubisoft, Warner Bros., and Wizards of the Coast, also stated they are committed to doing the same for other gaming platforms such as on personal computers, as to align with the existing requirements for the iOS App Store and Google Play mobile platforms. These efforts are expected to be in place before the end of , according to the ESA.^[][]Nintendo issued a new policy the next day to reflect the statement made to the FTC, requiring loot box odds to be published for all new and updated games on its systems, and assuring such games with in-game purchases could be regulated by parents on their Nintendo Switch Online app.^[]Epic Games affirmed they would also follow similar policies as adopted by the ESA and other publishers, already having taken steps to eliminate loot boxes from Fortnite, Rocket League and other games in its portfolio.^[]

Worldwide[edit]

Apple implemented changes to the iOS App Store in December , requiring developers that publish games to the Store that include monetised loot boxes or other similar mechanisms that provide random items in exchange for real-world funds, to publish the odds of items that can be received from these mechanisms prior to the player spending funds on the game.^[] Google followed suit by May , requiring apps in the Play Store using loot box mechanics to publish their odds.^[]

In November , the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) urged the video game industry to take action on loot boxes before governments step in to regulate them. IGDA identified three areas for the industry to focus on: commit to not marketing loot-box mechanics to youth, disclose the odds of receiving items in loot boxes, and educate parents on in-game parental controls.^[]

In February , review aggregatorOpenCritic began incorporating details about games that use loot boxes into its summary pages for games.^[]

In the academic literature, King and Delfabbro proposed twenty-four "social responsibility" measures that could be implemented by video game companies to prevent or reduce overspending on loot boxes.^[] However, the willingness of the industry to adopt these measures has been questioned because of the industry's economic interests.^[]

Litigation[edit]

In February , two separate class-action lawsuits were filed in France against Electronic Arts over the Ultimate Team part of the FIFA games asserting it is equivalent to unregulated gambling. One class member asserted they spent over € on Ultimate Team packs and never received a high-ranking place, which was necessary to get to be able to compete online with other players. The suits also contend that the FIFA games lack any parental controls to limit spending, which, combined with the pay-to-win nature of Ultimate Team, encourage underage gambling, directly referencing the decisions from Belgium and the Netherlands.^[]

A class-action lawsuit filed in California in June against Apple asserted that through the games using loot boxes mechanics offered by Apple's App Store, Apple "engages in predatory practices enticing consumers, including children to engage in gambling and similar addictive conduct in violation of this and other laws designed to protect consumers and to prohibit such practices". The lawsuit asserts that with these apps, Apple allows their devices to become unauthorised gambling devices which are illegal under California's code.^[]

Another class-action lawsuit was filed against EA in California in August over their Ultimate Team loot boxes in FIFA and Madden NFL games, with the plaintiff represented by the same legal firm as the June case against Apple. The EA case seeks a jury trial to decide if the Ultimate Team loot boxes are considered gambling mechanisms under California law, and seek US$5 million in damages.^[] Yet another lawsuit brought against EA in California in November asserted that the Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment feature used in the FIFA, Madden NFL, and NFL series, each which use a variation on the Ultimate Team approach, is purposely designed to alter the playing habits of gamers to reduce their chances of gaining Ultimate Team drops in game and draw them to purchase such items through microtransactions.^[] This lawsuit was dropped in March after EA provided technical information and gave the plaintiff access to their engineers to make the assessment that the Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment was not used in any of the Ultimate Team modes.^[]

A class action lawsuit was filed in Illinois against Take Two Interactive in January for the use of loot box mechanics in the NBA 2K series. The lawsuit, filed by the parent of a minor, states that the games do not "psychologically distance" the implications of loot box purchases from real-world financial costs, and thus engages in deceptive practices.^[]

Impact[edit]

As a result of the heightened criticism and regulation in late , developers and publishers have pulled loot boxes from their games. Such games include Star Wars Battlefront II, Dauntless,^[]Middle-Earth: Shadows of War,^[66]Forza Motorsport 7,^[] and Rocket League.^[] Others have adopted other monetization schemes that eliminate the random elements associated with loot boxes, such as challenge-based battle passes stemming from Fortnite Battle Royale.^[]

Other games have kept loot boxes but altered how they can be purchases or their mechanics to eliminate some of the randomness and gambling attributes associated with them. In March , Heroes of the Storm removed the ability to buy loot boxes with real money. Loot boxes with random content are still available as free in-game rewards, but, after the March patch, cosmetic options are available for direct purchase with real money as well.^[] In January , Epic Games adjusted the mechanics of Fortnite: Save the World's loot boxes that are purchased with real-world funds, allowing purchasers to see the contents of the loot box before buying, as to address concerns of loot boxes being related to gambling.^[] EA introduced a similar mechanic in FIFA 21 in June called Ultimate Team Preview Packs, allowing users to preview the contents of these packs before they purchase.^[]

References[edit]

Maktar Resort

Ratchet visited the Maktar Resort after being sent by Abercrombie Fizzwidget since Angela Cross (at the time the Unknown Thief) had been identified at the resort, and the ThugsLess, under her employ, had towed a jamming array to the resort's orbit, interrupting the Galactic Gladiators broadcast.

The Maktar Resort was later featured as a setting in the Secret Agent Clank holovision series.

History

Going Commando

The Maktar Resort was known throughout Bogon for its entertainment and excitement.^[1] Around the time Ratchet was working for Megacorp, the resort was preparing for its next Galactic Gladiators tournament, an annual event broadcast around the galaxy on Mega-View.^[2][3] Angela Cross was identified at the resort shortly after robbing the Megacorp Outlet on Oozla, and the ThugsLess towed a moon-sized jamming array into the station's orbit, interrupting the annual Galactic Gladiators broadcast.^[2] It is unknown why Angela visited the resort.^[a]

Abercrombie Fizzwidget sent Ratchet to the resort to sabotage the jamming array. Ratchet also decided to participate in Galactic Gladiators, as he was intrigued by the sport and not intimidated by the gladiators in the commercials.^[4] Along the way, Ratchet was ambushed by ThugsLess fighters in the Wupash Nebula. After destroying them, he proceeded to the Maktar Resort, where the ThugsLess sent Brutes, as well as Megacorp Chickenbots, to eliminate him, with no tourists in sight.

In "Win the Arena Battle", Ratchet reached the arena after fighting through the Thugs and participated in the Mega Battle. The announcer was completely unimpressed by him at first, referring to him as "this guy" from "nowhere in particular", until Ratchet surprised him and became the first and only winner of the games.^[5] Ratchet won the Electrolyzer as a prize and also competed in additional battles that earned him prizes in bolts, some of which involved competing against Chainblade and the B2 Brawler multiple times.

After leaving the tournament, Ratchet used his Electrolyzer to repair the bridges that would help him return to his ship. On the way out, he found a photo booth and used it to take a photo of himself as a souvenir for Clank.^[5] As soon as he took one, however, the screen was replaced with a transmission from Angela Cross, showing that she had kidnapped Clank. She had him electrocuted, temporarily incapacitating him. She warned Ratchet that if he did not return to the Solana Galaxy, he too would come under harm. Ratchet then received coordinates for Megapolis, Endako, in order to rescue Clank, though he was running into a trap.^[b]

In "Find a way to the ThugsLess Jamming Array", Ratchet searched for a way to reach the ThugsLess jamming array from the Maktar Resort. To his fortune, an Inspector Bot was inspecting the resort, and by manipulating it with the Tractor Beam, Ratchet was able to gain clearance to otherwise locked out areas. This allowed him to reach a space limo, which took him directly to the jamming array. After destroying the array's signal transponders, Abercrombie Fizzwidget gave him a new assignment to infiltrate the Thugs' operations, by presenting a commercial for the Desert Riders, a hoverbike gang affiliated with the ThugsLess, based on Barlow.

Up Your Arsenal

The episode of Secret Agent Clank that Ratchet and Clank saw in the intro movie was set in the Maktar Casino.^[6] In this movie, Secret Agent Clank, with an entourage of hotbots, competed with Maxmillian, his adversary, in a gambling game. Agent Clank won, but Maxmillian had him ambushed by robot ninjas. Agent Clank defeated them and subdued Maxmillian, then left with a hotbot, while his chauffeur, Jeeves (played by Ratchet), escorted him back in a limo.

The scene may have been filmed in Holostar Studios, instead of in the Maktar Resort itself.^[c]

Going Mobile

See also: Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile § Locations

When transported to a Secret Agent Clank holovision episode, Ratchet and Clank had to explore the Maktar Casino, which was where Maximillian's office was located.

Structure

Overview

The Maktar Resort is an immense space station organized around a central rotating dome, in which the arena is located. The rest of the resort comprises walkways located outside, with artificial gravity and a view of space but still within a breathable atmosphere. These walkways connect several structures scattered around, including one large cluster of buildings.

Throughout the resort, bright lights light up the walkways, including beaming spotlights rotating up and down. Floating billboard screens hover around the resort, showing both the Megacorp logo and the Galactic Gladiators logo. Slot machines are located on a walkway nearby the landing pad and inside buildings, which provide rewards of bolts ( for the jackpot), ammo, and nanotech, but can also explode. Flying, driverless limos provide transport throughout parts of the station, entirely free of charge. While no tourists are seen on the walkways that Ratchet visits, space ships are seen flying from the resort, with traffic originating from the central dome, and a large audience appears within the arena.

Surrounding the resort are several floating, rotating satellites, many of which are small and made of glass, while others are much larger and appear more solid. Seven astronomical bodies, likely either planets or moons within the system, can be seen from the resort, most of which are blue and appear to be cold or aquatic, with one standing out as a dark red world. The Maktar Nebula itself is light blue, visible to the right of the Maktar Resort from where Ratchet's ship lands.

The Star Explorer lands on a platform with a ramp leading down to a green, glass platform filled with lights and floating billboards which forms part of the walkway. The walkway presents an immediate fork, with a path to the left providing a route to the arena, and a path to the right leading to a space limo that travels directly to the jamming array. Straight ahead of the ramp is an electric bridge that goes to a teleporter connected to the arena.

Path to the arena

The walkway to the arena begins with a narrow path with four slot machines placed along it, connecting to a round platform, with two blue screens stood on top of a spherical base, and an elevator shaft up to a higher floor on the right. The higher floor is a short path with a space limo on the end, which travels to another part of the resort.

The limo lands in a small, lower area, with a ladder leading up to the main walkway. This section of the walkway is apparently under construction, as it has cranes placed atop higher ledges on either side, and there are gaps in the walkway connected by electrified tubes. At is the back entrance to a building (entered from a window in the roof by ascending two walls with a wall jump) with a mostly red interior and several slot machines on its bottom floor. The exit to this leads out to a walkway into the main central dome, an entrance to the arena.

Arena

The arena featured in Galactic Gladiators is entirely round, with an electrified gap connecting it with the outer audience podium. It has twelve circular blades in the floor that activate during some challenges, six in the inner ring and six on the outer edges, as well as six flame hazards that will light up and spew fire at times. The arena is surrounded by floating billboards and six bullpens from which gladiators are entered into the arena for battle. The audience podium contains many rows of audience members, with large screens around the podium. Above the arena, four screens hang from the ceiling, presumably for the audience' benefit, and one large screen is located at the end from which the challenge is elected.

Path to the jamming array

A brightly lit path on the walkway, northeast of the landing pad, leads to the entrance of a large building. A space limo parking spot is initially separated by a gap and blocked off by a forcefield on the other side, while the entrance to the building is blocked off by a large column that can be moved with the Tractor Beam.

The building consists of three large circular rooms with green glass floors. Each is connected with a narrow corridor in a linear order, with at the end a fourth smaller room that leads to an exterior area as well as a fifth room. Each of the four main rooms are blocked off, and clearance through the blockades is normally only granted to the Inspector Bots. The entire complex appears to be still under construction, considering the presence of explosives, the Inspector Bot, the locked doors, unfinished flooring in the final corridor, and the general emptiness of the area aside from two lone slot machines.

Outside the building is a semicircular platform, a catapult holding another time bomb, and a small landing pad on which a space limo is parked. A forcefield initially blocks off the limo, though after it is disabled, an energy bridge connects the landing pad to the walkway used to enter the first building.

Maktar Casino

The Maktar Casino is seen in an episode of Secret Agent Clank in Up Your Arsenal. This is a room surrounded by red slot machines, with a green table in the middle in which a gambling game is played with dice and tokens. Electric chandeliers hang from the ceiling to light the room, and the room has a patterned carpet. Outside the entrance to the casino is a large glass door, with two giant lit red dice on top of the building. The casino is visited by hotbots and robot civilians.

Behind the scenes

Maktar Resort was originally referred to as "Space Vegas", but since Insomniac Games found that the name "Las Vegas" was trademarked, the name was changed.^[7] The resort appears to be inspired by Las Vegas, evident in the casino gambling.

The level was programmed by Peter Hastings, while Maxim Garber programmed the arena.^[8] The ThugsLess Brutes were custom coded by Peter Hastings for Maktar specifically (and every level),^[9] and in order to make the world feel realistic, some Brutes were made left handed, and each one was custom coded to have a different scale. However, after spending a lot of time tuning each individual enemy in the resort, he received a bug report stating "not all enemies are same scale".^[10]

The Tractor Beam segment involving the Inspector Bot was designed by Mike Stout and programmed primarily by Peter Hastings. Before the segment was tested by external user tests, design director Brian Allgeier sat Mike down and warned him that test players would not know how to get past the first part and would not think to use the Tractor Beam. Mike disagreed on adding a message to inform the player to use it, but Brian was proven correct. Mike then watched repeated failures by testers, which he said "broke" him as a designer, and has said in hindsight that he would have scaled it back significantly. Mark Cerny later, when praising one of Mike's segments during Up Your Arsenal, commented that it "totally makes up for the Inspector Bot segment" in the Maktar Resort, which Mike referred to as a "backhanded compliment".^[11]

The Maktar Resort had more issues related to its difficulty. Internally, Insomniac developers became too good at their own levels, meaning that difficulty tuning for enemy setups with the player in mind was difficult. As a way around this, developer Roberto Rodriguez played the levels with the controller upside down as a handicap. Additionally, for the bomb catapult at the end of the Tractor Beam segment, the markers around the Tractor Beam were added because players could not keep track of how far back they had to walk before releasing the bomb.^[12]

The floating billboards around the resort were coded by Peter Hastings, though Mike Stout coded an early version, which appear in the Insomniac Museum.^[13] These billboards have a hidden image of Jak and Daxter that can only be seen by breaking them and looking at the debris. The image is hidden on the third slide of the triangular prisms used to switch between the Megacorp and Galactic Gladiator logos.

The Maktar Resort featured in a demo for Going Commando. The demo had a few differences from the final release: notably, it included metal crates, lacked the floating billboards, had slot machines with different screens, lacked a platinum bolt, featured rendered aliens in the crowd in the arena, and many of the objects were not breakable.^[14]

In the HD re-release on PlayStation 3 for the Ratchet & Clank Collection, the Maktar Resort's dome does not rotate.

Notes

Annotations

Citations

References

Video games

Bibliography

• Greg Off, Linda Wanczyk (). Ratchet & Clank Going Commando Official Strategy Guide [Book]. BradyGames. ISBN

Videos

• Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [uselesspodcasts] (, June 16). Ratchet & Clank 2 Dev Commentary: 2A - Oozla [Video]. YouTube.
• Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [uselesspodcasts] (, June 17). Ratchet & Clank 2 Dev Commentary: 2B - Oozla / Dynamo [Video]. YouTube.
• Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [uselesspodcasts] (, June 20). Ratchet & Clank 2 Dev Commentary: 3A - Inspector Bot [Video]. YouTube.
• Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [uselesspodcasts] (, June 21). Ratchet & Clank 2 Dev Commentary: 4A - Maktar Resort [Video]. YouTube.

You Really Can't Win Them All

(originally printed in Duelist #19, October )

etermining if a game is more luck than skill is an exercise game critics and players often engage in. This is even more important in law: there are many places where you can play games of skill for money, but doing so with games of luck is gambling, and so is kept in the capable hands of the state.

I'd Rather Be Lucky Than Skillful

I believe that the standard dichotomy of luck vs. skill is misleading. This comparison implies that the more luck there is, the less skill and vice versa. To me, this is not at all true, Mystery Arena Dice Games Slots Machine. The reward for skill depends on how much luck there is in a game, but a game that is mostly determined by luck can have an enormous amount of skill.

A couple of examples will demonstrate this. The first is rando-chess, Mystery Arena Dice Games Slots Machine, which is played as standard chess, but after each turn you roll two dice. Roll 12 and you win! This game has as Crazy Luck Casino Bonuser skill as chess, but also a lot more luck and much less reward for skill. The second example is pikanumber, in which each player holds Wild Pride Slots Machine a number of fingers; whoever holds out more wins. There isn't any luck in this game and not much skill, but there is a very high reward for what little skill there is—you never lose. Skillful players will always draw (unless one has more fingers than the other).

The amounts of skill and luck in a game are unrelated, though they have a related influence on the game's outcome. If you want to minimize luck, you should play the game as many times as possible. A rank beginner has a good chance of beating anyone in a single hand of poker. But string the hands into sessions and the sessions into seasons of poker, Mystery Arena Dice Games Slots Machine the more skillful player will consistently win.

I Played the Lottery 10, Times and Finally Got Lucky!

When it struck Mystery Arena Dice Games Slots Machine that there was luck in rock-paper-scissors, Mystery Arena Dice Games Slots Machine changed my way of thinking about it. As a child I had assumed it was a game of pure skill because the outcome was entirely determined by the players. Then I learned the strategy that can't be taken advantage of: choose randomly, giving each move equal weight.

There are any number of ways to choose moves randomly. I could roll dice; use the second hand of my watch as a random number generator; think of a word and count the letters in it; Mystery Arena Dice Games Slots Machine try to reach a mental state in which I am a random-move generator. Even if there is not actually true randomness, it appears that way to the other player. My opponent might be able to take advantage of patterns in my play, but can't be sure of what I am going to do in a particular game. Tracking the flow of a mind is no easier than predicting the path of a set of dice.

This leads me to a utilitarian definition of luck. If I cannot predict the outcome with certainty, there is luck involved—even if I find a reason for losing after the fact. The other players planned to team up. The dice were weighted. The cards came up in the wrong order. Whatever the situation, the truly skillful player attempts to judge probability and payoff as best he or she can, and plays accordingly.

This means that by my definition there is no luck in tic-tac-toe between people who know the game. Unless a player is hopelessly distracted, the Mystery Arena Dice Games Slots Machine will always end in a draw. It also means that there is luck in chess. When I play someone of comparable skill, no one can predict the outcome for certain. Against a more skilled player—even Kasparov—I could blindly walk into a superior line of play, not realizing the long-term implications of my moves.

In chess both players are exploring a game tree that neither fully knows, making moves they believe lead to favorable branches. Even if one player can see further than the other along the game tree, there is a chance for the other player. The only way chess can have no luck is if it is fully understood, like tic-tac-toe, a sterile and dead game.

Hence, any game whose outcome is not a foregone conclusion has a degree of luck. Chess and basketball allow skill to influence that luck a great deal. Roulette and slot machines allow little or no influence on that luck. But if you ever manage to reduce the luck to zero, then you have killed the game.

A Game by Any Other Name

(originally printed in Duelist #21, January )

hat is the definition of a game? This question can be quite frustrating to anyone who thinks about the broad variety of games that exist. It is relatively easy to define what a movie or Mystery Arena Dice Games Slots Machine book is, but the word "game" includes a seeming hodgepodge of semi-related activities. It is difficult to find one definition that covers them all while excluding things that clearly aren't games.

This is the closest definition I could find, looking in the nearest handy dictionary (The Random House College Dictionary, ):

A competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators.

The problem with this definition is that it doesn't include activities the game-playing community would consider to be games, such as solitary pastimes (most computer games to date), roleplaying, and cooperative games.

Other entries are far too broad to define a game in the sense I'm seeking, Mystery Arena Dice Games Slots Machine. For example, the same dictionary also defines a game as "an amusement or pastime." This would include movies and books, and so is as imprecise as the first definition, but for the opposite reason—it isn't restrictive enough.

There was a period when I attempted to encompass all things I considered to be games under one definition, but it always ended up including things like astronomy, which clearly isn't a game in the ordinary sense.

Later I changed my tactics and excluded roleplaying from this category: it might be a wonderful pastime, but it's just too different to be considered a game. And solitary play against a computer isn't a true game, as there is no human opponent. This attitude couldn't last forever, though, because I believe language conveys meaning in how it is actually used, not how some person or reference guide says it should be used. People do refer to roleplaying and solitaire as games, and by doing so, put them in the same category as "regular" games like chess, basketball, and poker.

It is important for me, however, Mystery Arena Dice Games Slots Machine refer to the class of games that falls under the dictionary definition, Mystery Arena Dice Games Slots Machine, so my new tactic is to coin a word. I chose orthogame, inspired by the word "orthochess" used by David Pritchard in his book The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants (Games and Mystery Arena Dice Games Slots Machine Publications, Surrey, Mystery Arena Dice Games Slots Machine. Mr. Pritchard used this word to define chess played by the standard rules as a reference point when discussing chess variants. In the same way, an orthogame is a competition between two or more players using an agreed-upon set of rules and a method of ranking. It is not necessary to rank all players; often there is only a winner. So, I consider Clue to be an orthogame even though there is no way to determine who got second place.

Roleplaying games are generally not orthogames, but may occasionally contain orthogames. A roleplaying game can be an orthogame when everyone agrees, explicitly or implicitly, that the winner is whoever has the most experience at the end of the campaign, Mystery Arena Dice Games Slots Machine. Similarly, a roleplaying session may contain an orthogame if two or more of the players compete to get the most gold, for example, on a particular adventure.

Solitaire games, or games in which the players are all on one team with a shared objective, (sometimes called cooperative games), I tend to group under the term "puzzles." It is easy to make puzzles into orthogames—players can race to solve the problem. Likewise, orthogames often contain puzzles, such as a position in chess where there is a sure way to obtain a checkmate. Roleplaying games can fall into the puzzle category if players view themselves as sharing an objective.

The line between puzzle and orthogame can be blurry when you play against a computer. It's silly to say that chess against Deep Blue isn't a game because there is no human opponent. And in a game of cutting for the high card, a computer will provide every bit as much competition as a human. Most computer games resemble orthogames played with a large handicap against a stupid opponent who never gets any better, Mystery Arena Dice Games Slots Machine. Although many human players don't provide as much challenge as even a limited computer opponent, there is always the potential for them to improve.

In the past I have had problems when talking about games to broad groups of game enthusiasts and professionals. Some assume the topic is traditional games while others perceive a broader set of activities. Introducing the term "orthogame" does not answer the bigger question of what a game is. But it does isolate one form of game as a useful reference point, and clarifies my thinking when I discuss the topic with a disparate audience.