For this week’s critical play, I played Pokémon GO, which seems like a fun, innocent mobile game, but it actually uses a lot of the same psychological tricks that make slot machines so addictive.
The core problem is that Pokémon GO uses something called programming chance, the same thing casinos use. Just like slot machines, the game has random number generators running constantly in the background, creating unpredictable rewards that follow variable ratio reinforcement schedules. This is basically the most effective way to get people hooked on something. I notice that rare Pokémon can appear anywhere at any time, but only for a short period. This creates manufactured incalculability, chance that’s been carefully engineered rather than actually random. It feels like the game is constantly dangling the possibility of something amazing just around the corner.
What bothers me most is that I can’t actually tell what my real odds are. Just like modern slot machines use virtual reel mapping to make people think they have better chances than they do, Pokémon GO hides all its probability calculations. I have no idea what my actual chances are of finding a shiny Pokémon, catching a rare one, or getting good stats. The game keeps all of this deliberately mysterious.
One of the most manipulative things I see Pokémon GO doing is creating near miss experiences on purpose. I know that feeling when a rare Pokémon runs away after I’ve thrown multiple Pokéballs at it, or when I catch something that has stats that are almost perfect but not quite. That’s not an accident. Near misses are actually more motivating than winning or losing outright. When I almost succeed, my brain gets flooded with the same reward chemicals as if I actually won, but I also get frustrated enough to keep trying. Casinos figured this out decades ago.
The game makes me feel like I’m getting better at it, like I’m developing skill, when really it’s just random chance with some basic motor skills thrown in. This creates the illusion of control—I think I’m getting closer to mastering the game when I’m really just being manipulated by hidden algorithms. What makes this really concerning is that Pokémon GO specifically targets kids and teenagers, whose brains are still developing. Young people are way more vulnerable to these kinds of psychological tricks because their reward-driven impulses and cognitive control systems aren’t fully formed yet.
The game also puts vulnerable groups at a disadvantage. If I have motor control issues or disabilities, I need to use more items to catch Pokémon, which means I’m more likely to need to spend money. Elderly players and young kids face the same problem. While I can technically play Pokémon GO for free, the game uses time pressure and artificial scarcity to push me toward spending money. Limited-time events, rare spawns that only last a few minutes, storage limits—all of these create pressure to buy items that increase my chances of success. The use of chance then becomes ethically impermissible when it crosses from entertainment into exploitation through mechanisms that prevent rational decision-making. Pokémon GO violates key ethical principles by employing “hidden probability mechanisms” that players cannot understand, creating “near-miss effects” that maintain false impressions of success, and targeting vulnerable populations including children whose developing minds are particularly susceptible to these “enchantment by design” techniques.
This is asymmetric collusion, I end up participating in my own manipulation because I accept systems I can’t fully understand or control. The game makes me feel like I need to spend money to keep up, even though the underlying systems are completely hidden from me. The scary part is that even when people understand how these systems work, we often can’t stop ourselves from falling for them.
The same thing happens with Pokémon GO. Even if I understand the game’s mechanics, I still find myself unable to apply that knowledge when I’m actually playing. The psychological mechanisms work below the level of conscious thought. Pokémon GO shows how gambling industry techniques have moved into mainstream entertainment. The game takes sophisticated psychological manipulation tactics and packages them as family-friendly fun. It’s skill-washing, making random chance look like skill and strategy.
Unlike regulated gambling where casinos have to tell people the odds, mobile games like Pokémon GO can hide their probability systems completely. This makes it virtually impossible for me to make informed decisions about how much time and money to invest. The game requires physical movement and strategic thinking, creating an appearance of meaningful player agency while core progression remains fundamentally governed by hidden probability algorithms. This approach mirrors the evolution of slot machines from mechanical to digital systems, where technological advances enabled better simulation of player control while outcomes became increasingly predetermined.
