Synopsis:

There has been an increasing convergence of gaming and gambling elements in Digital Media, with many elements of gambling brought over to the gaming world, such as Loot Crates and Pay-to-Win Games. With the proliferation of handphones and computers, playing games that incorporate some form of payment has become a norm for youths.

This talk aims to help youths understand the natural psychological responses that game makers leverage to encourage players to be unconsciously addicted to the game. Furthermore, the talk exposes how game makers would convert this desire to play the game to make monetary profits through Coercive Monetization. It will also bring out potential gambling elements in games, such as loot boxes or wheel spins.

Speaker:

Ms Francesca Tan graduated from Nanyang Technological University of Singapore in 2015, with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology with Honors. She graduated from the National University of Singapore in 2020 with a Post Graduate Diploma in Social Work. At Fei Yue, under the YouthGO Programme, she worked with at-risk youths, and currently, Francesca works with youths at risk of dropping out of school and out of school youths and engages them through various activities and casework, and counseling.