Daily Rewards

Encourages return visits every day and punishes you for missing a day.

Daily Rewards are a very common dark pattern used in addictive games. Games that use this will give you a reward the first time you play the game each day. If you miss a day, you miss the reward. This in itself isn't much of a dark pattern, but sometimes you get better rewards for playing every day and maintaining a "streak". The more consistently you play, the better your daily rewards. If you miss a day, you "break the chain" and lose your bonus. Losing your streak can be bad for the player so there is a strong urge to check the game every day.

Sometimes there is an option to use Premium Currency to spend money to restore your broken streak. By combining these two dark patterns, games can get people to pay to avoid punishment. This is a negative experience for the player that directly benefits the game developer and is not generally related to the core gameplay. Combining two dark patterns like this often amplifies their power.

By encouraging consistent daily play, the game is trying to make you develop a habit of playing the game. If the game becomes a habit, it is harder to stop.


Examples

Life Makeover Life Makeover
"Daily login rewards, quests, etc"

Purrfect Tale Purrfect Tale
"Yeah, it does give you the opportunity to make up for missed ones, but you she to watch an ad and can only do that two times a day"

Crush Crush Crush Crush
"You get daily rewards for in-game currency. If you don’t sign in for a week, you lose all of your rewards."

Last Fortress Last Fortress
"“Dailies”"

Melvor Idle: Ad Free Melvor Idle: Ad Free
"Progression stops after 24 hours without logging in"

Gossip Harbor: Merge Game Gossip Harbor: Merge Game
"Recently added daily rewards - a missed day resets the counter"

Seaside Escape Seaside Escape
"Free daily gifts that merge into larger gifts - gives you more gold and gems. Bingo events play over the weekend that encourage more playtime/spensimg money for energy and rewards"

Daily Themed Crossword - A Fun crossword game Daily Themed Crossword - A Fun crossword game
"Encourages daily play by offering rewards for having a daily streak. Maintaining one week streak gets you rewards while skipping or missing a puzzle resets it."

Pocket Ants: Colony Simulator Pocket Ants: Colony Simulator
"Daily reward when opening the game and daily quests."

Dream Hopper Dream Hopper
"You get extra bonuses and increases on the amount of gold you get if you play for more then 5 days in a row, it runs out if you don't play for 40 hours"