Social casino games directly replicate online gambling activities and can be accessed via apps, social networking sites, or as demo games on real-money gambling websites (Carran & Griffiths, 2015 Hing et al., 2023 King, 2018). Games with mini gambling components, like wheel spinning, slots, and bingo, are secondary to the main game and provide opportunities to advance in the game and obtain in-game items or currency (Carran & Griffiths, 2015 Hayer et al., 2018 Hing, Browne, et al., 2022a).

These items can have functional, aesthetic, prestige, or material value, but prizes are not known in advance and are usually determined by chance. Loot boxes are in-game digital containers that contain a mystery item that gamers can purchase or win through in-game play (Drummond & Sauer, 2018 Rockloff et al., 2021 Zendle et al., 2019, 2020).

Approximately 40% of adolescents under the legal gambling age report past-year engagement in simulated gambling, most commonly involving (1) loot boxes, (2) games with mini gambling components, and (3) social casino games (González-Cabrera et al., 2022 Hayer et al., 2018 Hing, Browne, et al., 2022a). Minors can therefore legally access these activities. In most countries, these games are not classified as gambling, nor subject to the same regulations or age restrictions. Simulated gambling games are digital games that include elements of gambling such as risk, chance, and reward, but do not offer real-world monetary prizes (Hing, Browne, et al., 2022a). Restricting youth access to simulated gambling would help protect them from harm. Behavioural associations between simulated gambling and harmful gaming were evident, but those between simulated gambling and harmful monetary gambling were less clear. Simulated gambling becomes highly normalised from childhood and before young people realise its potential for gaming and gambling harm. Their motivations expand from valuing virtual prizes, to also valuing social benefits and opportunities to learn new gambling games, compete against other players and demonstrate skill. As young people grow up, they engage in simulated gambling more frequently, in more diverse settings, and on activities more akin to monetary gambling. Reflexive thematic narrative analysis identified common and contrasting themes amongst at-risk/problem gambling, non-problem gambling, and non-gambling participants. Qualitative research with 89 Australians aged 12–17 years explored their chronological experiences of simulated gambling and monetary gambling. This study explores the lived experience of simulated gambling as young people grow up.

Gambling games with fake money