Responsible play

Why this category needs its own guidance

It is tempting to assume that because no real money wagering takes place, there is nothing to be careful about. That is not quite right. This category is built on daily rewards, streaks, recurring promotions and challenges — mechanics designed to make returning feel routine. Routine is easy to stop noticing, and coin packs are real purchases.

The risk here is not the one people expect. It is time drifting, and small repeated purchases adding up to an amount nobody would have agreed to in advance.

Set two limits before you start

• A time limit. Decide how long a session lasts before you open one, and treat a daily reward you miss as genuinely missed rather than owed.
• A spending limit. Decide a monthly figure for coin packs — including zero, which is a complete and legitimate answer — and hold to it. Every promotional entry available in a pack is also available for free.

Signs worth taking seriously

• Buying a coin pack to keep a session going rather than because you planned to.
• Returning primarily so a streak or daily reward is not lost.
• Sessions running longer than intended, regularly.
• Spending on coin packs that you would not describe accurately to someone who asked.
• Thinking about promotional entries as money, or about redemption eligibility as income.
• Feeling low or irritable when you cannot take part.
• Using this to change how you feel about something else that is going on.

Practical steps

• Turn off push notifications tied to daily rewards. They exist to interrupt you.
• Remove stored payment details from any brand you use, so a purchase takes deliberate effort.
• Keep a simple record of what you spend across a month, in one place, across all brands.
• Take a scheduled break — a week away is a good test of how the routine is sitting.
• Use the brand's own limit and self-exclusion facilities where it offers them.
• Do not create an account in a state or province where the category is not available.

Keeping under-18s away from this

Everything covered on this website is for adults aged 18 or over, or the minimum legal age where you live if that is higher. If you share a device, filtering software helps: FamiSafe, Net Nanny and Qustodio are widely used. Do not leave an account signed in on a shared device, and do not let anyone under 18 take part on yours.

Free and confidential support

If any of this is landing close to home, these organisations help — free, confidential, and without needing to have reached a crisis first.