In the olden days (like, ten years ago), you bought a game for $60, took it home, and owned the whole thing. Today, the most popular games for kids are "Free-to-Play" (F2P). You download Fortnite or Stumble Guys for $0, but the game is designed as a "live service."

This means the developers keep updating the game forever, and to pay for those updates, they sell you digital goods. These are called microtransactions. Individually, they look cheap ($1.99 here, $4.99 there), but they are engineered to be friction-less and frequent.

It’s easy to look at a $15 "skin" (a digital outfit for a character) and think, "Why on earth would you pay real money for a shirt that doesn't exist?"

But for kids, these games are their digital playground. If everyone at school is wearing the latest Marvel skin in Fortnite, and your kid is wearing the "default" (the free, basic skin), they feel like the kid who showed up to school in 1995 with a generic plastic grocery bag instead of a backpack. It’s a social marker.

Beyond the social aspect, these games are designed to be fun. Brawl Stars and Roblox offer high-quality gameplay that used to cost a lot of money. The "free" entry point allows them to play with all their friends instantly, which is a powerful draw.

Learn more about why kids care so much about digital skins

Game developers hire behavioral psychologists to make spending money feel like "playing." Here are the specific tricks they use:

Games rarely show prices in dollars. They use "V-Bucks," "Robux," or "Gems." By adding a layer of abstraction, the brain doesn't register that 1,000 V-Bucks is actually $9.00. It feels like "play money," which makes it much easier to click "Buy."

Popularized by Fortnite and now in everything from Call of Duty to Royal Match, the Battle Pass is a seasonal subscription. You pay about $10 for the "opportunity" to earn rewards by playing a lot. If you don't play enough before the season ends, you lose the items you "paid" for. This creates a "sunk cost" trap where kids feel they must play to get their money's worth.

This is essentially "Gambling Light." In games like Genshin Impact or Brawl Stars, you might pay for a "crate" or a "pull" that gives you a random item. You're hoping for the "Legendary" character, but you usually get junk. This triggers the same dopamine response as a slot machine.

"Only 3 hours left!" "Limited Edition!" The "Daily Shop" in many games rotates items every 24 hours. This creates an artificial sense of urgency. If your kid doesn't buy that Roblox accessory now, it might be gone "forever."

Roblox isn't one game; it's a platform of millions of games. Each game has its own economy. Some developers are great, but others use aggressive tactics to get kids to spend "Robux."

Epic Games (the creator) has actually been fined by the FTC for "dark patterns" and making it too easy for kids to spend money without parental consent. They’ve cleaned up their act a bit, but the social pressure to have the latest "Emote" or "Skin" is higher here than anywhere else.

This mobile game is incredibly polished and fun, but it is a masterclass in "progression gating." You hit a wall where you can't get stronger unless you wait a long time or pay for "Power Points" and "Coins."

We love that it gets kids outside, but the "Remote Raid Passes" and "Incubators" can add up fast. It’s easy to forget that those $1.00 tickets for "Community Day" events happen every single month.

At this age, kids have zero impulse control and don't understand the value of money.

This is the sweet spot for teaching financial literacy.

Teens should understand the business model of the games they play.

Check out our guide on setting up parental controls for iPhone and Android

The biggest enemy of your bank account is impulsivity. Most in-game purchases are made in a "hot state"—right after a loss or during a "limited time" window.

Implement a 24-hour waiting period for any digital purchase over $5.

Free-to-play games are a permanent part of the digital landscape. We can’t hide from them, and frankly, some of them—like Roblox or Fortnite—offer genuine creative and social outlets.

However, these games are not "charities." They are sophisticated retail environments. Your job isn't to be the "No" police, but to be the "Chief Financial Officer" of your home. By moving away from "Can I have $10?" toward "How do you want to spend your digital budget?", you turn a potential conflict into a lesson in modern economics.

Ask our chatbot for a specific spending script to use with your kids

Check out our guide to "Cozy Games" that don't have hidden costs