Course
How a free game makes its money
Work out who pays for a free game, why a chest sells a chance and not a prize, how a streak and an energy bar bring you back, and what the game counts.
The shape of it
12 lessons
About 55 minutes in total. Your progress is kept on this device — no account, nothing sent anywhere.
Course complete
Put your name on it and print it, or save it as a PDF. Nothing is sent anywhere.
The lessons
Free to play, paid by a few
3 lessons · about 14 min01The game is free, and a few pay for everyone
Work out where a free game's money comes from, and from how many people.
About 5 min
02A coin that is not money
Trace what happens to a price when it is written in gems instead of dollars.
About 5 min
03Pay with time, or pay with money
Spot the wait timer as a price, and say what it charges.
About 5 min
The chest with a chance inside
3 lessons · about 14 min04You bought a chance, not a prize
Work out the chance of getting the rare thing from a number of chests.
About 5 min
05What a sure thing costs
Work out the average price of one rare item from the odds and the chest price.
About 5 min
06Why the box opens slowly
Tell apart the parts of a chest opening that are chance from the parts that are show.
About 5 min
Why you come back every day
3 lessons · about 14 min07The streak
Work out what a missed day costs, and why it feels bigger than it is.
About 5 min
08The energy bar
Trace how a limit on play turns one long session into many short visits.
About 5 min
09The pass that turns hours into a debt
Work out how many hours a season pass asks for, and what it does to a week.
About 5 min
The other side of the screen
3 lessons · about 14 min10What the game counts
Tell apart the numbers a game studio watches from the ones it cannot see.
About 5 min
11An offer made just for you
Spot why two players in the same game see different shops.
About 5 min
12Taking a games headline apart
Spot which of the course's parts a real headline is about.
About 5 min