Why do I keep playing a game that I hate?

digitaltrends.com:

Table of Contents I’m a sucker after all Gathering around the watercooler

It’s 9 a.m. when my morning alarm goes off on New Year’s Eve. I quickly shut it off and then jump into my usual morning routine: doing a round through my most used apps before getting out of bed. But my first instinct isn’t to look at the weather, check my social media notifications, or read the news. Instead, I open up the one app that I know I’m going to spend a chunk of my day complaining about:Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket.

Since its release in October, the free-to-play card collecting game has taken up more and more real estate in my head. What started as a harmless curiosity has since grown into an infuriating obsession. I fiddle with it constantly as if I’m using a digital fidget toy. When I don’t have packs to open, I aimlessly scroll through my card collection. I’m in multiple Discord chats where friends screenshot photos of the same few cards that every player can pull.

All of this for a game that I flat-out dislike.

This isn’t new for me; it’s the latest in a long line of gaming habits that I can never seem to shed. What keeps drawing me to games like Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket even when the serotonin dries up? That answer is a complicated tangle of predatory game design and genuine human connection that’s led me to evaluate what I want from certain games I play.

• Pokémon’s free mobile card game is nostalgic fun, but watch your wallet
• You’re about to get even more to play in the Epic Games mobile store
• Pokémon’s new mobile game will bring out the card collector in you

I’m a sucker after all

When Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket was first announced, I couldn’t really understand the appeal of it. I assumed that the free mobile game would be a straight adaptation of the real-life card game it was based on, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Instead, trailers emphasized one thing above all else: collecting. While it would have a streamlined