Is It Really Free? In-Game Purchases and Tricky Buttons
Many games are free to start — and inside there are things to buy. Today you will play an invented game, see how buttons nudge you to hurry and make a rule for purchases.
For the parent: a one-page guide — questions for dinner and a “surprise shop” without a screen.
01Remember
Think about each question, then open the answer.
Can a game be free to start and still sell things inside?
Yes. That is why we ask: “What can be bought inside and how much does it cost?”
What is a virtual coin?
Points or coins in a game. They can be bought with real money, and the number on the screen may not show how much money it is.
Who decides about payments — the child or the adult?
The adult. The child asks and gets advice.
02Story
This story is made up.
Eli plays the invented game “The Firefly Garden”. She started it for free.
A big button lights up on the screen: “Only now! Surprise box!” There is a clock next to it.
Eli feels she must hurry. But she stops, drinks some water and asks: “What is in the box? How much real money is it?”
Her dad looks with her. They see that the coins are bought with real money and that nobody says what is in the box.
Eli does not press “buy”. They decide together: before every purchase — a pause and a question to an adult.
The game is still fun. And Eli knows how to read the buttons.
03Worked example
When you see something to buy in a game, ask yourself four questions:
1 · What am I buying?
Do I know exactly what I get? A surprise box does not say what is inside.
2 · How much is it in real money?
Coins and gems can hide the price. Ask: “How many euros is this?”
3 · Why am I hurrying?
A clock, “only now”, a glowing button and “everyone is buying” want you to hurry. Hurrying is a signal for a pause.
4 · Who decides?
Money and payments belong to the adult. I ask them — and they decide with me.
04Try it now
1 · Predict
A game says “Free”. What is true?
2 · Run: “The Firefly Garden” (an invented game)
You have 10 invented coins. The game will offer you five things. For each choose “Buy” or “Skip”. Nothing real is bought and nothing is paid. The clock in the game is frozen on purpose — it never counts down.
3 · Change: a rule for purchases
Make a rule for your family. Choose from the lists — nothing is saved or sent.
05No screen: the surprise shop
You need: paper tokens (cut out 10), small slips of paper, a box or a hat, an adult or a friend.
Draw small “prizes” on the slips (a star, a flower, a crown) and put them in the box. Some prizes are the same.
The player has 10 tokens. One surprise costs 3 tokens. They draw a slip and do not know what they will get.
After the third draw, stop and count: how many tokens were spent and how many different prizes are there? How often did you get the same one?
Now imagine each token is the price of something real. How would you feel if you had to pay? Talk about the pause.
06Make your own
You now know how to read tricky buttons. Pass the rule on.
- Explain to someone else: tell a younger child what the clock in the game does and what a pause is.
- Make for someone: draw a card “Our rule for purchases” for your family and put it on the fridge.
- Do not go into shops and do not press any real “buy”. Payments belong to the adult.
- Do not write personal data or names of games on the card.
07What I learned
- A game can be free to start and still sell things inside.
- A clock, a glowing button, a surprise box and “everyone is buying” make me hurry. I pause.
- Coins can hide the price. I ask “How much is it in real money?” and I ask an adult.
Tricky button — a pause and a question. What will you ask next time a game offers you something to buy?
Check yourself
1. A game offers something to buy. What do you do?
2. The clock says “only a little longer!” What is best?
3. Why do games sell coins?
It is yours when you can name three tricky buttons and make a rule for purchases. No points and no ranking — only a skill.
08I have a question
Do you still have a question? Write it here. It goes to your parent, not to strangers. Your parent confirms their e-mail first.
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·Sources
- Title: Is It Really Free? In-Game Purchases and Tricky Buttons (DB-IB-23) · Author: Children's Library, East Accelerator Foundation · Source: original content and original game code, 2026 · Rights: CC BY-SA 4.0.
- The story is made up. The game “The Firefly Garden”, the coins, the offers and the prices are invented; nothing is bought and no real game is mentioned. The clock is frozen on purpose.
- The parent guide has one line on the principles of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network of the European Commission (21 March 2025). Read 2026-11-02.
- School link: class-teacher hour / Informatics and IT, grades 5–6 ⚠️ unverified, not shown as a link.
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Children's Library, East Accelerator Foundation, 2026. You may share and adapt this lesson if you credit the author and keep the same licence. Learning is free forever.