From Blue whale challenge to Korean love game; task-based game addiction returns to spotlight

The resurgence of task-based game addiction has once again raised alarm, recalling the Blue Whale Challenge that shocked the nation in 2017.The Blue Whale Challenge reportedly involved a series of tasks assigned to players over a 50-day period, beginning with harmless activities and gradually escalating to self-harm, with the final task allegedly encouraging suicide. Several cases of suicide, self-harm and attempts were linked to the game at the time.Now, similar concerns have emerged after three sisters allegedly died by suicide due to addiction to a so-called Korean game. While the games differ in origin, experts point out a shared structure: a chain of tasks or challenges that pressure players to continue. What begins as curiosity or competition can evolve into an obsessive cycle. In Delhi and other cities, such cycles have spilled beyond screens, devastating families.

Sarthak Girotra, an avid gamer, told The Tribune that there were chances that such games do not have any application for both ios and android, two popular operating system for smart phones, rather they work on the phenomenon of sharing.

Since they can easily be reported and removed from the application stores, they mostly rely either on the website or shared through users who had earlier downloaded them. These start as simple challenges, such as getting up at night, and gradually become more difficult, he added.

Echoing similarly, Sarthak Sharma, founder of ModxComputers and tech content creator, said that yes, the developer should have ethical responsibility and mass market game developers like any other professionals in mass engagement markets, have a reasonable obligation to ensure that their products will not, in any way, cause harm to consumers, and in particular, to children.

On the reward system, Sharma argued that it is psychologically powerful even to the young, and in their case may powerfully influence behavior, self-worth and value systems.

Most of the features (eg loot boxes) are gaming design features that are based on gambling principles that include random rewards. Such features can cause players to become more impulsive and more likely to engage in other risky behaviours and the degree of these effects are particularly salient when children and teenagers are the primary players of these games, he added.

Dr. Paramjeet Singh, consultant psychiatrist at PSRI Hospital, told The Tribune that gaming addiction is a persistent and repeated engagement with internet gaming, to the extent of disturbing the persons routine, neglect of alternative activities, inability to cut down despite knowing the risks, significant distress etc. In healthy gaming, the person is able to regulate his timing and stop when something important comes up.

This has bidirectional link between stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness and gaming disorder and person undergoing such things are more prone to falling prey to gaming addiction, said Singh.

Moreover, he argued that gaming could often be a mask for deeper psychological conflicts and distress.

Singh mentioned that person suffering from such addictions could be treated using cognitive behavioural therapy, relapse prevention and motivation enhancement therapy. In some cases, family therapy may be warranted. Medicines can also be used in certain cases of gaming addiction, he added.