Addiction by Design

spent, and money spent in retail spaces are all highly

Sound, when properly configured, “can actually energize the player, keep him there longer,”

Increasing games’ hit frequency increased the rate at which play was reinforced, and players’ changed expectations were then accounted for in subsequent design innovations, further ratcheting up the rate of reinforcement.

“It’s strange,” says Lola, “but winning can disappoint me, especially if I win right away.”23 As we have already seen, winning too much, too soon, or too often can interrupt the tempo of play and disturb the harmonious regularity of the zone.

It’s not about winning, it’s about continuing to play.”

(Play itself Friedman describes as “open,” “undifferentiated,” “boundless,” “extensive,” and “never-ending”—precisely the phenomenological characteristics he strives to minimize within the gambling environment.

The key is to cultivate “structured chaos” rather than “inhospitable commotion.”37 “The maze,” Friedman promises, “is the antidote.”38 He explains: “A maze layout

Evoking the scene that Lola recounted at the start of this chapter, Adams told me of his own style in the field. “I go out there and sit down at a machine. I turn to the person next to me and say I design these things, that’s why I’ve been sitting here playing this machine next to you for twenty minutes, because this is what I do. Let me show you t

From ceiling height to carpet pattern, lighting intensity to aisle width, acoustics to temperature regulation—all such elements, Freidman argues, should be engineered to facilitate the interior state of the machine zone.

While all forms of gambling involve random patterning of payouts, machine gambling is distinguished by its solitary, continuous, and rapid mode of wagering. Without waiting for “horses to run, a dealer to shuffle or deal, or a roulette wheel to stop spinning,” it is possible to complete a game every three to four seconds.71 To use the terminology o