{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/engagement-retention--family-16","type":"mechanic","id":"engagement-retention--family-16","lang":"en","title":"Losses, preserving progress and invested effort","summary":"Potential progress loss and past effort can influence continued play. Past investment does not automatically make future costs worthwhile.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/engagement-retention--family-16/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/engagement-retention--family-16.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/engagement-retention--family-16.md","aliases":["Losses and invested effort"],"tags":["Engagement, retention and addictive patterns","Mechanics catalog"],"sourceIds":["source-0ed470ae2568cc02","source-7f09c8a736762f4f"],"sources":[{"id":"source-0ed470ae2568cc02","title":"King and Delfabbro","url":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/add.14286","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-7f09c8a736762f4f","title":"Slay the Spire","url":"https://www.megacrit.com/press-kits/slay-the-spire/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"The latter technique is especially associated with the use of time and money already invested: it is more difficult for the player to abandon the goal, although continuing may be unprofitable. Hiding long-term value is considered in works on predatory monetization. King and Delfabbro."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Variants and applications\n\n<a id=\"family-16-variants\"></a>\n\n- Resetting streak for skipping: return is motivated by maintaining streak <a id=\"variant-engagement-retention-16-01\"></a>\n- Rating drop for inactivity: absence reduces achieved status <a id=\"variant-engagement-retention-16-02\"></a>\n- Vulnerability of property outside the game: base or resources can be taken away while the player is absent <a id=\"variant-engagement-retention-16-03\"></a>\n- Crop spoilage and farm destruction: maintenance prevents deterioration <a id=\"variant-engagement-retention-16-04\"></a>\n- Limited window for returning what was lost: after a defeat you need to have time to return things or resources <a id=\"variant-engagement-retention-16-05\"></a>\n- Loss of accumulated chances or guarantees: a change of event or a break invalidates the incomplete counter <a id=\"variant-engagement-retention-16-06\"></a>\n- Stopping accumulation when storage is full: absence means lost income <a id=\"variant-engagement-retention-16-07\"></a>\n- Late disclosure of the full price of the target: significant requirements become visible after significant investments <a id=\"variant-engagement-retention-16-08\"></a>"},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"A map of 160 techniques for analyzing interest, returns, costs and pressure on the player. Involvement in itself does not mean dependence; the presence of separate mechanics does not determine the diagnosis or prove causation. This is the author's classification for critical analysis of design, and not a scientifically established list of the causes of gaming disorder. Assess context, audience, voluntariness of participation, and opportunity to stop."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"engagement-retention","id":"family-16","title":"Engagement, retention and addictive patterns","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/engagement-retention/#family-16","categoryIds":["section-1"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Losses and invested effort","description":"Potential progress loss and past effort can influence continued play. Past investment does not automatically make future costs worthwhile.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/slay-the-spire-defeat.webp","width":1440,"height":810,"game":"Slay the Spire","sourceUrl":"https://www.megacrit.com/press-kits/slay-the-spire/","originalUrl":"https://www.megacrit.com/images/ss25.jpg","credit":"Mega Crit","rights":"© Mega Crit. All rights reserved.","caption":"Death ends the current run","alt":"Slay the Spire: the character’s health reaches zero and a Death screen confirms the end of the attempt.","markers":[{"x":23,"y":3,"label":"The health pool is exhausted"},{"x":50,"y":25,"label":"The game explicitly confirms defeat"}]},"tips":["Allow saving state and choosing to stop."],"examples":[{"title":"Slay the Spire","url":"https://www.megacrit.com/press-kits/slay-the-spire/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original editorial design catalog consolidated from project discussions on 2026-10-20. Complete discussion item lists and contextual limitations are preserved; linked primary sources support specific techniques, not the entire classification. English translation was prepared with machine assistance and editorial review.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/engagement-retention"}}