---
key: mechanic/engagement-retention--family-19
type: mechanic
id: engagement-retention--family-19
lang: en
title: Repeat spending patterns
summary: >-
Subscriptions, currency purchases or consumables create repeat spending.
Players need clear prices, billing intervals and cancellation terms.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: >-
https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/engagement-retention--family-19/
jsonUrl: >-
https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/engagement-retention--family-19.json
markdownUrl: >-
https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/engagement-retention--family-19.md
aliases:
- Recurring spending mechanics
tags:
- 'Engagement, retention and addictive patterns'
- Mechanics catalog
sourceIds:
- source-fe20be25686013cd
- source-38db45754d75dfcb
sources:
- id: source-fe20be25686013cd
title: Petrovskaya and Zendle
url: 'https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-021-04970-6'
verifiedAt: null
- id: source-38db45754d75dfcb
title: Duolingo
url: 'https://www.duolingo.com/super'
verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
- catalogId: engagement-retention
id: family-19
title: 'Engagement, retention and addictive patterns'
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/engagement-retention/#family-19'
categoryIds:
- section-1
supersededBy: []
attributes:
preview:
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
title: Recurring spending mechanics
description: >-
Subscriptions, currency purchases or consumables create repeat spending.
Players need clear prices, billing intervals and cancellation terms.
image:
src: images/mechanics/learning-duolingo-super-billing.webp
width: 1280
height: 720
crop:
x: 35
'y': 255
width: 1190
height: 350
game: Duolingo
sourceUrl: 'https://www.duolingo.com/super'
originalUrl: 'https://www.duolingo.com/super'
credit: 'Duolingo; public website capture, 2026-10-22'
rights: >-
© Duolingo. Signed-out public subscription page captured without
starting a trial or signing in, 2026-10-22. All rights reserved;
excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
caption: 'Duolingo: a trial timeline specifying when payment is charged'
alt: 'Duolingo: a trial timeline specifying when payment is charged'
markers:
- x: 70
'y': 76
label: 'Day 7: payment charge and cancellation condition'
tips:
- Disclose the price after a trial before it starts.
examples:
- title: Duolingo
url: 'https://www.duolingo.com/super'
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
---
# Repeat spending patterns
id: engagement-retention--family-19
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/engagement-retention--family-19
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/engagement-retention--family-19/
Subscriptions, currency purchases or consumables create repeat spending. Players need clear prices, billing intervals and cancellation terms.
## At a glance
[Duolingo](https://www.duolingo.com/super) · © Duolingo. Signed-out public subscription page captured without starting a trial or signing in, 2026-10-22. All rights reserved; excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
1. Day 7: payment charge and cancellation condition
- Disclose the price after a trial before it starts.
- [Duolingo](https://www.duolingo.com/super)
## How it works
Selling boosts, convenience restrictions, opaque currency, and buying pressure are described in a study of problematic monetization from a player's perspective. It categorizes their complaints and experiences, but does not prove that each method is addictive. Petrovskaya and Zendle.
## Variants
### Variants and applications
- Paid random rewards: buy an attempt, not a guaranteed desired item
- Multiple currencies and exchange rates: it becomes more difficult to estimate expenses in regular money
- Mismatch between the sizes of currency packages and prices: the balance pushes for the next replenishment
- Chains of sequential offers: acquisition opens the next stage of purchase
- Increasing bonuses for accumulated spending: the amount spent becomes a separate progress bar
- Daily Receipt Subscription: Purchase creates an obligation to check in regularly
- Refund of the cost of the pass upon complete completion: completion of the season becomes a condition for receiving currency for the next
- Paid restoration of lost progress: after missing a deadline, you are offered to buy the missing progress
## Context and limits
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.
## Connected materials
## Sources and 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.
- [Petrovskaya and Zendle](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-021-04970-6) (id: source-fe20be25686013cd)
- [Duolingo](https://www.duolingo.com/super) (id: source-38db45754d75dfcb)
CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors