Refuse dark patterns — don't exploit cognitive biases to extract spending

Any monetization surface — stores, currencies, offers, loot mechanics, timers, bundles.

Dark patterns work by overriding the player's judgment rather than earning their choice: they weaponize well-documented biases — loss aversion, the sunk-cost fallacy, reward anticipation, social pressure — and obscure information (the true cost to obtain a reward) so the player can't decide rationally [S-monetization-ethics]. This is exploitation, not persuasion, and it is most harmful to those least able to resist it — younger players and people vulnerable to compulsion. It is the monetization extreme of everything the constitution warns against: manufactured compulsion (PROG-0004), imposed friction (UX-0007), and the opposite of clear, honest communication (UX-0003, MON-0005). Beyond the ethics, it is increasingly a legal risk — regulators have fined publishers for undisclosed odds and disguised paywalls.

Keep a refuse-list: no fake scarcity/urgency, no obscured real-money cost, no currency mazes designed to hide value, no compulsion loops (loss-aversion streaks), no predatory targeting of spenders or minors. Show true costs and odds plainly (MON-0005). Design offers you'd be comfortable explaining to the player's face. Take extra care where minors may play (UX-0006's duty-of-care spirit extends here).

Engagement/revenue-optimization argues these techniques are effective, widely used, and that adults opt in freely; the player-respect/wellbeing position (this constitution's, and increasingly regulators') is that exploiting cognitive bias and concealing cost is manipulation that harms players, especially the vulnerable. This is a genuine, live industry and legal dispute — but the manipulation-and-concealment core is what this principle refuses.

The sharpest ethics principle in the MON domain, with legal as well as moral stakes; the extreme case of PROG-0004 (compulsion) and the opposite of honest communication (MON-0005, UX-0003). Confidence 4.