The harm you might be doing is to teach your kid that reward comes from consumption rather than creation. Likewise random reinforcement is a powerful force that

The harm you might be doing is to teach your kid that reward comes from consumption rather than creation. Likewise random reinforcement is a powerful force that most people's minds are not prepared to handle. I personally don't think it is ethical to put your kid in someone's skinner box: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning_chamber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning_chamber I especially don't think it's ethical when they are engineered to be as addicting as possible. We literally have algorithms that measure levels of engagement or spending and then turn the knobs the game has access to, to maximize those values. If gambling based reward occurs in the context of other creation based and self improvement based reward structures, it's probably not bad. If gambling based reward occurs in the absence of healthy rewarding activities, or is the only regular and/or reliable rewarding activity, then I think it is more likely to lead to poor outcomes. The real question though is how easy it is for you. Buying a loot box is a trivial time investment on your part. Taking your kid to guitar lessons and organizing socially rewarding play sessions with friends is a much greater investment. Regardless of the kids situation, I think buying the loot box for your benefit is the greater danger. If the loot box buys you quiet time, then it may be conditioning you more than your kid.