Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderInteresting how some "dark patterns", especially of the psychological kind, are actually important elements of good game design. For example the "illusion of control" (The game cheats or hides information to make you think you're better than you actually are) is everywhere, and it makes better games. One classic example is "coyote time" in platform games. Or for a more specific example, in Portal, at one time, you have to quickly fire a portal to avoid being crushed, it is…
It’s always shocking to see one of my sites pop up on HN. For context around my motivation to make the site. I was really addicted to a certain mobile game to the point that it was affecting my work and family life. I stumbled upon an article about how game companies hire psychologists to make the games more addicting. This led me down a rabbit hole of researching dark patterns. It was very eye opening and by learning about…
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 758
- Total comments
- 341
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-02-02 | DarkPattern.games: Find Healthy Mobile GamesFirst breakout · Best thread | homarp | 403 | 203 |
| 2024-05-02 | DarkPattern.games: Avoid addictive gaming dark patterns | Levitating | 1 | 0 |
| 2025-03-11 | Dark Pattern Games: Avoid Addictive Gaming Dark Patterns | OuterVale | 4 | 0 |
| 2025-11-16 | Dark Pattern GamesLatest 20+ point return | robotnikman | 350 | 138 |