![]() So criminal or not, these annoyingly misleading ads may be sticking around for a while. Freemium or ad-supported games like those discussed in the video are even less of a priority.Įffectively, the law does not apply to these games because the FTC doesn’t consider them worth the Commission’s time. ![]() However, the critical word here is “potentially." As the video points out, any legal action is wholly dependent on the government caring about the issue, and the FTC rarely bothers to go after mobile games or apps for false advertising. The Gardenscapes series of games uses both hidden object puzzles or match three puzzles depending on the platform and game in the franchise. It also means that mobile developers are potentially opening themselves up to fines and other legal action for fake ads. 6 Games Like Gardenscapes This list of games like Gardenscapes features other unique puzzle games that have you completing puzzles while you revive or discover a larger game world. That doesn't leave much of a loophole for these mobile game devs to crawl through. Another line says that the rule applies no matter where the ad appears. According to federal law, advertisers cannot deliberately lie or mislead their audience about their product. The video cites a page on FTC.gov explaining the Federal Trade Commission’s rules for advertising. It's not even a new tactic, as mobile strategy games have been impersonating Age of Empires 2 for years.Īccording to Game Theory, these practices aren't just unethical, but also illegal. And that's far from the only example of low effort mobile games stealing footage from PC titles. The ad doesn't even bother to hide the obvious mouse interface. The trailer for one mobile game brought up in the video outright steals footage from Banished, a medieval city builder on PC. Gardenscapes is not even the worst offender when it comes to alleged false advertising. These puzzles only actually appear as random and incredibly rare mini-games that make up less than 1% of the actual gameplay. However, the ads use the same “pull the pin” template described above. The game is essentially Candy Crush with some light town-building elements thrown in. Game Theory singled out the mobile game Gardenscapes, whose misleading ads were banned in the UK last year. A game like that called Hero Rescue does exist, however, resembling its ads makes it an exception to the norm. One common and currently popular variant is “pull the pin” logic puzzles, where the player must pull pins to clear a path for the character to reach a reward. Often low budget and poorly made, they usually adhere to the same handful of formats. Most gamers who watch YouTube have probably come across such ads before. ![]() The YouTube channel Game Theory uploaded a video on March 30th discussing typical mobile game ads and how they likely violate FTC prohibitions on misleading advertisements. RELATED: Genshin Impact Trailer Introduces Rosaria The only problem is getting the relevant authorities to hold mobile game developers accountable. Now, one YouTube channel claims many of the ads may rise to the level of a criminal offense. Not only can they be annoying, but the fake ads and trailers rarely bear any resemblance to the actual product. The mobile version of YouTube is becoming infamous in some circles for the abundance of strangely similar mobile game ads.
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