Video game addiction is surging globally as 3.4 billion gamers drive concerns over mental health, excessive playtime, and the rise of mobile gaming habits.

What is your relationship to addictive mobile games? If you were to ask me, I’d say it’s a love-hate relationship. I love being drawn into the fun but hate then not being able to put them down.

These games have spent decades perfecting what psychologists call “variable reward schedules”—the most addictive form of reinforcement. With a slot machine, an individual has absolutely zero ...