The mystery box trend, originating in Asia, has taken the world by storm in recent years. Fueled by curiosity, surprise, and the fear of missing out, the trend can be found across many sectors, including consumer electronics, fashion, and beauty. Perhaps no group of people has taken to the concept of mystery boxes as much as gamers have. The idea of reward boxes filled with surprise gifts is no new concept in games.
For a long time, Free-to-play and gacha-style games have included loot boxes as a crucial part of the in-game experience. In games where loot boxes are offered as rewards, players either play for in-game currency that they can then use to purchase special loot boxes containing rare and valuable items, or they can buy these boxes directly using real-world currency. Games using the Loot Box Reward system are popular among gamers as they combine excitement, value, exclusivity, and social engagement.
The Excitement of Surprise
One of the most attractive aspects of mystery boxes is the element of surprise. According to the experts at Jemlit, a gaming mystery box potentially contains everything a gamer needs to enhance their in-game experience. Their site, for example, allows gamers to select a category, such as online gaming mystery boxes to premium mystery boxes, where gamers could win valuable items from consoles to rare skins.
The uncertainty and excitement of opening a mystery box simulates the dopamine rush experienced by gamers when playing games that implement high-stakes, luck-based algorithms such as random number generators. This, combined with the delight of being rewarded with prizes that directly relate to gaming, has made gamer mystery boxes a favorable way to reward oneself, and brings the in-game experience of finding treasure into the real world.
The Loot Box Parallel
Many popular game titles, including Genshin Impact and Fortnite, allow players to buy or win loot boxes. These loot boxes are sold as crucial game advantages that could either contain rare game skins, provide an in-game advantage, or hold special game items that progress gameplay. The Loot Box Reward system allows popular games to be free-to-play, meaning more gamers have access to the platform.
Players are later encouraged to spend the in-game currency they earned or bought on loot boxes. Thanks to gaming mystery boxes, gamers can now replicate the act of buying loot boxes in the real world by buying gamer-themed mystery boxes containing new game titles, gamer merchandise, or even gaming consoles.
Rare Item-Finding
Players often spend hours hunting for rare items that give them in-game advantages, progress the story, or provide bragging rights. This hunt extends to the real world, with players constantly looking for rare game titles, merchandise, or equipment. Opening gamer mystery boxes provides gamers with an opportunity to access rare gaming items that might not be available elsewhere or are very expensive to purchase.
Additionally, mystery boxes are an affordable way to obtain new gaming merchandise that might be sold at a premium price. Many game items, such as skins and game tools, are exclusively made available via mystery boxes, encouraging gamers to buy mystery boxes for in-game rewards.
Discovering New Franchises and Building Community
Gamer mystery boxes are ordinarily themed. Some may be themed around a specific game, like Minecraft or Pokémon, while others are console or genre-specific. These latter types of mystery boxes often combine products from multiple franchises in one box, exposing gamers who might only be familiar with the games they regularly play to new and exciting franchises. Gaming communities are known for being positive and welcoming spaces, and the popularity of gamer mystery boxes adds to the growth of many gaming communities by bridging game franchises together via uniquely themed boxes. This growth is further fueled by the rising popularity of mystery box streams, in which gamers buy and open boxes on stream, often with the promise of gifting some of the rarer items they find to their viewers.
