Roblox Games Shouldn't Turn Doomscrolling Into Gameplay

One of the reasons I enjoy Roblox so much is that it offers something increasingly rare on the modern internet.

It asks you to participate.

Whether you're building a house, racing other players, solving puzzles or exploring a new world, Roblox experiences are built around interaction. The best games reward curiosity, creativity, teamwork and progression. They encourage players to actively do something rather than passively consume content.

That's why I'm concerned by a recent trend that has started to appear on the platform.

Some developers have begun experimenting with incorporating endless short form video feeds into their games, effectively turning doomscrolling into a gameplay mechanic. I’ve seen it and I’ve played a few games with it on the platform and personally, I don't think that's a direction Roblox should be heading.

Roblox is already engaging enough

One argument often made in game development is that every mechanic should exist to improve player retention.

On paper, integrating an endless stream of videos might seem like another way to keep people inside an experience. But Roblox has never needed that.

The platform has become one of the largest gaming ecosystems in the world because its experiences are already compelling.

Players come back because they enjoy building, competing, collecting, roleplaying, creating or spending time with friends. Those are genuine reasons to play.

Adding infinite scrolling doesn't improve those experiences. It simply introduces a mechanic that was originally designed to maximise time spent consuming content.

There is an important difference between designing games that players enjoy and designing systems that encourage endless consumption.

Games should reward playing

Roblox has always been at its best when gameplay is the reward.

Progress should come from learning mechanics. Winning challenges. Improving your character. Working with other players. Discovering new parts of the game. All that stuff.

Those are satisfying because they require participation.

Doomscrolling works differently because the purpose isn't to challenge you or make you more skilful or to help you solve problems.

The purpose is simply to keep you scrolling.

When that becomes part of a game's core progression loop, the experience starts moving away from being a game and closer to becoming another social media feed.

Children don't need another infinite feed

As we already know, most Roblox players are children or teenagers.

Many already use platforms built around endless short form content - TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts etc/

These services are intentionally designed to reduce friction between one video and the next. The easier it is to continue watching, the longer people typically remain engaged. This is how they design them.

Introducing doomscrolling mechanics risks bringing some of the internet's least healthy engagement patterns into a platform that has traditionally been built around play.

Children don't need another feed competing for their attention. They already have enough.

The Roblox community was right to question it

One of the clearest examples of this trend was Steal an Egg, a Roblox experience that rewarded players for watching a continuous stream of short form videos while playing.

The reaction from the community was overwhelmingly sceptical.

Players questioned whether this was the type of experience Roblox should be encouraging, particularly given the platform's young audience. Many said that experiences rewarding players for continuously watching media feeds were not appropriate for younger users.

The game was briefly pulled from the Roblox store before returning without the feed feature. I believe that was the right decision. Not because developers shouldn't experiment. But because mechanics like that fundamentally change what playing a game means.

This isn't an argument against video

It's important to make that distinction that video itself isn't the problem.

In fact, I'm strongly in favour of gameplay videos.

Through The Bloxline, I've started building one of the largest searchable gameplay libraries for Roblox because I believe gameplay footage helps players make better decisions about which experiences they want to try.

Watching a few minutes of a video before joining a game is not inherently bad.

But scrolling endlessly through unrelated videos as part of progressing inside a game is something entirely different.

One supports discovery. The other risks replacing gameplay.

Roblox doesn't need to copy social media

Every successful platform eventually faces the temptation to borrow ideas from somewhere else.

Social media platforms add shopping.

Streaming platforms add short form feeds.

Messaging apps become marketplaces.

Sometimes those changes improve the product.

Sometimes they make it lose sight of what made it successful in the first place.

Roblox has succeeded because it isn't TikTok. It isn't YouTube. It isn't Instagram. It's a platform where millions of developers have built experiences that encourage people to create, explore, compete and socialise.

Trying to recreate social media mechanics inside games risks weakening what makes Roblox unique.

There are better ways to increase engagement

Developers who want players to stay longer have plenty of healthier options.

• Create more rewarding progression.
• Give players meaningful goals.
• Build stronger multiplayer systems.
• Introduce seasonal events.
• Listen to community feedback.
• Reward creativity.
• Encourage cooperation.
• Create memorable moments that players want to tell their friends about.

Those are the kinds of mechanics that build lasting communities. Not endless scrolling.

The future I hope Roblox chooses

As someone who writes about Roblox, plays Roblox games almost every day and regularly speaks with Roblox studios, I want developers to keep experimenting.

Some of the platform's biggest successes came from people trying ideas that nobody had attempted before.

Innovation should always be encouraged.

But I also think it's important to recognise when an idea doesn't improve the player experience.

Doomscrolling belongs on social media platforms. It doesn't belong at the centre of a Roblox game.

Roblox is already one of the most creative gaming platforms in the world.

It doesn't need to borrow one of the internet's most addictive behaviours to remain successful.

Games should continue to reward playing. Not scrolling.