Although we know how and why players cheat in videogames released on consoles or via PC, we know less about perceptions and practices surrounding cheating in social networks games. Such games offer players a style of gameplay—often without an ending and with a free-to-play model—that is quite different from other types of games. In addition, new audiences and demographics are being exposed to this type of games and are playing them. How do players decided what is fair and unfair in such games? How do they cheat? This study begins the process of answering those questions by examining how the definition of cheating and its practices have evolved with the rise in popularity of Facebook games. The answers indicate that players often dismiss the seriousness of social network games, and thus cheating was either not needed or not a part of gameplay expectations.

Game platforms and the evolution of cheating practices: an exploratory study abstraCtThis article explores how Facebook as a game platform influences players' gameplay, arguing that platforms shape play as well as cheating behaviours. Based on a player survey and follow-up qualitative interviews, it asks how players theorize cheating in such games relative to their existing social networks, Facebook's Terms of Service, and the specific types of games prevalent on Facebook. It explores how these features shape players' understandings of what constitutes cheating. It finds that platforms do influence how players define or imagine cheating in several ways, including the normalization of new payment models and gameplay mechanics, differences in how cheating is conceptualized by strangers versus friends and family, and how different terms of service can frame what counts as cheating.

This exploratory paper answers questions about how Facebook as a game platform influences players' gameplay, arguing that platforms can shape play as well as cheating behaviors in important ways. It is based on a survey of players of social network games, exploring their attitudes towards cheating in games such as The Sims Social and Cityville. It also includes results from follow-up qualitative interviews, further inquiring how players theorize cheating in such games relative to their existing social networks, Facebook's Terms of Service, and the specific types of games that are prevalent on Facebook. It asks how these features shape player's understandings of what constitutes cheating. It finds in part that platforms do influence how players define or imagine cheating in several ways, including the normalization of new payment models and gameplay mechanics, differences in how cheating is conceptualized by strangers versus friends and family, and how different terms of service can frame what counts as cheating or not.