Engage high schoolers in a critical media literacy lesson on dark patterns, gaming addiction, and gambling mechanics in digital apps — a zero-prep toolkit with slides, guided notes, activity, quiz, exit ticket, and self-grading Google Forms for grades 9-12. Your students are already playing these games. They've felt the pull of a loot box, the anxiety of a countdown timer, the sting of running out of in-game currency. This lesson names what's happening — and teaches students to recognize it. The