Google Play games like "Vape Master" highlight gaps in regulation

E-cigarette-themed games like “Vape Master” and “Vape Boss Shop Simulator 3D” remain available on the Google Play Store despite policies which prohibit apps that encourage/promote nicotine and tobacco use. These apps contain a range of youth-appealing imagery and themes likely to glamorize and encourage nicotine use, according to research from Truth Initiative published in Tobacco Control.

Among all e-cigarette-related Google Play apps in the sample (including cessation apps) researchers found that almost half (45%) were vaping games or simulators, with many featuring animated characters. For example, “Vape Master” is an animated gaming app where the objective is to vape in a prohibited location (such as a bar) without getting caught. Another app called “Vape Boss Shop Simulator 3D,” the player runs a vape shop where Roblox-like characters play minigames to earn coins. Finally, in “Vape’n Pod Prank Simulator” the user chooses from a range of colorful vapes and can ‘blow’ a range of vape clouds, including fantastical shapes like a heart or skull. Notably, there were no e-cigarette entertainment apps on the Apple App Store.

With no regulatory oversight, it is up to the platforms to enforce their own policies and restrict pro-tobacco content. While the Apple App Store has removed concerning e-cigarette content, the Google Play Store continues to host vaping games and simulators that can put young people at risk of nicotine addiction.

Key takeaways from this study

• Many apps have features that potentially appeal to youth. Animated characters, bright colors, themes with fantasy or violence, humor, and sexual imagery were common across the entertainment apps. Additionally, the gaming apps present vaping nicotine as fun and rebellious, with challenges where players perform vape tricks or try to vape without getting caught.
• Age ratings don’t provide meaningful protection. Half of the 33 entertainment apps were rated “Mature 17+,” and around 40% were rated “Teen.” Others were rated “Everyone” or “Everyone 10+.” Although Google restricts underage accounts from downloading “Mature 17+” apps, age verifications can be easily bypassed. The “Teen” and other apps can be downloaded by anyone without age verification.
• Several of these apps had a large reach. Among the 20 apps for which data were available, every app had at least 5,000 downloads. Twelve apps had more than 100,000 downloads, two exceeded one million, and one surpassed 10 million.
• The apps present nicotine as safe. None of the apps included any information about the dangers of nicotine or e-cigarette use, and three apps claimed to be helpful with cessation.
• App store listings are part of the problem. Store listings sometimes featured youth-appealing characters, violence, and sexual imagery even when those elements were not present inside the actual app.

Mobile games present an unexpected avenue for youth exposure to vaping content

In a world where tobacco and nicotine use is glamorized in movies, TV, music videos, and on social media, the last thing teens need is another potential pathway for nicotine initiation. 

While broadcast and print media regulate youth-­appealing features of tobacco ads, no such regulation exists for mobile apps. The continued availability of such apps suggests that self-regulation and age-gating may be insufficient, and stronger oversight is needed.