I've always been confused by games that seem designed to primarily cause pain for the loser(s) rather than pleasure for the winners.<p>I realize that in most games, losing is painful to some degree and winning is pleasurable to some degree. But in games like this, it seems that more pain is generated for the losers than pleasure for the winners. It seems like playing is a net losing proposition.<p>I feel similarly about bets where the prize is not an exchange of value but rather that the loser has to perform an embarrassing or painful act. While this may cause some pleasure for some types of winners, it seems like the net effect is negative.
This seems like a slightly less insidious (and, arguably, less fun) version of a common drinking game from my college: text or shot. You take turns with a random person's phone, composing a text to a person of your choice -- you show the (unsent) message to the owner of the phone and they can either elect to send the message or take a shot.<p>(As one might imagine, this is the kind of game that grows even better over time.)