[Splines]

Ugh, that's a really disturbing strategy. Is this a common tactic for freemium games? I've seen "daily login rewards" type things which give you an incentive to play daily, but I've never before seen something that is an actual punishment for not playing.

I suppose "lingots" don't really have a monetary value, but imagine this tactic done in a game where the currency is worth some amount of actual money.

please drink a verification can

[vacri]

Duolingo is not a game, but a language learning app. One of the most important parts of learning a language is to stick at it. The payoff for taking Duolingo's bet is that you get better at the language that you're using Duolingo for in the first place. Whereas for games, the only real payoff for winning at them is bragging rights.