The Shrine

I noticed in the Chinese boards I go to people talk about mobile games and they mention they bought X number of 'Singles', and for the longest time I thought that was buying the lowest denomination of in game currency until I actually did some research and found out that it refers to buying the HIGHEST denomination of in game currency, which is generally around $100 USD equivalent no matter what part of the world you're in.

Is there anything similar in the English community? I think it almost makes talking about mobile games like you're dealing in drugs, e.g. 'that new game came out I decided to test the waters and bought two Singles', because I guess saying you spent $200 on a new game with no information would make you look like you're crazy?

It's a smaller market but people do that for games like Hearthstone and Gwent.

I admit I put $20 into Gwent the first day I played the beta. It would have probably been more but my favorite faction isn't added to the game yet. But people definitely bought some singles so to speak the second they got access to Gwent.

They actually use the term 'singles'? I've played mobile games with people who spent a lot but I was never aware there was a special word they use for the highest denomination. Usually if the game has a specific term for that they'd just say they bought X of that whatever that is, or they just say they spent the equivalent dollar amount, especially given most USA based game has the highest denomination at roughly $100. I guess having a single term makes it easier to understand, but I'd think 'Single' sounds like a small expenditure and the first thing that'd come to mind isn't buying the maximum denomination possible.

I'm not surprised people spend a ton of money on games, but I didn't know people talk about it like you're doing a code for doing drugs.

It's usually linked to very specific game brands that have established their own labels for the different packs. There aren't any universal terms.

The freemium model is about a decade older in China and other East Asian markets than it is here. There has been more time for such lingo to develop.

Oh lol I was pretty out of it last night I didn't pick up on the lingo being what you were focusing on. Yeah, I'm not aware of it developing like that here.

Here's some sample dialogue I've seen the Chinese use this term:

"I'm not addicted. I only bought 20 Singles."
"I decided to take 10 Singles and only got junk. Goodbye cruel world!"
"Today I bought my usual 5 Singles and got the super rare card!"

For the longest time I thought they were posted by poor college students trying to scrap $20 for Hearthstone.