cruisediary

loot-box-disclosure

Detects loot box, gacha, and randomized reward purchase mechanics that lack odds disclosure before purchase, enforcing Guideline 3.1.1's requirement to disclose item drop rates.

cruisediary 19 1 Updated 6mo ago
GitHub

Install

npx skillscat add cruisediary/apple-app-review-skills/loot-box-disclosure

Install via the SkillsCat registry.

SKILL.md

Skill: Loot Box Disclosure

Purpose

Detects loot box, gacha, and randomized reward purchase mechanics that lack odds/probability disclosure before purchase, enforcing Guideline 3.1.1's requirement to disclose item drop rates.

Apple Guideline

  • Primary: 3.1.1 — Business: Payments — In-App Purchase (Randomized Items)
  • Related: 3.1.2
  • Reference: references/guidelines/3-business.md

Real-World Rejection Cases

  • Case: Gacha/loot box game rejected for not showing drop rates before purchase
    Source: Apple Developer Forums (Guideline 3.1.1 enforcement; multiple developer reports 2020–2024)
    Root cause: "Loot boxes" and similar randomized reward mechanisms must disclose the odds of receiving each item type before purchase — Apple requires this disclosure to be visible prior to the purchase confirmation step

  • Case: App showed odds table only on a secondary "Info" screen behind a small "?" button — rejected; Apple required disclosure to be visible before the purchase confirmation tap
    Source: Apple Developer Forums (Guideline 3.1.1 enforcement; multiple developer reports 2021–2023)
    Root cause: The guideline requires disclosure "prior to purchase" — a secondary screen not shown by default does not satisfy this. Odds must be visible on or immediately adjacent to the purchase UI without requiring additional navigation.

  • Case: Card game app disclosed category-level rates ("Rare: 3%") but did not list odds for individual cards within the category — rejected
    Source: Apple Developer Forums (multiple threads on 3.1.1 randomized items requirement, 2021–2023)
    Root cause: Apple requires the odds of receiving each item type, not just aggregate category percentages. When a user could receive one of many distinct rare cards, each card's individual probability must be disclosed.

  • Case: App had odds listed in App Store description and on developer website but not surfaced inside the app itself — rejected
    Source: Apple Developer Forums
    Root cause: The in-app disclosure requirement is separate from App Store metadata. Odds must be accessible within the app at the point of purchase, not only in external documentation.

Trigger

Invoke on any iOS/macOS project that includes randomized reward purchases, gacha mechanics, mystery boxes, or loot boxes.

Inputs

Name Type Default Description
project_root path cwd iOS/macOS project root
shared_context object nil Pre-collected context from appstore-full-audit Phase 1

Actions

Phase 1: Context Collection

Skip this phase if shared_context is provided.

  1. Glob **/*.swift — collect all Swift source files.
  2. Glob **/*Gacha* or **/*LootBox* or **/*Reward* or **/*Mystery* — locate reward/gacha UI files.

Phase 2: Checks

  1. Loot box / gacha pattern detection
    Grep pattern lootBox|gacha|randomReward|mysteryBox|gachapon|blindBox|loot_box|mystery_box in **/*.swift.
    If found, proceed to checks 2–4 for odds disclosure verification.

  2. Randomization near purchase code
    Grep pattern arc4random|Int\.random|Double\.random|\.randomElement|shuffle\(\) in **/*.swift.
    For each match, Read surrounding context — if randomization is adjacent to a purchase flow or reward distribution function, flag → 🟠 HIGH. Marks code as potentially randomized-reward purchase.

  3. Odds/probability disclosure in purchase UI
    If loot box patterns found from check 1 or 2: Grep pattern "probability"|"odds"|"chance"|"drop rate"|"% chance"|"likelihood" in **/*.swift — especially in paywall/purchase view files.
    If absent → 🟠 HIGH. Probability of receiving each item type must be disclosed before the purchase is completed.

  4. StoreKit purchase call near gacha patterns
    Grep pattern SKProduct|Product\.purchase|SKPaymentQueue\.default\(\)\.add in **/*.swift.
    For each StoreKit purchase call, Read surrounding context — if purchase triggers randomized reward distribution without nearby odds disclosure → 🟠 HIGH.

Phase 3: Output

Collect all findings from Phase 2 and build the prioritised findings list below. Include file paths and line numbers. Omit tiers with no findings.

Output Format

## Loot Box Disclosure — Findings

### 🔴 CRITICAL — Guaranteed rejection
- [ ] TODO: <exact actionable step> — `file:line` — Guideline 3.1.1

### 🟠 HIGH — Very likely rejection
- [ ] TODO: Add drop rate/probability disclosure UI before the loot box purchase confirmation — e.g., "Legendary: 1%, Rare: 9%, Common: 90%" — `GachaShopView.swift` — Guideline 3.1.1
- [ ] TODO: Verify odds for each item type are displayed before purchase — randomization detected near StoreKit purchase call without probability strings — `RewardManager.swift:67` — Guideline 3.1.1

### 🟡 MEDIUM — Possible rejection
- [ ] TODO: Ensure odds disclosure is visible before the purchase tap — disclosure placed after confirmation is insufficient

### 🟢 LOW — Best practice
- [ ] TODO: Link to a full odds table (in-app or web) from the purchase screen — some jurisdictions require detailed odds disclosure and the link satisfies both Apple and regulatory requirements

Tools Used

Glob, Grep, Read

Constraints

  • Read-only. No file edits.
  • No network calls.
  • Skip Phase 1 if shared_context is provided by orchestrating agent.
  • Works on Swift, Objective-C, React Native, Flutter projects.

Quick Commands

Run these in your project root to check manually:

# Check for loot box / gacha patterns
!grep -rn "lootBox\|gacha\|randomReward\|mysteryBox\|blindBox" . --include="*.swift" -i

# Check for odds disclosure near purchase
!grep -rn "probability\|odds\|chance\|drop.*rate\|% chance" . --include="*.swift" -i

Swift Anti-Pattern Reference

examples/swift/SubscriptionPatterns.swift

Detection Steps

  1. Find target files

    • Glob: **/*.swift, **/*.m
  2. Search for rejection patterns

    • Grep randomItem\|randomReward\|gachaPool\|lootBox\|mysteryBox\|LootBox\|GachaPool — randomized reward system
    • Grep dropRate\|dropChance\|probability\|odds\|DropRate — odds disclosure implementation
    • Grep SKProduct\|Product.purchase near randomized reward logic — IAP for randomized items
  3. Determine verdict

    • Randomized reward pattern found + paid via IAP + no dropRate/odds disclosure → 🔴 CRITICAL (Guideline 3.1.1)
    • Randomized rewards are free (no IAP) → 🟢 pass (no requirement)
    • Odds table present alongside IAP purchase → 🟢 pass
  4. Report

    • File path + line of randomized reward + IAP combination
    • Fix: Display odds for each item type before purchase; implement an odds table UI accessible from the purchase flow