> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.killscreen.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# It takes $250 per week and five iPads to be number one at Clash of Clans
- URL: https://www.killscreen.com/it-takes-250-dollar-week-and-five-ipads-be-number-one-clash-clans/
- Published: 2013-12-27T18:00:45.000Z
- Updated: 2015-11-17T16:22:20.000Z
- Description: And you thought heroin was bad.
- Author: Jason Johnson
- Tags: News, clash of clans, social game, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-26 09:39

If you haven’t read this amazing and sad article in the [New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/22/technology/master-of-his-virtual-domain.html?hpw&rref=technology&%5Fr=1&&pagewanted=all&%5Fr=1&&ref=killscreen.com) about Jorge Yao, the former number one *Clash of Clans* player who’d spend the upwards of $250 a week on in-game gems, set aside ten minutes and dig in. If the internet has destroyed your attention span, here’s what appealed to Yao about the game:

> Clash *had the round-the-clock promise of camaraderie. It made Mr. Yao feel less isolated. The members of North 44 — an elite clan that one can join only by invitation — became a family to him. He will tell you even now that he loves them like brothers.*

In order to maintain his rank and reputation, Yao played the game obsessively. Caution, the below description is extreme.

> *If he made a mistake against an opponent that cost him hard-won trophies, he’d respond by playing the game for 48 hours straight over the course of a weekend, fueled by self-loathing and Red Bull, until he won the trophies back.*

To fully grasp the reason for his devotion, you have to understand the rules behind the game. When players quit playing *Clash of Clans*, this leaves their towns vulnerable to attacks from other players. In an effort to prevent that, Yao had multiple accounts.

> *At one point, he was bringing five iPads into the shower with him, each wrapped in a plastic bag, so that none of his accounts would go inactive.*

This brings to mind Jon Blow’s oft-cited claim that [social games are like drug dealers](http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news%5Findex.php?story=16392&ref=killscreen.com). That’s a whole other can of worms, but as cases like this show, games can have a powerful hold over us, and the consequences are something we should think about.