Game apps and in-app purchases: how can we restrict access to these?

Hi all.

I recently felt depressed again and had another gambling spike.

I blew £3K in a week on the Solitaire Clash game app, which I had seen lots of adverts for on other game apps. The adverts draw you in by stating that you will be sure to win a lot of money easily, but this is of course a con to get you to spend more and more money to chase that jackpot; there is no truth to it.

I was staying up until 5 in the morning to play on this app, despite needing to get up for work at 7am. It was win, lose, add more funds, repeat for a week. I was playing it in my work breaks, when I was out, when I was home. It’s all I could think about and I was desperate to keep playing the game and to get that jackpot soon. Of course, the jackpot would never come.

After finally looking at my bank account and realising the damage I’d done, I decided I needed help and to stop gambling. I found TalkBanStop online, signed up to GamStop and installed GamBan software.

But the other day, I felt bored and really down again so I downloaded Monopoly GO, which looked fun. It was fun to start with but I found that I just wanted to keep playing - not even because I was enjoying it anymore - so I kept making in-app purchases to get more dice rolls, blowing another £300 in a day.

I have since deleted my Monopoly GO account and the app, as I know I would have kept spending and playing. 

I’ve made positive steps but I need to go further in restricting my spending and game app downloads.

Does anyone know if there is a way to ensure that you can’t download game apps or apps in which you can make in-app purchases? What else could help limit access?

Thanks for your help.