Like the reality shows Botched and I Want a Famous Face before them, these apps take advantage of our collective cultural obsession with cosmetic surgery. Unlike reality TV, however, there’s an explicit gamification at work: they’re listed in the Games categories of the App Store and Google Play Store, and they promote the idea that a perfect body or face is the goal, that “winning” comes only when you complete a surgery. In Princess Plastic Surgery, the patient is allowed to choose a ball gown as a prize.
While these apps aren’t new, they’ve become more absurd and widespread in recent years.
