I visited my 10-year-old nephew, Luca, earlier this month, and he spent the entire weekend checking his mother’s iPhone. But, sadly, he wasn’t having fun.

Like millions of other boys, he is obsessed with Clash of Clans, a super popular game played on smartphones. For those of you (like me) who have never played Clash of Clans, it is an online multiplayer game made by Supercell, a company in Helsinki, Finland.

Players band together to create a community, or clan, and then attack others to earn gold and elixirs. It has all the juicy stuff you’d imagine would pique the interest of 10-year-olds, including goblins, destruction and in-game chat.

But what makes the game irresistible for some is its cliquish and exclusionary nature. The game creates a kind of social hierarchy, with different tiers for troops, kings, queens and other characters. Clan leaders are also given the power to exclude users, or to promote or demote other members within the clan.