- Anyone can learn how to be more responsible with their finances and their credit, and at any age.
- Games aren't just for kids: They can help to teach people of any age about essential financial concepts - and it's better to see what you can do with virtual game money before you work with any real cash.
- Financial games can provide a proper learning ground and financial education to anyone who has access to an internet connection.
Thousands of people remember sitting down to play a game of Monopoly with family or friends: Win or lose, it was a lot of fun – and it means that everyone at the table got to feel like a serious real estate investor with a wad of Monopoly cash for the duration of the game.
More than just fun, the game also taught many people about essential financial concepts: When to hold investments, when to sell them and how to handle your money.
Want to learn more about money? Games can help you do it – and Monopoly isn't the only game out there by far.
Here are a few suggestions for money-based games and quizzes that can teach you what you need to know for better financial responsibility in 2020.
Monopoly Online
https://www.pogo.com/games/monopolyclassic?
Monopoly is still a popular game today, aimed at teaching people how to buy and sell real estate. If you don't have a Monopoly set around the house, there are many versions that can be played online and for free.
It's classic, and there are thousands of different versions other than the one hosted at Pogo: What it teaches is what to do with money, and it remains so simple that anyone can play it.
Financial Soccess
https://financialsoccer.com/play/
Financial Soccer is a little financial game created with the support of Visa that teaches important financial concepts with the game of soccer in mind. Anyone who is a fan of soccer should feel right at home playing this game – and yes, you'll actually learn something while you're at it.
The Ultimate Credit Card Quiz
https://play.howstuffworks.com/quiz/credit-card-quiz
How Stuff Works is a great resource to use if you want to find out how anything works on the inside; it can be far more detailed than Wikipedia, too! Here's their Ultimate Credit Card Quiz that takes you through essential credit card-related terms and concepts, great for anyone who wants to understand how their credit card works better.
Time for Payback
https://www.timeforpayback.com/
Time for Payback is a game based around college (that's University to most people in South Africa), and although it's based around US-schools, it's actually useful – and the concepts shown in this game is just as valid for paying off your student loan no matter where you're studying.
The game lets you choose your details, and then choose a college: In-State Public, Out-of-State Public, Private School or Community College.
The game show you how much debt you have left, how happy you are in the game, Progress is made through answering questions like, “A friend offers you $50 to mow their lawn. What do you do?” and then calculating what your answer does to your in-game statistics.
It plays like a student board game that actually teaches you something useful.
The Spent Game
http://playspent.org/html/
The game called Spent is a simple money simulator that puts you in a bad financial situation for the duration of one month.
It starts by telling you, “You're running out of money fast.” After this, you get to choose a job from several different options, each with different statistics about the job, like how much it pays and how many hours you'll work.
It shows how much you'll get in weekly pay, and what deductions get taken from it. The game also shows you statistics about how much money you have in the game right now. Choose options like insurance (from several different plans) and see the results of your financial decisions.
The game is based around important financial decisions: Choose a job, choose a place to stay, choose to exercise, choose to hold a yard sale or store your stuff with a friend. Some options pay money, other options don't.
It's an extremely elaborate financial teaching game that's simple to play and teaches you an incredible amount of useful stuff.
Try it.
Countdown to Retirement
https://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/play/countdown_to_retirement
Are you planning for your finances when you get older? Here's a game that will show you how to do it: Countdown to Retirement is another simple financial lifestyle simulator that presents you with several options and lets you see a virtual financial situation play out in front of your eyes.
