Life Sim Game „CASH CTRL – A Journey Through Time and Money“
We call it the first financial education game for teens that isn’t boring! 20 years of financial decisions—with chats and messages from friends, banks, crypto enthusiasts, ads, parents, and more. Will you end up happy and rich—or broke? The game is used in classrooms at over 900 schools.
Challenge
Financial literacy is extremely important in our capitalist world—but for many young people, it feels abstract, dry, or simply nonexistent.
Solution
An interactive educational game designed to look and feel like a smartphone, which simulates 20 years of financial decisions—in an accessible, fun way that closely mirrors the real-life experiences of teenagers.
Business
The goal was to bring financial education to where it really matters: into the daily lives of young people—and right into the classroom. In collaboration with the ZEIT Publishing Group (content) and ING Germany (sponsor), a format was developed that doesn’t make learning feel like learning.
With over 56,000 students at more than 900 schools at launch, the game becomes a scalable educational touchpoint—integrated into teaching materials and capable of long-term development.
Story
You start in your childhood bedroom. Your account is empty. Then your phone rings.
Over the course of 20 years, you make decisions—not through menus, and certainly not by looking at stock charts, but right in the midst of life, using your smartphone:
- Are you going on vacation with friends?
Are you working during the holidays?
Do you invest your money?
Do you fall for wild crypto promises?
Are you moving into a luxury apartment or a shared apartment?
And what exactly are cash stuffing and compound interest?
Countless decisions await you, all of which will change your life. Your space changes just like an avatar—it reflects your personality and your bank balance.
In the end, the question is: Did you make it through—or did you move back in with Mom?
Tech
The entire game is based on a familiar concept: the smartphone UI—chats, notifications, apps—everything feels like real life. Except that behind every message lies a decision.
The game mechanics translate complex financial topics into simple interactions—without tables, charts, or jargon.
The result: an extremely accessible life sim that seamlessly combines learning, story, and gameplay and can be easily integrated into classroom instruction and digital learning formats.
Curious?
At its launch, CASH CTRL was played simultaneously in schools across the country—with tens of thousands of students participating at the same time.
As always, “digital sustainability” is important to us: The system is designed to continue growing—with new content, scenarios, and decision paths.
And it is part of the Game Grid: Within the CuriousSIM module, the chat feature is open to a wide range of topics beyond just finance.
Curious about a Demo?
Next Case
