Board games have made a comeback with Gen Z and young millennials - so much so that board game cafes and bars are popping up all around the country.
Schools don’t always teach financial literacy as thoroughly as might be desirable. Board games can help foster money management, entrepreneurship,investing and other financial skills.
Monopoly, the Game of Life, Cashflow 101 and Pay Day have all been around a long time and appear high up in most lists of the best financial board games.
Every decade or so, a new crop of financial board games pop up. Act Your Wage! is one where the first player to get out of debt wins. Charge Large from Hasbro teaches responsible credit card use and the effects of interest. Risky Deals is a stock market game popular on Amazon. Some of these games can be hard to buy locally.
With Christmas nearing, financial board games could be a good investment for parents.
It’s always good to support Kiwi entrepreneurship, so here’s a plug for HACKT!CS, a strategy game about mastering money. It’s a bit of a Finance 101 for 13 to 25-year-olds, and can be played in quick-fire mode.
Playing HACKT!CS for the first time was a real eye-opener for Brayden Bayer, 18, who loves strategy games. Winning his very first game motivated Bayer to play more and changed his attitude to money.
“Before [playing HACKT!CS], I didn’t know anything about investing in property or investing in the sharemarket. Within a week, I signed up for Sharesies and started chucking some money in.”
The game gave Bayer, who is studying surveying at Unitec, a different perspective on money. “I was a big spender, but since playing HACKT!CS, I have become aware of how I use my money. I have started learning about investing and thinking about how I will buy my first house. It definitely helped me start putting money aside.”
Bayer plays board games with his friends and family. Many in his age group are also discovering games cafes and bars.
James McFadgen, who runs Cakes n Ladders in Auckland’s Eden Terrace, says two popular games that teach financial lessons such as risk management and empire building are Acquire and Greed. “High Society and Hoity Toity may also be good choices.”
My daughter, a board game aficionado, recommends Dice and Slice and Meepleopolis in Christchurch. Dice and Slice co-owner Chris Thomson says over and above Monopoly, two popular games with financial elements are Acquire and Catan.
I asked a number of professionals involved in financial literacy their picks for financial board games. I was quite surprised at how many listed Monopoly as their number one.
Kendall Flutey, co-CEO of Banqer, which provides financial education in schools, is a big board game player. “It’s been awesome to see physical board games having a bit of a resurgence of late, and nice to hear that these include financial education-focused board games. The concept of learning through play is both something that resonates with nearly all of us, and an effective mechanism to learn.
Kendall Flutey, co-CEO of Banqer.
“I’m a bit of a purist, and struggle to go past Monopoly Deal, the fast-paced, card-based take on Monopoly. It’s still every bit as competitive as Monopoly, but I find it’s less unbalanced/inequitable, as the wealth can change drastically within one round.”
Monopoly and the Game of Life were the winners with Sharesies staff asked to comment for this article.
Also a favourite for Sorted in Schools’ learning lead Yasmin Frazer is Monopoly. “Board games like Cluedo, the Game of Life and even Uno teach problem-solving, strategic and critical thinking skills required to foster financially capable and engaged adults.”
I wanted to throw in a word for Pay Day. It’s been around for as long as I can remember. It’s more about managing your money than building huge property empires. Learning skills such as balancing the books are necessary before building an empire.
This article is mainly about games for young adults. There are many more financial board games for children. The Young Enterprise Trust recommends Tactix for younger children, InEx for Years 9-10 and Credit Church for Years 9-12. Back in 2013, the trust produced a helpful PDF for parents looking for age-appropriate financial games, which can be found here: Tinyurl.com/YESboardgames.
