Addressing the Financial Calamity: Can Games Help Generation Debt?

Nick Maynard · Ben Katz · Kristy Bowden

Wed., June 10, 3:30–4:30, Inn Wisconsin (2nd floor, East/Southeast)

Americans are drowning in debt, and Generation Y is no different. Even before the economy went south, the debt problem had become especially significant for young Americans: The average student loan debt for graduating college seniors is approximately $20,000. And the average college student receives 25 credit card solicitations every semester. So, beyond student debt, students are graduating with record amounts of credit card debt as well.

Unfortunately, finance education is a missing component in the lives of many Americans. Stephen Dubner, author of Freakanomics, asks, “What good is it if high-school students learn about Flaubert, biology, and trigonometry, if they don’t learn how to take care of their money?” To complicate matters, the financial education that is available is about as engaging as watching grass grow. Writing on financial literacy education, Annamaria Lusardi, a professor of economics at Dartmouth, notes that all too often the “cure is inadequate for the disease.”

The Doorways to Dreams Fund (D2D Fund), a non-profit based in Boston, Massachusetts, provides financial innovations to low-income consumers. Their prototype game project, Celebrity Calamity, represents one of the first efforts to engage 18- to 32-year-old Americans using casual videogames. Celebrity Calamity teaches good credit habits by putting the player in the role of a money manager working for movie stars, athletes, and pop singers. Through partnerships with Enspire Learning and Austin’s Digital Media Council, D2D was able to complete production on the game while performing comprehensive user testing. Early results are positive: Players show 15–30% increases in financial self-efficacy after playing the game.

In our session, we’ll discuss this game, cover the innovative game development process, and review the positive quantitative results of the game’s impact on self-confidence, knowledge, and aspirations among the target audience.