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Case study — critical analysis of the educational game 56 Sage Street

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The Computer Games Journal

Abstract

Financial literacy is an important life skill for young people to survive and succeed in today’s competitive world. While this skill is not usually taught as part of the national curriculum in schools, a range of games are being developed to support the learning of financial literacy. One such game is 56 Sage Street, a game developed by Barclays Bank to teach young people the basics of money management. This dissertation explores how effective the game is in achieving its objectives. This research was conducted using a qualitative approach involving one adolescent participant. Four key themes were explored: financial literacy, characteristics of good games, learning from games, and discourse in games.

The findings from this case study suggest that the game supports learning basic money management to some extent (such as current accounts, savings accounts, direct debits and insurance), although there is considerable room for improvement (such as having a more challenging reward system, and not forcing the player to invite one’s friends to play the game). The game seemed to have a discourse of its own, such as placing emphasis on the player’s appearance and reputation, which did not always reflect a neutral standpoint. This study suggests that financial literacy could be taught to school children with the use of video games, which are very popular among young people today. It is hoped that this study will inspire more research in the area of financial literacy and games-based learning.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Social Science and Law, The University of Bristol., Helen Wodehouse Building, 35 Berkeley Square, Clifton, BS8 1JA, UK

    Prathap Chandran

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  1. Prathap Chandran
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Correspondence to Prathap Chandran.

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Chandran, P. Case study — critical analysis of the educational game 56 Sage Street. Comput Game J 3, 7–39 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395950

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