Every once and a while a piece of entertainment pops up that should be terrible, but is surprisingly adequate or even, dare I say, good. Island Saver fits that description perfectly.
Created by a development team from Scotland by the name of Stormcloud Games and published by National Westminster Bank (yes, a bank), Island Saver is a free adventure game aimed at kids ages 6 to 12 that teaches them several financial concepts like taxes, foreign currency, and more, all the while being actually fun to play.
Players set off to explore an island that is covered in bright, colourful, and cute creatures but is also covered in plastic waste. Players must use tools and exploration to clean up the island but inside this goal, the game hides real-world lessons for kids. Collecting trash awards players with coins, however, every ten coins they collect a tax man will take one but give them a receipt to be used on things like building a bridge to a new area, teaching kids the concept that not all money earned will go in their pocket but it will go to something in the long run.
You can also buy upgrades for your equipment and herein lies another one of the games lessons. The first upgrade is far too expensive to purchase so kids are introduced to the concept of a bank loan, interest, and the importance of making payments on time. Hilariously, if you miss a payment a literal loan shark will show up to collect!
If you have a little one at home, Island Saver is full of awesome lessons like these and it's all wrapped (or hidden) in a fun game. It's available on just about every platform including PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.
Featured image courtesy of Steam via Steampowered.com
