Financial Literacy Game
A mobile game for financial literacy, tested in field experiments in Uganda, India, and Peru
A mobile financial literacy game that teaches budgeting, saving, and small-business cash flow through a playable “farm finance” scenario. We built it to test whether game-based learning improves financial outcomes for microcredit borrowers, and whether pairing it with an aspirations intervention amplifies the effect.
The current build supports multiple languages, generates hints for every question, and produces audio output that we’re refining for natural pronunciation in Luganda and other local languages. We’re also adding an AI tutor that responds to player questions.
The initial app was developed by Lucie Schulz, then a student in our MSAE program. Nathalie Nyanga, an MSAE alum, leads the current version and the AI additions.
A randomized controlled trial in Uganda, India, and Peru tested the impact using a 2x2 design: game alone, inspirational film with goal-setting exercises, both combined, and a control group. Results are written up in the working paper Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurial Aspirations. Uganda showed strong gains on numeracy, financial knowledge, and behavior; India saw smaller knowledge effects but a noticeable lift in aspirations. We’re now running a scaled-up trial in Uganda.
With Ester Agasha, Bruce Wydick, Akash Shaji, and Nathalie Nyanga. Project background at CEGA.