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Show HN: I made a sandbox game to help with financial planning

simulator.money

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Re: Show HN: I made a sandbox game to help with financial planning

#31

Post by trickstra »

Maofan wrote: post #22

Really liked the idea and spent 15-20 mins playing it. Would be good to save your progress. To be more realistic I shouldn't be able to buy a house after about 5 months of salary. Make the house prices 10 times more expensive if you want it to more like real life! Also It's not clear to me if I take the job I can't go to university? I took the job in the absence of another choice, like real life if I got a great alte…

Also, to be more realistic there should be some unexpected expenses and disasters, forcing people to have some emergency funds available.

Re: Show HN: I made a sandbox game to help with financial planning

#32

Post by pattle »

gnrlst wrote: post #3

Interesting to see KnockoutJS still being used in the wild! Cool game. Would like some more unexpected events to happen, and the Mortgage and Pension emails don't load, and neither does the "request valuation" of a bought property.

Haha yeah, I've been using KnockoutJS since 2015 and use it on all my projects. I should probably learn React or something but if it does the job I don't see any reason to change yet.

Yes unexpected "life events" is definitely something I want to add in the future. Still a very early stage MVP at the moment"

Re: Show HN: I made a sandbox game to help with financial planning

#33

Post by scotty79 »

pentae wrote: post #23

This reminds me a bit of "The game of life" back in the 90s Optimizing life for filling the savings account as fast as possible at the expense of everything else has consequences and your game should reflect this. You should have stats including your characters age, health, happiness and social skills and have some kind of social media app with your friends constantly trying to invite you out for concerts, nights out…

I think you vastly overestimate consequences of not spending money on things beyond necessities.

One might argue that by spending money on concerts, nights out and dating you buy more damage to your health and well being than benefit.

You can have friends without money. And you can keep healthy for free.

Re: Show HN: I made a sandbox game to help with financial planning

#34

Post by pattle »

benja123 wrote: post #7

This is really really cool and is the kind of thing schools should use to teach kids about money management. I would make the next turn button a bit more prominent as I did not notice it at first. I would also maybe add a bit more of a tutorial. Really cool and keep it up.

Thanks, that's kind of my end goal. In the UK we really aren't taught how to manage our finances in school but it's an invaluable skill.

Re: Show HN: I made a sandbox game to help with financial planning

#35

Post by tut-urut-utut »

euph0ria wrote: post #8

It simulates real life pretty well: - I have an unread email in the inbox but I can't find it - The banks send me emails with no content in the body, some email glitch on their side - I tried to buy a property, lost my solicitor's fee but never got the property - There are no good jobs available except one underpaid junior position - I pay way too much in tax compared to what I make

The list goes even further:

- I paid off the mortgage, but the bank just kept taking money from me every month

- After some time, I noticed that there's again rent to mum in addition to the mortgage. The property is still there.

Re: Show HN: I made a sandbox game to help with financial planning

#36

Post by trickstra »

trickstra wrote: post #26

I changed job and suddenly started paying rent to mum even when I've had my own house for 2 years... payment for mortgage and to mum are right next to each other. It would be nice if the houses showed the energy expenses and fees. And mortgages show the interest rate and the expected monthly payments. Oh, and every property still shows the green "Purchase successful" message since I bought the first property.

Ok, buying a second house fixed the rent to mum, but getting a second mortgage caused the first one to never finish. Now I'm paying forever, lol.

Re: Show HN: I made a sandbox game to help with financial planning

#37

Post by pattle »

pentae wrote: post #23

This reminds me a bit of "The game of life" back in the 90s Optimizing life for filling the savings account as fast as possible at the expense of everything else has consequences and your game should reflect this. You should have stats including your characters age, health, happiness and social skills and have some kind of social media app with your friends constantly trying to invite you out for concerts, nights out…

Thanks for the feedback. Yep I'm planning to add dating / social features where you can build a family up over time and see how that affects your finances etc.

Just wanted to get something basic working for the moment as I know adding all that will get pretty complicated.

Re: Show HN: I made a sandbox game to help with financial planning

#38

Post by brailsafe »

scotty79 wrote: post #33
pentae wrote: post #23

This reminds me a bit of "The game of life" back in the 90s Optimizing life for filling the savings account as fast as possible at the expense of everything else has consequences and your game should reflect this. You should have stats including your characters age, health, happiness and social skills and have some kind of social media app with your friends constantly trying to invite you out for concerts, nights out…

I think you vastly overestimate consequences of not spending money on things beyond necessities. One might argue that by spending money on concerts, nights out and dating you buy more damage to your health and well being than benefit. You can have friends without money. And you can keep healthy for free.

Ya, it's technically possible, but boring and tenous. If you won't spend any extra money on socializing, you're going to be a snooze to be around.

Re: Show HN: I made a sandbox game to help with financial planning

#40

Post by [deleted] »

scotty79 wrote: post #33
pentae wrote: post #23

This reminds me a bit of "The game of life" back in the 90s Optimizing life for filling the savings account as fast as possible at the expense of everything else has consequences and your game should reflect this. You should have stats including your characters age, health, happiness and social skills and have some kind of social media app with your friends constantly trying to invite you out for concerts, nights out…

I think you vastly overestimate consequences of not spending money on things beyond necessities. One might argue that by spending money on concerts, nights out and dating you buy more damage to your health and well being than benefit. You can have friends without money. And you can keep healthy for free.

[deleted]
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