Brandon Jiho Lee
Saint Paul Preparatory Seoul
Abstract
Adolescents increasingly encounter digital payment systems, E-brokerages, and investment content before they take on meaningful financial responsibility, and schools have responded with new instruction that incorporates games and simulations. This narrative review deals with the impact of game-based financial education on adolescents. Drawing on randomized and quasi-experimental studies of escape rooms, board games, and online games, along with meta-analytic work on financial education more broadly, three outcomes have consistently been shown: performance on knowledge assessments, choices within the tasks, and daily financial coordination. The evidence for the first is consistent, for the second suggestive, and for the third uncertain. The key variable that determines a program’s success is its design, not the format – the accuracy of its content, the realism of its constraints, the responsiveness of its feedback, and the rewards. The review argues that game-based education is effective enough to stand alongside direct instruction rather than replace it. It identifies longitudinal measurement against real financial conduct as the field’s central unmet need.
