The Cost of Life is an interesting strategy game in which you have to assign tasks to a Haitian family in such a way that they are able to pay for their present needs, save against risks (such as injury, illness, or hurricane), and invest in the future through community building and education.

The game is obviously intended to be educational, and to inject a bit of reality into the notion that hard work always pays off. The availability of jobs and schools varies from season to season, and user-fees at the schools and medical centres are serious drains on the family’s resources, amplified by the lost wages that the time in school or at the hospital costs. There is a huge disincentive to educate the daughter, since she is capable of making adult wages from the beginning. Vocational training is a bit of a gamble, as are the very expensive capital investments that allow for increased earnings over time.

What I would add to the game, personally, would be a “policies” section, where you could set tax rates and add or remove things like state-run medical or school facilities, and paid job-training during times of low employment etc. It would be interesting to see if different policies would allow for significant gains (or if there would be significant losses).

All in all, it’s pretty fun and well thought out for an educational game.

Filed under: internet general-interest