Night of the Living Debt is a game designed to promote financial literacy among young adults, particularly around credit score. The web version of the game was produced in 2024 by the New Mexico State University’s Learning Games Lab, with support from the Extension Foundation's New Technologies in Agricultural Extension, in partnership with University of Idaho Extension. The original iPad version of the game was produced in 2016 with support from CoBank.
Despite the importance and need for financial literacy for youth, extension systems still struggle to provide finance training and education programs tailored to youth needs (Erickson, Hansen, and Chamberlin, 2019). Young adults often report not receiving enough personal finance-focused education during high school, and many graduate with an insufficient understanding of how and why to build and maintain good credit for future big purchases such as a car, house, or college education. First-generation college students may also face a steeper learning curve in understanding how student loans and other debt interact with credit scores. Night of the Living Debt uses game-based best practices to support learners' agency and interactions in making financial decisions in a zombie-filled narrative. The player's goal is to finish the game with a high credit score and end debt-free.
Empirical data indicates the effectiveness of Night of the Living Debt in providing youth with high levels of engagement, knowledge gain, and intent behavior change on financial literacy issues (Erickson, Hansen, and Chamberlin, 2019).
In 2016 and 2017, the original iPad version of the game won several awards, including “Best Overall Digital Game” at the Meaningful Play Conference (2016), Gold in the International Serious Play Awards (2016), and the Association for Communications Excellence (ACE) Gold Award for Interactive Media Program (2017).
Erickson, L., Hansen, L., & Chamberlin, B. (2019). A Model for Youth Financial Education in Extension Involving a Game-Based Approach. The Journal of Extension, 57(4), Article 17. https://doi.org/10.34068/joe.57.04.17
