Financial Simulation

One game I loved to play was the Sims. In it, you control the lives of various virtual reality people or don't and watch their lives fall apart. It's a great way to simulate different kinds of financial scenarios. It can actually be very educational.

I had one completely nuclear family-- man as breadwinner, stay at home wife, two kids. Another was a gay couple: double income no kids. Single parenting was an absolute nightmare-- I think the game deliberately makes stuff break and catch on fire when kids are home alone.

And then there were more alternative variations: I had a farm house that existed without technology. The family grew their own food and supported themselves with arts and crafts (their bills were almost nothing). I had another house where the people made themselves rich by collecting and selling art. Some houses operated more like barracks or cults, with all of the occupants getting jobs in the army and living regimented lives.

The more working adults you can cram in a living space, the better for household net worth. Even if the jobs are low-income the money adds up quickly. When I want to create wealth I usually make a huge lot with a lot of Sims.

The Sims are really materialistic and some of their happiness depends on having new stuff in their house... So the game does force you to embrace rampant consumerism to a degree. But then how fun would it be to run a frugal house with all the same furniture for 10+ game hours?