Meow or Never: Cats, Puzzles, and Purrsonal Finance

I don’t think I’ve played a game that so successfully accomplished what they were aiming for. First and foremost, this game is made to be educational. It’s not difficult by any means, it’s not crazy immersive or challenging, it’s simple and fun. No background music, which makes it a little awkward, but the puzzles all make sense and are well done, and there’s not any hiccups in the game flow. Simply put, if you come into this game with the right expectations, knowing that it’s not challenging at all and made to educate people about financial topics in an entertaining way, it’s quite a fun experience, and free, which is a nice bonus. If that doesn’t sound very appealing, this just isn’t the game for you, and that’s okay!

For context, this is a federal credit union that developed an escape room experience to teach finance concepts through immersive storytelling. WealthTrek took a specific topic (I won't state it here to avoid spoilers) and transformed it into an engaging, informative, and all-around well-designed experience. Their learning objectives are cleverly baked into a multi-arc narrative, taking you on a journey through a chain of different situations that kick off with you needing to feed your friend's cat. The room draws on simplicity for its interior aesthetic, adorning the walls with just enough décor to fill the space without visual clutter. Everything you need is in the room, creatively woven into the set dressing. And the hint system is impressive for its desirable ability to nudge at the appropriate moments without pulling you out of the experience nor interrupting story beats. Each puzzle you solve makes sense from a story perspective, and nothing feels like a stretch in logic. The challenge level hits the sweet spot between complacently easy and frustratingly difficult - I found myself constantly engaged, not ever worrying about time passed nor hitting any bottlenecks along the way. And the best part is, I learned some new things! You get a great summary of what you were taught by the end of your (learner's) journey. And last, but not least, the customer service was stellar. The WealthTrek team were super friendly and engaged with us before and after our game time. Shout out to Tiliah, John, and Gandhi! We felt like such VIPs! This was such a well-crafted experience that checks off exactly what they sought out to accomplish - making financial literacy more accessible. I'm excited to see them expand this to their other branches with newer topics!