The NeighborMood is a free, commercial-free educational video game developed by FoolProof and DotDotFire. It teaches children to question decisions about money and wellbeing by showing how choices can affect everyday life. Players act as Ali, a high school senior balancing school, work, and social life while making financial decisions. A tutorial covers researching choices, reading fine print, impulse buying, opportunity cost, and evaluating job offers. Season 1 focuses on saving and financial safety, including high-fee services, payday lenders, phishing, and disputing unauthorized transactions; Season 2 covers budgeting. The teaching guide lists Seasons 3 and 4 as coming soon. In-game tools include BankSafe for checking balances, transferring money, and monitoring transactions, and Froggle, a search engine. Teacher materials include lesson objectives, discussion prompts, evaluation notes, and activities for classroom, remote, or home learning. The game includes budgeting and credit lessons, financial simulations, and guided practice. It is available on Android, iOS, and the web.
Who it is for
The NeighborMood is for children learning about financial choices and wellbeing. Its teaching guides and learning activities also make it suitable for educators and families supporting classroom, remote, or home learning.
What is good
- Free and commercial-free.
- Covers saving and budgeting.
- Includes financial safety topics such as phishing.
- Teaching guides include activities and discussion prompts.
What to know first
- Teaching guide lists Seasons 3 and 4 as coming soon.
- FoolProof's privacy policy does not specifically identify NeighborMood.
Verdict
The NeighborMood uses a game format to teach money decisions, with supporting materials for educators and families. Its current listed seasons cover saving and budgeting; the guide describes two later seasons as coming soon.
The NeighborMood plans and pricing
All plansCompared on financial literacy apps
- Free plan
- Yes
- Budgeting lessons
- Yes
- Credit lessons
- Yes
- Financial simulations
- Yes
- Guided practice
- Yes
