Simulator Money

Learning and science

personal finance simulation

SHOW HN2021

409points
140comments
#69of 2,533 in 2021
Top 3%of 2021 by points

How HN took it

MixedNo clear lean

15 positive, 19 neutral or asking, 8 mixed, 27 critical, out of 69 comments about the project. Thread score -0.15.

Execution: 0 for, 18 againstIdea: 9 for, 4 againstDesign: 4 for, 5 against

The thread, comment by comment

Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.

positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker

What HN said

What people liked

  • Fun and realistic simulation of financial life

    From 3 comments
    • It simulates real life pretty well: - I have an unread email in the inbox but I can't find it - The banks send me emails with no content in the body, some email glitch on their…
      euph0ria on HN
    • This was surprisingly fun.
      bendtb on HN
    • I spent an hour on this game. And it seems like people here also spent good time on it. Safe to say this may be a valid product idea @op!
      yrgulation on HN
  • Useful for teaching money management

    From 2 comments
    • This is really really cool and is the kind of thing schools should use to teach kids about money management. I would make the next turn button a bit more prominent as I did not…
      benja123 on HN
    • Great build! I won't go through the glitches that people have found since they seem to be pretty common. I would, however, like to have the ability to automate my contributions…
      josh_carterPDX on HN
  • Windows XP styling is charming

    From 3 comments
    • Kudos for the realistic user interface!
      thomasfl on HN
    • Love the theme! Honestly, I would play this game just to spend more time in Windows XP.
      szhu on HN
    • I know this is typically not a well-received style HN comment, but the name of the Pension website made me spit out coffee... this is a wonderful creation.
      rkalla on HN

Objections

  • Many bugs: properties, mortgages and emails break

    From 4 comments
    • There are too many problems to count. I got a message with the subject "Mortgage in principal" and no text. Same with pensions. The browser opens new pages without hiding old…
      imtringued on HN
    • This is fun. It's pretty buggy though. I bought two properties so far (hindsight is awesome), but I'm still paying rent to mom, apparently I didn't move in. Now I cannot sell or…
      Aeolun on HN
    • I tried to buy a property, they took my money but I never got anything for it. :(
      cudder on HN
    • Very fun game! Some observations: ``` 1. don't know why it need to calls to get https://simulator.money/img/windows-xp-bg.jpg and dings/chimes.mp3 on every month. (Although…
      xjlin0 on HN
  • Not usable on mobile and hard-to-read pixel font

    From 3 comments
    • You should put a warning that it does not work on mobile. The UI isn’t compatible. I’ll check it again from my laptop later.
      gabereiser on HN
    • Clearly still a work in progress, but the idea is really fun, if you're into this sort of thing... I guess I am! One thing though, the font is cool and stuff, but really hard to…
      spyke112 on HN
    • the pixel font looks really bad on Windows 10 in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox, at 1080p.
      adamrezich on HN
  • Unrealistic assumptions such as 4% interest and stable expenses

    From 3 comments
    • I played for around 10 minutes, quite fun. Some comments: - how would you get 4% gains in real life? it makes a massive difference, but you're unlikely to reach this unless the…
      ricardobeat on HN
    • The idea is great, but it gives some very weird ideas, like having 4% interest p.a. (not something I think still happens in the west). Maybe add a stock market fonds aspect in…
      DocTomoe on HN
    • I'm really glad I read the disclaimer and didn't make financial decisions based on this game! I wouldn't want to count on no inflation, 4% interest, and a junior dev job straight…
      elil17 on HN
  • No save progress feature

    From 2 comments
    • Kudos for the idea and execution. Microsoft Windows layout is a killer. I'm not sure about saving the game progress though. Bookmarked the app. Will play it again.
      sanmak on HN
    • Really liked the idea and spent 15-20 mins playing it. Would be good to save your progress. To be more realistic I shouldn't be able to buy a house after about 5 months of…
      Maofan on HN

Requests

  • Save game progress

    From 2 comments
    • Really liked the idea and spent 15-20 mins playing it. Would be good to save your progress. To be more realistic I shouldn't be able to buy a house after about 5 months of…
      Maofan on HN
    • Kudos for the idea and execution. Microsoft Windows layout is a killer. I'm not sure about saving the game progress though. Bookmarked the app. Will play it again.
      sanmak on HN
  • Add jobs, universities and career paths

    From 2 comments
    • I played for around 10 minutes, quite fun. Some comments: - how would you get 4% gains in real life? it makes a massive difference, but you're unlikely to reach this unless the…
      ricardobeat on HN
    • Really liked the idea and spent 15-20 mins playing it. Would be good to save your progress. To be more realistic I shouldn't be able to buy a house after about 5 months of…
      Maofan on HN
  • Add investments and stock market options

    From 2 comments
    • The idea is great, but it gives some very weird ideas, like having 4% interest p.a. (not something I think still happens in the west). Maybe add a stock market fonds aspect in…
      DocTomoe on HN
    • Great work. I was surprised to see it UK based but it was good. I think it'll help reinforce ideas of saving, pensions and forward thinking. Things you may want to consider: -…
      logikblok on HN
  • Unexpected life events and dating or family features

    From 2 comments
    • Great work. I was surprised to see it UK based but it was good. I think it'll help reinforce ideas of saving, pensions and forward thinking. Things you may want to consider: -…
      logikblok on HN
    • This reminds me a bit of "The game of life" back in the 90s Optimizing life for filling the savings account as fast as possible at the expense of everything else has consequences…
      pentae on HN
  • Automate monthly savings and pension contributions

    From 2 comments
    • Great build! I won't go through the glitches that people have found since they seem to be pretty common. I would, however, like to have the ability to automate my contributions…
      josh_carterPDX on HN
    • I played for around 10 minutes, quite fun. Some comments: - how would you get 4% gains in real life? it makes a massive difference, but you're unlikely to reach this unless the…
      ricardobeat on HN

Questions

  • Is it open source?

    From 1 comment
  • Was XP.css used?

    From 1 comment
    • Wonderful work. Did you use XP.css? (https://botoxparty.github.io/XP.css/)
      prezjordan on HN

Alternatives named

  • The Game of Life

    From 1 comment
    • This reminds me a bit of "The game of life" back in the 90s Optimizing life for filling the savings account as fast as possible at the expense of everything else has consequences…
      pentae on HN
  • Jones in the Fast Lane

    From 1 comment
    • When I read the comments I immediately thought about "Jones in the fast lane" from the 90ies, but this seems to be something entirely different. That said a few of you might like…
      eitland on HN

Category, keywords, summaries and labels on this page were made by AI (Thread Reader v2) and not checked by hand. Each point links to the comments it came from.

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