In some of my previous “GamesBeat” articles on Venture Beat, I waxed nostalgic about how growing up with board games like Monopoly helped children in decades past begin to understand the concept of money and real estate. I was quite surprised to learn that the iTunes App Store also had mushroomed with various virtual versions of the game, well beyond the standard type of Monopoly fare I had played as a kid, sitting around the dining room table, arguing over who would be the blessed soul that received the silver car as their gaming piece.

Yes, the times have changed but the concepts are the same. We’ve only changed the tools that we use to deliver the desired results. For example, Google’s Keyword Planner reports that more than six million people per month search for “cool math games” via the search engine, and more than 300,000 folks want to know about money. A portion of those searches – 1,000 monthly – search specifically for terms like “money games for kids,” obviously representing children or adults who want to teach their brood (or themselves) about handling money, but using the fun method of gaming to do so.

The best money games online

Taking a gander at the results that pop up when one searches for “money games” on Amazon’s Apps for Android store turns up the inevitable “Make it Rain” app that’s ruled the roost this year, as well as other clones. Then there are curious ones that encourage players to help a bank robber rob banks, or those that are designed for various grade levels for children.

Of course, old standby games like “The Game of Life” now also have digital versions, ones more akin to the ideal type of game that’s dancing around in my head as I write this article. At least this classic game offers career choices, decisions to be made about the type of home and mortgage load you’re willing to take on – as well as whether or not you’ll attend college and start off your life saddled with student loans. But what if there were a video game or app that provided more detailed options about financial choices?

Teaching morals and giving through games

It would never be too early to design games that teach both our kids and our own selves about being good stewards of money. There still sits a blue bank in my child’s room that I bought from a local Christian bookstore – you know, one of those ones that has a section for saving, tithing and spending. We never did use it to its fullest capacity, but I believe if those concepts were moved to a digital version it would benefit lots of people trying to teach their kids the same type of spending habits.

Imagine – a video game that would let children know the types of things that could happen when credit card bills are paid on time, and the debt collector calls that come if they aren’t. We could pull all sorts of FICO credit score decisions into such a game, and the good and bad consequences of a 750 score versus a 450 score.

Giving, donating and tithing could all represent choices to be made within the app – but most of all focusing on making good choices could be a great focal point for winning the game in the long run. And the game needn’t shy away from hard or real-world circumstances, for example, it could have the players make interesting decisions about things like alleged insurance fraud – based on the Mark Berger Chicago nursing home case – or even turn the latest IRS refund rules about direct deposits into an understandable milestone to “level up” to within the game.

Folks are probably hungering for more intense and intelligent gameplay that gives their kids a winning edge in the world of money – and with the popularity of teaching apps and video games these days, why not use that medium to fill the void?