LeadStreet – a mobile game that teaches children life and entrepreneurial skills

LeadStreet is a mobilе game created specifically for children between seven and ten, which aims to convey basic lessons in entrepreneurship, appreciation and proactive thinking towards our surroundings in today’s world. LeadStreet is designed to support children in learning key life competencies, such as self-confidence, communication, decision-making, strategic thinking and how to set and achieve goals, as well as much more.

LeadStreet offers an environment in which children are presented with different options for which they need to make choices and take constant decisions. Their first decision starts with choosing a character. The game includes six different characters, each of whom come with their own story and personal skill set. Usually, children prefer to identify and play with a character that is most similar to their own personality. The characters’ personal skills are not just randomly selected and instead, they relate to their personal stories and dreams. Thus, we provide an opportunity for parents – if they are willing, of course- to discuss and explain why and how each character’s skills are important in supporting his or her decisions and helping to make their dreams come true.

When you take a more detailed look at the game, you will see that in order to achieve their goals, children move through the playing field, whilst choosing between different cards on each turn. These cards were designed to reflect the daily life events of the average child. When choosing a card, the child needs to consider which resources they will gain and what they will lose as a result of their choice. For example, if the kid draws out a card saying “You get an A on your English test”, they will gain +2 knowledge and +1 business points. However, if the kid draws out a card saying “You are going to the movies with friends”, they will gain +2 fun and will lose -50 coins. The children’s task is to decide which card will contribute the most towards achieving their final goal.

Although the model seems simple at first, it has a profound effect on children. It teaches them to take decisions, to be goal oriented, and to consider what they need and when. By achieving their goals, children start building up confidence in themselves and the decisions they take, both of which are prerequisites for developing their intrinsic motivation.

With respect to financial literacy, we have incorporated two main lessons. The first lesson is that money is not a goal but a means to achieving goals. The second lesson is related to building skills for managing personal financial resources. In addition to this, the game includes a bank, in which children can choose to deposit the money they earn over the course of either three, five, or seven turns in the game.

The game is offered in Bulgarian and English and supports 1 to 4 players on a single device. When choosing the single-player option, children play with an expert self-learning system built on a database of known and successful strategies.

LeadStreet is a great source of entertainment, created in response to the lack of accessible, engaging and motivational educational material that puts children at the center of the educational process and helps them build key competencies for the 21st century.