Read what Mumsnet users thought of NatWest Island Saver

[LucyBMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the Mumsnet users who have been testing NatWest Island Saver with their child aged 5 to 12 years. NatWest Island Saver is a fun and educational video game designed to teach children aged 5 to 12 about money management.

Here’s what NatWest has to say: “NatWest Island Saver is the world’s first video game that teaches children all about money. Set on the once idyllic ‘Savvy Islands’, players are tasked with an exciting quest to clean up polluted islands and save the bankimals whilst learning about money along the way. We know that it is crucial for children to develop good money habits at a young age to help them make better financial decisions in the future, and studies have shown that games outperform textbooks in helping children learn fact-based subjects.

So, by introducing important money themes such as interest, taxes, loan sharks and debt management through gaming, NatWest Island Saver is the perfect way to help your child become money savvy, without ever feeling like a lesson. Island Saver is free to download here on iOS, Android, Steam, PlayStation®4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.”

Testers, please give your feedback by answering the following questions, as well as completing the short survey we’ve emailed you.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?
2. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?
3. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?
4. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?
5. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

All testers who leave their feedback on this thread and complete the survey will receive a £5 Amazon voucher and will be entered into a prize draw to win a £100 voucher for a store of the winner’s choice.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

1. Looking after the planet, picking up the rubbish and using the water blaster
2. Yes, because it made her think about looking after money carefully.
3. No. Maybe she's a little young at 8?
4. No, we didn't know about them.
5. Yes I think I would, my daughter seemed to enjoy it and she wants to keep playing it.

Thanks.

1. He enjoyed the animals
2. Yes I think it has. He learned that you get interest on savings and you have to pay interest on a loan.
3. We talked about paying interest on a loan and that it’s good to save money. This is something I think we will revisit a lot in the future.
4. No I didn’t see this.
5. Yes I told several friends about this who also downloaded it and their children played it. We thought it was great to have a free and educational game.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

Nothing they found it too hard and the controls were not easy to move around and collect the items.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

No they did not learn anything from it

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

No it did not

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No i dont think they understood it

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

I would not recommend as it did not do anything to help and just felt like a game and not something which is knowledgeable

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

Collecting the coins, although she found it difficult to control and navigate the game so became frustrated and bored.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

Not really, it didn't seem to teach money skills and was more just a game about cleaning up rubbish. Perhaps it would have progressed if she had played for more hours, but I don't know. I was expecting something more akin to an interactive learning activity/game.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

No more than not playing the game.

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No, but might do it the future.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

I would not recommend unless the child particularly liked gaming and was difficult to engage through other activities.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

Both girls had a go at the game (4 & 5) and they both got quite frustrated with it very quickly as they found it really difficult to move the character from place to place. I struggled too, to be fair! They did enjoy having to clean up the plastic as they enjoy learning about recycling, and the water gun was a winner too!

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

They lined that they got coins when they fired their collected plastic into the machine and we did have a chat about earning pennies for doing jobs, but it hasn’t taught them much else. Maybe we haven’t played it far enough. They thought it was more about recycling than money.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

We spoke about earning pennies for doing jobs and that when they’re bigger and have jobs they will get pennies from that, but nothing more than that at the moment.

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No, they were pitched a bit too high for our girls. They look good for older children.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

Currently no, as it’s too difficult to manoeuvre the character around the beach. If that could be fixed / changed then I probably would recommend as it’s a good introduction to earning, saving and spending.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

Unlocking new islands and cleaning the trees.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

A little. He learned about when setting a pin, don't make it too easy.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

Not any more than usual. However, my son talks about money a lot anyway! He loves saving and has just started getting pocket money for chores. He doesn't spend birthday/xmas money at all!

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

Yes, I thought the downloads were great. We discussed these with all our children actually aged from 5 to 13. Never too early to teach children about money management.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

Yes, definitely. Early money knowledge about money management is key and helps them make good decisions as they grow up. Knowing the information may stop them getting into unecessary debt.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

He thought it was a bit like Fortnite at the beginning when the character glided down to the island! So that caught his attention and he enjoyed figuring out how to collect the coins and deposit them etc.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

I don’t think it has really as it is a bit of an abstract concept, playing the game, whereas I think my child would learn better in real life seeing their money grow in a bank account and knowing they could save up for something they really wanted.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

No, we didn’t really use this game as a conversation starter although we do discuss money quite a lot due to his tendency to spend money as soon as he gets it!

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No we didn’t.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

I think I would as it’s a fun way to introduce the subject of money management and the game is enjoyable so could help engage a child in what is otherwise quite a dull subject really for children.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

Collecting the litter and coins.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

This was the first time we had discussed bank accounts and interest. He is only five and just starting to show an interest in money.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

Yes see above.

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No we just played the game and chatted about it.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

Yes as it was a great fun platform to start conversations.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

My son played this on the PS5, which was a bit of a treat so he was very enthusiastic about playing a little bit each day. He liked collecting bankimals and picking up trash.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

I think it has sparked conversations which encouraged me to talk about money management, rather than my son learning directly from the game.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

We spoke about saving and how we earn money. He is six, so not great at deeper concepts.

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No, we didn’t. I forgot about that.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

I might. My son loved playing the game initially and then in the middle of the second week, he had had enough.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

All of my kids played it and my 6 and 9 year old really liked it, my 6 year old liked collecting the trash and getting money and my 9 year old liked the fact it is about saving the planet.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

That you have to work to get money!

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

Yes we talked about security and fraud/scams etc

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

Yes, it is a fun way to learn about money without feeling like a lesson, it prompts some interesting conversations.

Thanks for choosing us to try the game.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

Saving her money and looking after the environment

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

Yes I think to so extent. She has learnt about taxes that she wasn’t aware of but current saves money anyway.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

Yes we spoke about taxes and pin codes for security.

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions

No as I wasn’t aware there was any.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

Yes. Particularly for ones at the younger end of the age range. I think it’s good for them to learn about the importance of money and saving.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver? Collecting the rubbish and making money.
2. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned? Yes, that it's important to save and that you can make interest.
3. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about? Yes, we spoke about how putting money in the bank makes you interest and keeps your money safe.
4. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions? No..
5. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why? Yes. It's a fun way to encourage children to ask questions on money and learn.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

Cleaning up while moving around the islands

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

I think we needed to have a conversation to link what he’s been doing in the game and how that correlates to the real world. Not directly learnt about money management but indirectly to some extent.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

Yes, about how we have to work to earn money. How we pay tax on what we earn to help with regeneration and running of facilities.

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No we haven’t.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

I would probably recommend the game although it does need follow up conversations.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

She really enjoyed playing the game, although did need a lot of help from me. She liked the concept of the robot and collecting the coins and the rubbish etc.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

I’m not sure. She has only just turned 6 so I’m not sure how much she understood.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

We talked about how a bank works and the use of a PIN.

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

Yes I think so if the subject came up in conversation. I do feel that 6 is a little bit young for this game though.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

My daughter enjoyed the different animals and shooting the water to help clean up the areas.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

Not really. She understood the link between working and being paid (but wasn't keen on the tax bot!) The environmental aspects were stronger than the money management side.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

Yes. We spoke about what the Tax bot did and why, and how tax is used.

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

Not sure. Each area did become progressively more complex, which is good, but quite a repetitive set of tasks. Sometimes firing things from close-range into the containers (such as plastic into the recycling bank and coins into the bank) didn't work - they missed and ended up surrounding us again. We also found the app crashed repeatedly on Android, so we used Steam on PC (which was fine).

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

Cleaning up the island.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

No, I think that bit went over her head. She struggled to get enough money to spend.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

We talked about needing to earn enough money to spend it.

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No we didn't.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

Not really sure. I couldn't download it on my ipad, nor on the android tablet so she had to play it on my phone which isn't the best to be honest. I would have liked to have played it on the ipad to get the full experience.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

My child enjoyed the platform style of the game as he enjoys playing this genre of game.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

Yes, he enjoyed learning about saving money and has since opened a NatWest account to start saving.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

Yes we spoke about tax and why it is used.

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No, but I will use them to help answer money questions my child has.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

Yes, it was an educational, engaging and well structured game. My son enjoyed playing it and I enjoyed him learning from it.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

She's almost 10. She really liked the game. Her favourite bit was when she took up with the rhino!

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

She learned about interest which I had told her about before but it stuck better!

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

We had a chat about tax, she was not impressed when the tax bot appeared but understood better with the introduction of the tax tokens - so the tax taken to operate the recycling service allowed her to make more money in the long run.

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

We didn't - if you want people to have a look at them, advertise them in the game! I'm going to check them out.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

I would, it's a fun game and introduces some concepts effectively.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

Collecting the coins

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

Yes the importance of saving and earning money.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

Yes we talked about saving money

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

Yes, it is a fun game to play and teaches about money and prompts conversations about money

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver? My 7 year old daughter loved cleaning up the island and collecting coins to pay into her bank account. Loved the fact that it also has a strong link to environmental responsibility.
2. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned? I’m not sure - I hope so. I think conversations between parent and child need to happen to draw those parallels between the game and real life.
3. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about? Yes, we spoke about earning money and saving money in a bank account. This led to us talking about her bank account, how it works, interest, etc.
4. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions? Not yet because I didn’t discover them early on but I am planning to use them now I know they’re there.
5. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why? Without a doubt! The think this is a well thought out and engaging game - and my daughter is loving playing it. It contains financial topics which can be easily understood at a basic level but I would encourage parents to use the topics in the game as discussion starters with their children too. It’s really helped my daughter to start thinking about and understanding money and bank accounts.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

It was a fun game he could play on my phone, he liked collecting the litter and showing me what to do.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

A little, he learnt a little about saving up money/points to exchange for things in the shop. He seemed very pleased with himself to have a PIN and thinks the face recognition is real.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

We talked a little about saving up to buy things. I think he is still a little young to associate game playing with real money.

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No, i didnt see the website. I just downloaded the game via the link.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

Yes, i think it could work. We talk about saving up for things he wants since he was small anyway, but this would re-inforce this idea.

Thank you for letting us test this - my 2 boys, aged 11 and 9 tried this out, as did my 4 year old girl!

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

They liked the parkour and collecting and shooting the money. They also enjoyed planting.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

My eldest learnt about taxes and loan sharks - enough to be able to tell me what these are and how they work! My 9 year old learnt about the benefit of saving and this keeping money safe from harm.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

Not much

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No we didn't have access to a printer, at the time, but will be printing these off as they look good.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

Yes I would. both were surprised how much they enjoyed it, and weren't bothered by the low level graphics. They both liked the fact that they learnt about money whilst playing, and although the 4 year old was too young to learn anything, she also enjoyed the mechanics and game play.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

My daughter is really conscious of environmental issues, so she loved the whole concept and could relate to it. She thought the characters and graphics were fun and really well done. She also liked the fact that at each level there was always something to do (picking litter, hosing the trees etc) so she didn’t have to wait to move up a level.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

Yes. At 10 she already knows the basics about earning money, paying a mortgage, bills, but this introduced other concepts like tax, which we really had not discussed before.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

Yes, we talked about taxes, why we pay them and how that money is used. We also talked about how money can earn interest and the importance of saving.

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No, because they were on the web site. I think it would be more useful to have them embedded in the game as links or explanatory pop ups. The content looks really well explained, so I will definitively use them.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

Yes, I think for a 10 year old it is age appropriate, engaging and highlights environmental issues. The game prompted further discussions about concepts she had heard of, but didn’t fully understand, which is really valuable.

My child enjoyed the way the game was designed and the theme for the game. He is 6 so there was a lot of text to read so I couldnt leave him to play this by himself.
I think my child had learnt a bit more about the importance of saving and a bit on taxes.
It definitely encouraged some conversations. I think its such a good idea to play a game that actually has some important lessons involved.
We did not use any of the activity sheets.
I would definitely recommend this game. It is a great way to introduce the topic of money and savings in a fun way and is a good way to have conversations about it.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?

She enjoyed exploring the most, but as she is only 5 she struggled to get to grips with the controls (what each button did and also how to press them to do the different tasks). She did enjoy learning about the environment and cleaning up the wildlife.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

I don't think so - if it has it was a minimal amount. A lot of the focus was on looking after the environment and earning money from doing a task. I think she struggled to understand fully what she was doing, so I'd definitely aim this game to older children.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?

A minimal amount. Again, she is quite young but we will approach this topic more (especially as we have something that she has been involved in to refer to - might make things easier!)

1. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions?

No I didn't. I didn't realise that there were additional worksheets.

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

I possibly would, but definitely aimed towards older children. I think 5 is still too young to be honest. As good as the game is, it is quite challenging for the younger ones. I feel that it's main focus was on other issues rather than on saving money.