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

Fun way to learn

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

Yes they have learnt about the importance of saving

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 opening an account for DC once lockdowns is done and the banks are open

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 wasn’t aware of them and don’t have a printer

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

Yes because it’s a great way to teach kids using technology and making it fun

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver? They both loved collecting trash

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? I think it’s made them think more about money saving and management.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about? Yes I had never really thought about discussing money, saving and safety so it was a great reminder/opportunity to start that conversation

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 time

1. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why? Yes - it presents a great opportunity to start that discussion in a very fun, interactive way

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver? Clearing up the rubbish and cleaning the dirty areas. He liked it when the trash "can" turned into a rocket and blasted away
2. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned? Not that is obvious. He understood more about the link of working to earn money and it was the first time the idea of taxation was presented to him. I think he was more focussed on the environmental aspects of the game though - it's hard to know how much of the finance aspects sank in
3. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about? Not in any deep way but we reinforced the work to earn message. He also forgot what his PIN number was so that prompted a brief discussion about these things needing to be memorable to you but not easy for someone to guess
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 - but we don't have a printer so tend not to use activity sheets from any source
5. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why? Possibly. The game was quite good fun and Lucas spent a lot of time on it on the day we downloaded it. However he got frustrated that it was often difficult to move around and unclear about what he had to do next. I think he would probably prefer a more direct role playing type game to learn about finances as I felt he took more of an environmental message from this - which was probably not the intention of the game lol.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver? They liked collecting the money and using the water gun as well as collecting the animals.
2. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned? In some ways they have learnt they need to 'save' money to get to the next level and have to work for it to gain the money.
3. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about? I asked what they thought the tax was, but apart form that they just played the game.
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 did not know there were any would have been useful. Will take a look
5. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why? Yes even if they dont understand fully it does give them an idea of banking and saving and interest. They have really enjoyed playing the game and will actively ask to play. I think the concept of also cleaning the island, sowing seeds etc was fantastic as it teaches them a lot more than just money management. What would be helpful is a help button for when you are stuck it can tell what you need to do to move on. As there was one level where my son got stuck and became very frustrated and gave up however my daughter was also playing seperately and figured out what was needed to move on.

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

How simple the game was to place and how easy it was to play.

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

Yes it helped her understand simple savings goals, but I think she had more fun just exploring the island.

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

No not really but she’s not always that engaged with talking about 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 but I will do now

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

It may be helpful in allowing a conversation to spark but I’m not 100% sure it had a lot of things to do with money in the game

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver? Collecting the trash and all the different animals.
2. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

Not so much. More collecting the trash than anything.

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

Yes we have spoken about money he has saved and what he can use it on.

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 did not

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

Yes because it can potentially spark an important conversation.

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

He liked collecting the litter and cleaning up, although he didn't spend a lot of time playing, he prefers other games he has on my phone.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned? No
2. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about? No not particularly
3. 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 use the activity sheets
4. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why I think I need to look at it a bit more before I could recommend it

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

-- He enjoyed how it seemed like a normal game, with bits that were a bit hard to work out and rewards to earn.

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

-- My son is very interested in maths and has taken an interest in money anyway but learned about buying and selling currency at different rates and how easy scams could happen

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 annoying it was to have to keep working, and how was worth buying currency at right rate and other things

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 wasn't aware of this, but my son may not have found that too interesting he didn't like the idea of learning through the game just thought the game was fun and a 'real' game

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

Yes, it had a large range of information. Our household talks about money a lot but for households who don't I think this game could teach children a lot

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

Sucking up the rubbish on the beach.

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

Not much. She is 7 and loves video games but she found the controls hard to navigate and wasn’t able to get very far on it.

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

No, as above she didn’t get much use from it to warrant any conversations regarding 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 wasn’t aware there were any.

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

No. It’s a nice idea but the app needs work in terms of its user friendliness especially as it’s for children, the controls needs to be easier.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver? She really wanted to play it, and loved the idea of it, but it was just too hard for her to understand and manage the controls. We played it together with me playing and she liked the animals and the idea of collecting recycling.
2. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?

No, unfortunately it was too abstract for her at this age.

1. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about? Yes, we often try and talk to her about the value of saving rather than spending everything upfront!
2. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions? No
3. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why? Yes, for older children and certainly as a conversation starter.

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

she loved gaining new bankimals and sucking the money out of them.

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

I would say yes, she's learned that you need to work to be paid and when your paid you need to pay your taxes, your taxes help keep things clean and tidy. she's also learned about the importance of 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 how doing things, can earn you money - so I said if she starts helping mummy more and keeping her room tidy, she could maybe earn some pocket money and we can open a bank account for her, rather then just using her money box.

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 know there were any worksheets to look at. We will
takek a look at these now though.

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

Yes, it was a good game, it encourages thinking about money. She did get a bit bored though and found the controls difficult, we only managed to complete the first island and have just started the second one. My little girl is 5 and we played it on the switch. Maybe the ipad would have been a better choice?

Overal though the game and what it's trying to do is very good.

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

He really enjoyed the game like any other computer game and asked to play it regularly. He didn't realise he was learning. It was just fun. He especially liked sucking things up.

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

Yes he learnt about PIN numbers and saving.

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

Not really.

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 we might in the future.

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

Yes, it's a fun game and I feel it's really important to know how to manage your money. It's something we have tried to teach from a young age so this has taken it to another level.

NatWest Island Saver

Read what Mumsnet users thought of NatWest Island Saver187
30/04/2021 11:35LucyBMumsnet

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

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

Cleaning and finding the bank animals

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

A little bit; it's taught them a bit more about how to save

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

I don't think it has but maybe if we were using it for longer it would have led to this

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, didn't know they were there

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

As part of a more holistic approach to money education and financial awareness it could be useful

1. My son thought it was brilliant and is still playing it now.
2. Yes he talked about saving the coins and he learnt that from it
3. No not really only conversation was about how much he enjoyed the game
4. No the game was the only resource we used

5 yes I would recommend this he loved it

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?
They liked cleaning up the beach and earning to make things grow. They also liked getting colour balls from the shop to make the animals different colours.
They played it on Amazon Fire tablets and did find it a bit slow and glitchy when first loaded, but this did seem to improve.

2. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned?
They took on board some of the hints and tips the game gave them, like the fact you had to bank when you got to 20, and using their credit on sensible things.

3. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about?
Not in itself no, in the sense that they didn't come to me and strike up conversations about money after playing it. But I think it is a useful tool to start conversations by either sitting with them whilst they play, or talking with them about it afterwards to encourage them to think about what they've learnt.

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, we didn't realise they were there so must have missed that.

5. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?
Yes, if they are going to use it as a springboard to then talk about money management. Plus it's better to play a game with some educational value than a lot of the rubbish on the internet!

Thank you for the trial.

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

My child is 6. I don't normally allow/encourage her to play games so she was mainly excited just to be allowed to play a game! She liked collecting the rubbish and gold and all the bright colours, island/sea.

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 the game did specifically however we did talk together re. money, banking, saving and why we have bank accounts. Also about different currencies, even cryptocurrency. She is very aware of money and why mummy and daddy have to go work and earn money and what money is used for etc...why important to work hard at school etc to get a job when older etc. So this just helped cement that knowledge.

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

I don't think the game spurred my daughter to then talk about money - she just thought it was a game. However it did spur me to talk to her in more depth re. money. We didn't talk about taxation or how money is made, but the game has reminded me that i should do that in some detail soon.

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

Sorry I didn't even notice these.

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

Yes possibly however I think if it came up in conversation re. child accounts, i'd just note that NatWest has facilities for young bankers and is encouraging saving etc. and trying to make it more fun and engaging with games etc... so yes I'm more likely recommend NatWest now for that reaso (and it is our primary bank as a family anyway)

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

The sea life - the crab was cute!

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills?

Yes, to some extent - but I do think that the game was aimed at younger children (my daughter is 12 and soon lost interest)

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

Perhaps it instigated conversations, but verging on teenage, our conversations (even about money) often go off at a tangent!

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 it's a really good tool for parents and younger children - but wouldn't necessarily market it for children over 10 years.

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

My 6 year old enjoyed collecting items and the different bankimals. We found there are too many written instructions that she needed help to follow and the game controls were quite difficult, she kept getting mixed up when collecting or blasting which at times made her lose patience with the game. But we both like the strong graphics and game concept.

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If so, what did they learn?

It was a great introduction to saving money and how it is taxed and opened up conversations but only after I pointed out the real life parallels because my daughter just saw it as a game. She has been learning about money at school so it was a good way to develop this further in a fun way. It was useful to show that after spending money that has been saved, future money can also be saved up for other things.

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

It did but only when I instigated the conversation. My daughter didn't quite see the link between saving items in the game for later and saving money in real life. The game is a useful tool if used alongside an adult to point out the parallels between the game and real life and opened up a conversation about how money is taxed and where that is spent.

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 must have missed this and wasn't aware they were available. Having now looked I think they will be very useful alongside the game to guide conversations.

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

Definitely but more so particularly for slightly older kids with better reading skills and more adapt at playing computer games. An excellent resource for opening up conversations on difficult topics for kids such as taxation and borrowing and keeping safe online.

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

She enjoyed collecting the rubbish and cleaning up the island but she found the joystick for moving around the island incredibly hard to control so it was pretty slow going!

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

In a loose sense yes, inasmuch as she thought about 'earning' her coins and then spending/saving them.

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

We talked a bit about spending and saving and also about financial safety, although this was as much because we were talking about money generally rather than specifically thrown up by 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.

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

I would, but particularly older children because my six-year-old found the navigation tough going so I think we didn't get as far through it as we could have.

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

My youngest son is 6 and he loved to collect trash and the game itself, I watched how he play and afterwards asked did he learn anything or read while he played, he honestly answered that it is alright and he skipped all the reading part, just enjoyed the game itself. My oldest son is 12 and he loved this game so much, he played much longer than his brother and enjoyed trash collection, his only complaint was: recycling bins are not big enough and there were still lots of trash left which he couldn't collect as bins were overflowing and no space was left to fill. He liked the idea of the game as though the game he learns about saving and tax and other important bits, everything was easy to understand and well explained.

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

My youngest didn't learn anything, he just played. Oldest learned about savings, tax, the ways he can earn money.

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

My son (12 years old)was interested in other saving options and wanted to find out more about tax. Youngest wasn't interested in talking about money, but he loves math and likes to count how much money he got and what he can buy in shops and no, he doesn't know how to save and is not very interested in that.

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

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

I would definitely recommend Natwest Island Saver for parents as kids can have fun and learn more about money, taxes, saving, and other money-related important bits. Of course, all kids are different but for my 6-year-old this game was just a game and nothing more. To my mind, it is more suitable for older kids 9-12 years.

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

Collecting the trash and cleaning the island

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills?

Yes, 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, we talked about work, wages and tax.

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 thought it was great & definitely useful for parents as a tool to start having those conversations.

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver? Playing it on their device.
2. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned? Yes it has prompted discussions about saving.
3. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about? No
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 helps to start the conversation in a fun way.

. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver?
She enjoyed collecting the rubbish to earn money

1. Do you think playing NatWest Island Saver has taught your child money management skills? If yes, what have they learned? She's learning that in order to have money you need to earn it and save it up.
2. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about? She asked about my bank accounts and if I use them to save up. We talked about how wages go into the bank, and what interest rates are.
3. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions? No
4. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why?

I liked the idea of the game, but the graphics and playability of the game wasn't very clear. My daughter struggled to advance off the first game as it it hard to play on a mobile phone, plus she struggles to read as she is dyslexic. There were lots of words she didn't know

1. What did your child enjoy most about NatWest Island Saver? The fact it was app-/game-based and also the water squirting noise
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 it has, but it did get us talking about helping the environment and reducing plastic waste and the importance of not littering.
3. Did NatWest Island Saver encourage conversations about money between you and your child? If yes, what did you talk about? As above - we didn't really have discussions about money except a very brief question about what tax was.
4. Did you use any of the activity sheets on the NatWest Island Saver website to help guide your child through important money questions? Was not aware of these, but will take a look.
5. Would you recommend NatWest Island Saver to other parents looking to talk to their children about money management? Why? I would recommend it as an easy way to start conversations about littering/recycling/plastic, which my 5yo readily picked up on, but as a money management tool I don't think it is sufficiently directly about that for my 5yo. It was initially also quite frustrating trying to work out how to move the character around the island/trying to get on target for squirting, although after some practice we worked it out. I think I'd personally have preferred up/down/left/right arrows for this, and so would my son.

1. My child found it difficult to play and control the game. She caught a bit of trash but then got bored. I tried to play but my sausage fingers couldn't play either. Way too difficult for my child. She is 5.
2. No as she did not get far enough or maintain any interest to learn anything.
3. No she has little interest in money or the concept of saving. If i offered her a shiny £1 coin or a £10 note she would choose the pound coin everytime. Sigh
4. No. Did not realise there was any
5. No. I feel there must be better ways than playing a game and i think the age group should be raised as not suitable for a 5 year old