App review by Marc Lesser, Common Sense Education | Updated October 2013
Farm Blitz

Farm Blitz

Mixed-genre browser game sows fun, harvests financial literacy

Learning rating
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Community rating
Based on 1 review
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Grades
6–12
Subjects & Skills
Math, Social Studies, Character & SEL, Critical Thinking
Price:  Free
Platforms:  Mac, Windows
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Pros: Match-3 game mechanics keep learners engaged even when bookended by tougher concepts.

Cons: Savvy gamers might find ways to ignore concepts and still achieve "Farm God" status.

Bottom Line: You'll be hard-pressed to find another free web-based game that offers this much fun on the way to financial literacy.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Resist temptation to assign this as homework and make it more social. Like other content areas, financial literacy is one where concepts are better attended when students can chat, ask questions, and tap one another as research partners. Start by grouping them into threes (a thematic fit for the game) and have them rotate through roles as they play the game. One will record terms and concepts, one plays, and another will research confusing aspects of the onscreen info ("What's APR?"). After 30 minutes, introduce The Blitz Challenge. Based on their experience and research, teams create a Blitz of their own, mirroring the terminology, concepts, and challenges of the original, but rearranging them into a new analogy (think Sneaker Blitz). Students obviously won't program an entire game, but should put together a "pitch" for the class (consider making things like storyboards a requirement).

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Standards:

Farm Blitz is a mashup of game genres. On one hand, it's a casual match-3 game with a farmy backdrop—grain elevators and all—and on the other it's a serious financial literacy simulation in which players practice essential skills for managing money by experimenting with their agribusiness earnings. The great news for learners is that the game is highly playable thanks to the clever pairing of casual mechanics with more serious lessons. Gamers won't rush to buy it for mind-blowing visuals or an action-packed online collab experience, but they wouldn't have to. Blitz is a free, browser-based experience by the non-profit Doorways To Dreams Fund. It is but one in a series of titles (see Groove Nation) aimed at building the financial literacies of youth and adults.

At the outset of the game, players get a narrative walkthrough from Kyra, a friendly coach (uncertain how she got involved in family business) who pops in  throughout the game primarily to provide tutorials. Turns out Crazy Uncle Felix figuratively bought the farm and left his crops (primarily vegetables), orchards, and unpaid debt all to you! During each round, players purchase seeds to sow new crops that pop up in a familiar match-game grid. Pair three or more eggplant, tomato, or cabbage icons together and players earn cash for the farm. The catch: Buying the seeds causes debt, cleverly depicted by evil bunnies who can later eat up crops. Players must manage cash, savings, and debt to reach "Farm God" status and own the farm free and clear of its creditors.

Definitely. There are few financial literacy games with the potential to hook learners long enough to have the basic—but most crucial—lessons really sink in. Farm Blitz is one of them. And though it may seem shifty to use the contagiousness of match-3 games as a hook, most kids won't mind swallowing a little medicine when it tastes more like candy. Players who stick around for more than one round won't mind a bit that they're being exposed to ideas like APR, finance charges, and savings interest.

There's no voiceover for Kyra, the narrator, whose words appear in comics-style speech bubbles, nor any audio options for mouseover text that explains terminology (especially key in the simulation, where players are working to balance the books) so it's not a game for early or struggling readers. There are also moments where notices pop into view, like "high-interest short-term debt can get you into trouble," but no real explanation of what that means. But despite a few minor shortcomings—the Flash requirement might be red flag for some—Farm Blitz does an impressive job helping players experience the basics, not just hear about them.

Overall Rating
Engagement

Match-3 games are accountable for endless screen addictions, so "tending" the crop can become an obsession. Luckily, matching isn't all it offers, and tinkering with farm finances won't feel as forced as you might think.

Pedagogy

Despite narrator Kyra's constant coaching, even wonky concepts like compound interest don't feel force-fed, and players are given room to fail. As in life, "aha" moments that sink in deepest come from making mistakes.

Support

Tips and tutorials play out during the start-up narrative and appear regularly as mouseovers on the money-management screens. Help is ample, but it's all text-based, so struggling readers might get frustrated.

Common Sense reviewer
Marc Lesser
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Key Standards Supported

Expressions And Equations

  • 7.EE.3

    Solve multi-step real-life and mathematical problems posed with positive and negative rational numbers in any form (whole numbers, fractions, and decimals), using tools strategically. Apply properties of operations to calculate with numbers in any form; convert between forms as appropriate; and assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies. For example: If a woman making $25 an hour gets a 10% raise, she will make an additional 1/10 of her salary an hour, or $2.50, for a new salary of $27.50. If you want to place a towel bar 9 3/4 inches long in the center of a door that is 27 1/2 inches wide, you will need to place the bar about 9 inches from each edge; this estimate can be used as a check on the exact computation.

The Number System

  • 6.NS.3

    Fluently add, subtract, multiply, and divide multi-digit decimals using the standard algorithm for each operation.

Using Probability To Make Decisions

  • HSS.MD.5

    (+) Weigh the possible outcomes of a decision by assigning probabilities to payoff values and finding expected values.

  • HSS.MD.7

    (+) Analyze decisions and strategies using probability concepts (e.g., product testing, medical testing, pulling a hockey goalie at the end of a game).

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Key Standards Supported

Language

  • L.6.6

    Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

  • L.7.4a

    Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

  • L.7.6

    Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

  • L.8.4a

    Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

  • L.8.6

    Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

  • L.9-10.4a

    Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence, paragraph, or text; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

  • L.9-10.6

    Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

  • L.11-12.4a

    Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence, paragraph, or text; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

  • L.11-12.6

    Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

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Community Rating

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Featured review by
David L. , Technology coordinator
Technology coordinator
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, United States
Not a Bad Game......Hard to See Where it Fits in School
I think the game is ok and it could get addictive, but it is not a game that directly relates with many aspects of a child's education. You can learn some financial aspects like interest, and it does teach some aspects of hard work. It could also be used to teach matching as there is an aspect of matching three crops in a row. Overall, its a game that is fun as has some learning quality, but it would be hard to use in a class
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