How It Feels Like To Be SPENT...

I saw its review on the newspapers.

And without hesitation, I went to try it out.

The review was spot on. It was an awesome game.

SPENT was launched in February 2011 as a collaboration between McKinney and Urban Ministries of Durham. In this game, you start your day being unemployed, broke and only $1000 dollars in your pocket, and you'll have to last a month.

If you think $1000 is a lot for one month, think again. Like many, I thought that was an easy task, and after an eventful, unpredictable month I have only $512 left even with a job. Lucky me, for it could have been much worse.

With that $1000 in your pocket, you will be faced with many decisions and dilemmas in life, such as whether to opt in for health insurance or not. If you do, you may not have enough to last a month, but you will have to pay more for medical bills if you do not. That was just an example of what you, playing as an unemployed single parent will face.

Even though the questions are of multiple-choice, but the hard truth is that over 14 million people in US are unemployed and are facing difficulties making these decisions every day. I feel that this game will educate users on the importance of being thrifty, and also learn about the serious issue of unemployment around the world.

I strongly recommend this game. It may only take a few minutes, but in the midst of playing it, learn of how people live under such desperate circumstances.