Hi there.

My name is Mr. Tazzyman.

Today, I'm gonna be teaching you a lesson about financial education.

That's all about money, how it makes us feel, what we use it for, and how we think about it.

Hopefully, it's gonna be good fun, so get ready to learn and let's do this.

Here's the outcome for the lesson today, then.

By the end, we want you to be able to confidently say, I can make informed choices about spending when playing online games.

There's two key words that we need to be aware of today, and I'd like you to repeat them back to me.

I'll say my turn, say the word and then I'll say your turn and you can repeat it back.

My turn, purchase.

Your turn.

My turn, currency.

Your turn.

Okay, here's what those words mean.

To purchase is to buy something.

A currency is the system of money that is used in different places.

For example, the United Kingdom uses pounds.

You might be able to think of some other places around the world which have different coins or different currency that they use.

Now today, we're gonna be talking about currency online, and sometimes games have different currencies as well.

You're probably well aware of some of those too.

Here's the outline for the lesson then.

We're gonna start by thinking about purchasing online games, and then we're gonna look at in-game purchases.

In this lesson, we're gonna meet Aisha and Lucas.

They're gonna discuss a few things, present us with a few different situations, and give us some prompts and hints for our learning.

Hi, Aisha.

Hi, Lucas.

Okay, is everyone ready? Let's start.

Aisha and Lucas are both going to buy a game online.

Aisha says, "My game costs 30 pounds.

I've spent my birthday money." Lucas says," Mine is cheaper.

It's five pounds a month.

My dad has subscribed and takes it out of my pocket money." Let's check your understanding so far.

True or false.

Five pounds a month for a game is cheaper than 30 pounds.

Do you think A, true because five pounds is less than 30 pounds.

B, false because you will play the game for months and months.

C, it depends on how long you play the game for.

Choose one of these and then if you can, discuss your answer with somebody else.

Can you explain it? Pause the video and give it a go.

Welcome back.

C was the answer that we were looking for.

We don't as yet know how much somebody might pay if they're paying five pounds a month.

That's ongoing, that's a subscription, whereas 30 pounds is a one-off payment.

Lucas ends up playing the game for 10 months.

How much did Lucas pay after 10 months? Well, 10 multiplied by five pounds is equal to 50 pounds.

"You spent more than I did," says Aisha.

"Yes but, because it was monthly, it didn't feel as expensive," said Lucas.

"Remember to cancel the subscription if you stop playing." Good tip that.

Okay, let's do the first task together then.

For each question, select the payment method you would choose and explain your choice.

A, 40 pounds or subscribe for five pounds a month.

B, 20 pounds or subscribe for 10 pounds a month.

C, 30 pounds or subscribe for two pounds a month.

Pause the video and have a go at making those choices.

Remember to explain your reasoning as well.

Welcome back.

For the first one, it depends if you want to play for more than eight months.

That's because eight multiplied by five pounds is equal to 40 pounds, so after eight months, you'll have spent as much as you would've done if it was a one-off payment.

Now, to me, eight months seems like it might be quite a long time to be playing one game for, but you might have different opinions about this and it depends on the quality of the game.

For B, while this is an expensive subscription, it would probably be cheaper to spend 20 pounds because then you own the game.

It would only take two months for you to have already paid as much as you would do for the one-off payment.

For C, a subscription might be best.

You might not like it that much.

If you think about it, two pounds a month, well, it'll be 15 months before you pay the same amount that you would for a one-off payment.

And if you like a game for 15 months, well, it's definitely worth paying two pounds a month for.

Let's move on to the second part of the lesson then, in-game purchases.

Aisha and Lucas both download a free game that they can play online against one another.

It's called "Battle Robots 5." Lucas says, "You can earn coins in the game to purchase better weapons and tools." And I can see on the screen there that Lucas has obviously got 50 coins already.

He uses those 50 coins to buy a blaster for his battle robot.

Aisha says, "Can I use the game coins to pay for real things in the shops?" What do you think? Do you think Aisha would be able to go into a shop and try to pay for something with coins that she's earned in a game? "Just in the game then," says Aisha.

I think you're right, Aisha.

I don't think many shopkeepers would be accepting of that kind of currency.

Okay, let's check your understanding so far.

Have you ever played any games which have their own currency? What was it and what could you use it for? Share your experiences, but just be careful.

Remember that we're here to talk about financial education and we're here to talk about the currencies in the games, not just to rate our favourite games and the ones that we enjoy the most.

Pause the video and give this a go.

Welcome back.

Did you come up with a few? Did some seem familiar? Great.

Aisha can't beat Lucas.

She sees a special bundle deal that will give her better weapons and armour.

Aisha says, "I'll purchase this with my coins." What do you notice? Have a look closely at that bundle deal.

There's something in there that's very important.

"Why can't I get them?" says Aisha.

Why can't Aisha purchase the bundle? Hmm.

It's still on screen there.

Aisha's mum explains, "I turned off permission to make in-game purchases." Can you see at the bottom there it says only 2 pounds, 99.

But that's real money.

We know that 'cause it has the pound symbol.

Aisha's mum obviously doesn't want Aisha spending money on game bundles.

"I thought I could pay with coins from the game," says Aisha.

Okay, time to check your understanding again.

Why do you think Aisha didn't realise the special bundle required real money? Discuss this with people around you, if you can.

Pause the video and give that a go.

Welcome back.

Aisha says, "Because the game currency was coins, I just assumed the 2 pounds 99 was coins as well.

It's an easy mistake to make." Aisha gets better at the game and starts beating Lucas.

Lucas isn't happy about it.

He says, "I'm gonna spend my birthday money on special bundles." What do you think about that? Is that a choice you'd make? Might be.

Lucas wins and the next day, they chat about the game at breaktime.

"Well done!" says Aisha.

"You beat me by a lot yesterday." "I'm not sure it was worth it," says, Lucas.

What do you think about that? Okay, let's do the second task then.

Tick the offers that are asking you to pay with the in-game currency and cross those that are asking for real money.

How did you decide? Explain why offers like this might be confusing.

For number two, do you agree with Lucas? Do you think it was worth it? Explain your thinking.

Lucas says, "I was pleased to win, but I'm sad now because I've no birthday money left.

I'm not sure it was worth it." Pause the video here and give those a go.

Welcome back.

The two which required you to pay with in-game currency were these ones that have been marked with the tick, the first and the last one.

The two middle ones were asking for you to pay using pounds, using real money.

The offer looks the same, which can be confusing.

Stars and chips are not like real money, so that gives a clue.

The pound sign shows the ones that need real money.

So if something is asking you to pay and it has a pound symbol, and you don't think you are ready to afford that, then don't pay for it.

If you're unsure, it's always worth checking with an adult.

So for number two, did you think it was worth it? Well, there might have been lots of different opinions here.

Maybe you had a chat with people around you.

Things you buy in a game are virtual so you only see them when you are playing the game.

You might stop playing the game and not see what you have bought.

New things to buy come out all the time to try and get you to spend more money.

Be careful.

That's not to say that you shouldn't buy it, if it's something that you enjoy and that you feel the reward in.

You're allowed to spend money on things that you want to, as long as you can afford it.

Let's summarise today's learning then.

Games can be purchased online in different ways.

You should turn off auto-renew if you don't want to pay for a game you no longer play.

Cancel those subscriptions if you need to.

Games often have their own currency.

If a game wants you to buy something, make sure you find out if it is asking for real money.

If you're unsure, then speak to a trusted adult.

These decisions are best made when you're not in the middle of the game.

You can also ask your parents or guardians to turn off the in-game purchases to keep you safe.

I hope you enjoyed that.

My name's Mr. Tazzyman, and maybe I'll see you again soon on another financial education lesson.

Bye for now.