Kids mode: how a child learns to handle money in Ferrata

Kids mode is not a simplified version of the main game. It is a separate interface with its own mechanics: the child receives pocket money, chooses what to save for, and every month faces a situation that changes something in their account. You start it when setting up a new game by choosing the Child scenario.

The blocks it is built from

Home

The opening screen. How much money the child has, how close they are to their goal and how many months are still missing. From the age of twelve a line called In the account appears — money they do not see in their wallet, but it is theirs, and paying by card really does spend it. They can move it between wallet and account themselves.

Piggy bank

This is where the child sets a goal. They pick one of four areas — technology, creative things, sport and experiences, or helping someone else — then give it a name, an amount and a saving pace. The goal is reachable: pocket money arrives regularly, so it really can be saved up for.

Adventures

The core of the mode. 53 situations split by age — from selling old toys to deferred payment and the balance of risk against return. Each has three choices and every choice has a consequence written in the data, not derived from its position. The order of the choices is shuffled, so the right answer cannot be read off the position.

Shopping

A budgeting task. The child gets an amount and a list of things — a school shop, a trip, a party. Some items are compulsory and there is not enough for everything. At the end they see what they bought, what they left behind and how much was left over.

At home

A list of the situations the child worked through during the game, with the choice they made and what it was about. It is there for a conversation at home. The list can be shared with a parent in a shared game, but the child decides that and can switch it off at any time.

Spending and I'm helping

Spending is the history of income and outgoings month by month. I'm helping is where the child can send part of their money somewhere it helps someone else.

Pocket money as regular income

Pocket money arrives every month and the amount grows with the child's age. It is deliberately small — what matters is the regularity, not the size. Without it, saving up for a goal would be mechanically out of reach and the child would learn only that money runs out.

What kids mode does not have

• No ads and no affiliate links — in the child scenario they are switched off in the code, not in a setting.
• No AI content. The child does not talk to a model and receives no generated text; every situation is written in advance.
• No punishment for the wrong choice. The consequence matches what actually happened in the situation.

Languages and currency

The whole of kids mode, including all 53 situations, is translated into 25 languages. Amounts are converted into the currency of the chosen country in a way that keeps the ratios between them — if one thing in the story costs three times another, it does so in every currency.

How to start

• Open the app and go to setting up a new game.
• In the scenario section choose Child and set the player's age.
• The first step in the game is choosing a goal in the Piggy bank — without it the child cannot see what they are saving for.

If you would rather have a guided run than free play, one in which the child goes through twelve decisions from their first pocket money to their first paycheck, start the Growing up track from guided mode.