The Challenge
Banco W and Fundación WWB wanted to extend their educational mission into the digital space. Their goal was to provide vulnerable communities with accessible, engaging financial literacy tools that could seamlessly fit into school programs. The challenge: create a game that was structured enough to satisfy teachers and fun enough to excite students. This is how Cash was born.
The challenge: create a game that was structured enough to satisfy teachers and fun enough to excite students.
This is how Cash was born.
Cash pixel art character
compilation of the in-game cinematics
The Vision
Accessibility sat at the heart of the production. The game had to run on older devices commonly found in schools and community centers while still feeling aspirational. Embracing a 2D pixel art style provided the right balance: lightweight enough for broad compatibility yet charming and expressive for young audiences.
Framing the experience as an RPG gave students real agency. Every financial decision shaped the path ahead, making the mechanics themselves the lesson. By grounding the world in playful reinterpretations of Colombian landscapes—from coffee towns to Caribbean islands—we built a universe that felt both rooted and magical.
concept illustration of Taida
The Story
At the heart of Cash lies a fable-like narrative designed to make financial literacy both relatable and engaging. Players step into the role of a young protagonist, who can be either a boy or a girl, living in a world consumed by a mysterious curse. This curse, known as Taida, drains the will and energy of people, leaving them indifferent. As communities stop working, the world begins to crumble under the weight of neglect.
Against this backdrop, it becomes the responsibility of our hero, Cash, to restore balance. Through perseverance, smart decision-making, and resourcefulness, players rebuild what has been broken and ultimately confront Taida. Each financial decision becomes a narrative beat, transforming economic resilience into an act of empowerment.
concept illustrations of protagonist characters from Cash
Ideation and Concept Development
From the very beginning, Cash needed to feel both familiar and fresh. On one hand, it had to resonate with players through recognizable RPG conventions—the sense of agency, progression, and discovery. On the other, it needed to be unique enough to reflect the educational mission and cultural roots of the project. We looked to modern RPGs like Sea of Stars and Stardew Valley for inspiration: titles that embrace a 2D aesthetic yet captivate through worldbuilding, charm, and detail.
To ground the experience in something deeply relatable, we turned to Colombia itself. The world of Cash was designed as a playful reinterpretation of the country’s diverse landscapes: from coffee plantation towns to Caribbean islands, each setting was reimagined with touches of whimsy and fantasy.
Every design decision—from the look of items and enemies to the shape of buildings and the atmosphere of the soundtrack—followed the same formula: draw from the beauty of Colombian places, then infuse it with imagination. The result is a world that feels both rooted and magical, inviting players into a space that is at once local and universal.
Game Design
The mechanics of Cash were built on the familiar scaffolding of a traditional 2D RPG, but with a unique twist: every core system was designed to teach the principles of financial literacy. Concepts like money, purchasing power, income, savings, investments, debt, interest rates, and inflation were woven directly into the gameplay loop.
Money acted as the central axis of the game. Players could earn income in multiple ways: completing missions, defeating enemies and selling items, taking loans from the bank, or generating passive income through investments. This transversal mechanic ensured that the way each player managed resources drastically shaped their game experience. Good decisions made the journey smoother, while poor financial choices added new layers of challenge.
Level one pixel art characters
To keep the experience authentic, we introduced pitfalls that mirrored real-world risks. Some opportunities were simply too good to be true, scams that tested the player’s judgment.
But because the heart of the game was never about greed, every mission was designed around the idea of value creation. Progress came from helping communities, solving problems, and making the world a better place. In this way, the financial system became both a mechanic and a moral compass, transforming the game into a playful yet powerful lesson in financial responsibility.
The Outcome
After nine months of production the team delivered a full release across web, Windows PC, Android, and iOS. Teachers praised the game for capturing students’ attention on financial topics, while students were energized by bringing play into the classroom.
Beyond engagement, we designed a dashboard for educators to benchmark how well financial concepts were being understood. Gameplay became measurable impact—turning lessons into data-backed progress.
As of 2025, Cash has reached more than 10,000 users and is used by multiple public education institutions as a core resource. It proved that a carefully crafted game can bridge entertainment and education with lasting results.
Press Coverage
The launch sparked national attention, with leading Colombian outlets spotlighting how Cash blends entertainment and financial education for young learners.
Team
A multidisciplinary squad across design, engineering, production, and research brought Cash to life. Their collaboration ensured the game could deliver both emotional resonance and measurable classroom impact.
Executive & Direction
- Project Director
- Daniela Konietzko
- Creative Directors
- Camilo Paredes • Jean Paul Egred
- Executive Producers
- Camilo Paredes • Jean Paul Egred • Johana Urrutia
- Project Managers
- Saluastrid Cuevas Barberian • Cristian David Martínez Páez • Sandra Aceneth Duque P.
- Financial & Administrative Direction
- Irene Tafur Mangada • Liliana Vanegas Cardona
- Commercial Lead
- Juan David Lopera Ramírez
Development & Engineering
- Development Lead
- David Alejandro Villa
- Backend Development Leads
- Álvaro Betancourt • Steven Vallejo Ortiz
- Developers
- Pablo Andrés Rozo • Gabriela Bohorquez Ramírez • Karen Alexandra Urrea • Juan Barrera
- Infrastructure Engineers
- Jose Ronald Ochoa B • Carlos Olmedo Cortes
Art & Animation
- Art & Graphic Art Lead
- Arturo José Bermudez
- Animation
- Esteban Piedrahita
- Illustration
- Alex Huérfano
- UI Artists
- Laura Calle • Ana Castro • Valeria Ortega
- Technical Artist
- Jhonathan Stiven Briceño
- Technical Artist Implementer
- Juan Sebastián Acosta
QA & Testing
- QA Testers
- Manuela Hoyos Duque • Karla Marcela Tobon • Sofía Díaz • Jesús Arrieta
- Beta Testers
- Katherine Damián • Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Arevalo • Gloria Lucía Ramírez • Jorge Moreno • David Paredes • Eliana Ortiz • Luis Felipe Idrobo Vidal
Support & Production
- Marketing & Advertising
- Paola Andrea Gómez Perafán • Laura Amaranta Berón Salazar • Jhoan Carlos Martínez Hurtado
- Editors
- Katherine Damián • Carlos Mauro Vásquez • Gloria Lucía Ramírez
- Data Analysis
- Maria Elena Colina • Harrison Sandoval
- Project Review
- Maria Fernanda Escobar • Cesar Leandro Pacheco Ramírez
- Orthotypographic Curator
- Isabella Fernandez
- Narrative Idea Designer
- Jorge Humberto Mejía Mesa
- Narrative Idea Lead
- Santiago López Martínez
Sound & Music
- Soundtrack
- Raymi Rodriguez
- Sound Engineer
- Juan Pablo Montoya