← Back to offline games
📈

Finger Auction

Teaches: Inflation | 7 min | You need: Nothing!

What you will learn

When there is more money but the same amount of stuff, prices go up.

Steps

  1. 1

    Hold up 5 fingers. Each finger is 1 coin. You have 5 coins.

  2. 2

    Imagine there is 1 loaf of bread for sale. How many coins would you pay? (Maybe 2?)

  3. 3

    Now the government says: EVERYONE NOW HAS 10 COINS! Hold up 10 fingers.

  4. 4

    Same 1 loaf of bread. But now you have 10 coins. How many would you pay now? (Maybe 5?)

  5. 5

    The bread did not change. But the price went UP because there are more coins.

  6. 6

    Now imagine 100 coins, 1000 coins... the price keeps going up!

What you learned

More money chasing the same stuff makes prices rise. This is called inflation. Your savings buy less.

Play with others?

Everyone starts with 5 finger-coins. Auction 3 items. Note prices. Then double everyone's coins to 10. Auction the SAME items. Prices rise!

Play online instead