ZwischenHyp

Guiding the next generation toward confident, positive financial choices.

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Inspiration

For Gen Z and Millennials—especially in cities like Munich—owning a home often feels like an unattainable utopia rather than a realistic goal. The Interhyp challenge asked: "Which life decisions will help me eventually afford my own place?" We realized that financial literacy tools are often dry, static, and intimidating. Spreadsheets don't capture the emotional rollercoaster of life decisions. We aimed to bridge the gap between dreaming and planning by turning the dry path to a mortgage into an engaging, retro-style RPG. We wanted to show that while the market is tough, strategic life choices can make the dream a reality.

What it does

ZwischenHyp is a turn-based pixel-art life simulation running entirely in the browser.

  • The Simulation: You start with a realistic Munich scenario (high rent, average salary). You play month-by-month, managing four core resources: Cash, Investments, SCHUFA Score, Education, and Happiness.
  • The Market: The game simulates a living economy. Interest rates and housing prices fluctuate dynamically, teaching the player about the importance of market timing.
  • The Choices: Players face randomized and scripted events—from "Crypto Scams" and "Oktoberfest Hangovers" to "Career-defining Education". Every click has immediate consequences on your finances and long-term eligibility for a loan.
  • The Goal: The game engages the user until they reach "Mortgage Maturity"—having 10% equity, an adequate level of income, and a 90+ SCHUFA score—allowing them to finally sign the deal with the virtual bank.

How we built it

We built the entire application using a modern web stack:

  • React & TypeScript: For robust state management of the complex game loop and type-safe event handling.
  • Tailwind CSS: To create the custom "GameBoy" retro aesthetic and responsive UI without relying on heavy game engines.
  • Seeded RNG: We implemented a Mulberry32 random number generator to ensure event probabilities are fair, reproducible, and shareable via URL seeds.

Challenges we ran into

  • The "Munich" Balance: It was difficult to balance the game economy. We had to fine-tune the income vs. rent balance to make the game challenging (realistic for Munich) but not frustratingly impossible.
  • Event Logic: Creating a system where events have prerequisites, cooldowns, and multi-stage outcomes (Risk vs. Reward) required complex logic to prevent "event spam" and ensure a coherent narrative.
  • Gamification of Dry Topics: Making concepts like "SCHUFA scores" and "Interest Rates" fun required abstracting them into game mechanics that felt rewarding to optimize.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • It's actually fun: We managed to turn financial planning into a "just one more turn" experience (or at least we hope).
  • Educational Value: The game subtly teaches the user that a high salary isn't enough if your credit score is ruined by bad decisions, or that high equity is useless if you burn out before reaching the goal.
  • Cute UI: (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

What's next for ZwischenHyp

  • Simulated News Feed: We want to add a news ticker (e.g., "ECB raises key interest rate") to explain why the market moves, giving players educational context.
  • Realistic Market Movements: Implementing deeper algorithms for housing bubbles and crashes based on historical data.
  • "Level 2": Post-Credit Phase: Currently, the game ends when you buy the house. We aim to simulate the phase that follows signing, including managing monthly rates, maintenance costs, renovations, and refinancing after 10 years.
  • Life Settings & Difficulty: Adding options to choose different starting scenarios (e.g., "Berlin Startup Life" vs. "Munich Corporate") and difficulty levels.
  • Expanded Events: Adding major life milestones that impact finances, such as marriage, the birth of a child, or parental leave.

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