The Money Game: Virtual Experience

Invented by Daniel Ofman at the Findhorn Community in the highlands of Scotland, the Money Game has been played by groups around the world as a way to help us think about, and deconstruct, our relationship to money.

There’s often no better way to test and draw out our hidden behaviours and assumptions than by playing a game. The Money Game helps us explore (and manifest) the habits and unconscious beliefs that determine our relationship to money and learn through both our individual experience, as well as interactions and reflections with the wider group. We've run the Money Game for many types of groups and in many countries as in-person events, and now also virtually!

As a personal experience in a group setting the Money Game is never the same, but varies each based on what all participants bring to the table. Your experience is shaped by your own relationship to money, the good & bad qualities you attach to it and the histories & imagined futures you associate with it. While this can surface discomfort and painful emotions for some, it also creates fertile ground for individual & collective growth.

How it works

What happens during the game is quite simple — several rounds of “play” in a group of 8-15 people, interspersed with journaling and reflective dialogue — but in keeping with tradition of the game, we don’t share all the details in advance.

Participants are asked to "bring” a meaningful amount of money in cash that they feel comfortable letting go of, but that is enough to “trigger” their learning. To ensure a meaningful experience, it is important that participants take a few minutes to feel into what this amount might be for them. People have played with anywhere from $10 to over $500.

Note about participating: The hosting team aims to create an environment of care and safety, however it is very important that you are aware that you are 100% responsible for your own experience within the game. Your experience is yours, your boundaries are yours, your needs are yours. It is important that participation must be optional and at the will of each participant — that no one is required or coerced to attend — and that every participant plan to stay the entire duration of the game, so there is sufficient time to process & reflect on whatever happens and to nurture any difficult moments that arise.

Background & History

The Money Game was originally developed in the Findhorn Community in Scotland and began its tradition in Greaterthan Collective when it was introduced to us by Tom Nixon in 2017. He was using this practice as part of his Source and Money Work, which was developed by the seminal thinker Peter Koenig.

After having hosted games all over the world and deepened our knowledge on Money Work with Peter Koenig himself, Greaterthan
Associate J.D. Nasaw took the initiative in 2021 to create a version of the Money Game that could be played online, and could thus benefit more people across the world as a personal and group development tool.

Following Greaterthan’s closing in 2026, former members of the collective are now hosting the Money Game through Common Ground.