Overview
Super Smashdown: The Long Game is a browser-based educational game that teaches students about Australian superannuation through five arcade-style acts. Each act focuses on a key concept in the super lifecycle, building on the previous act's outcomes. The game takes 10–15 minutes to play through and requires no installation — just a browser and a keyboard.
The game is designed for Year 7–9 students and aligns with the Australian Curriculum’s Financial Literacy and Economics and Business content descriptors.
Learning Objectives
After playing Super Smashdown, students will be able to:
- Explain what superannuation is and why it matters for long-term financial security.
- Identify employer obligations — that employers must pay super and employees should check payslips.
- Understand the impact of voluntary contributions and the trade-off between present spending and future wealth.
- Recognise that markets fluctuate and that staying invested through downturns is historically the best strategy.
- Identify common super fund fees (admin, investment, performance, and special services) and understand their cumulative impact.
- Connect super balance to retirement outcomes — more super means more choices in retirement.
- Describe how compound growth works over a working lifetime.
Curriculum Alignment
Super Smashdown supports the following curriculum areas:
- Economics and Business (Year 7–9) — financial decision-making, income, and wealth management.
- Civics and Citizenship / Work Studies (Year 7–9) — employee rights and entitlements, superannuation, payslip literacy.
- Mathematics — compound interest, percentages, and cost-benefit thinking (Acts 3–5).
- General Capabilities — Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Capability, Financial Literacy.
Act-by-Act Breakdown
Act 1 — Work & Pay
EMPLOYER SUPER GUARANTEE
Players catch payslips flying across the screen. Each caught payslip adds to their super balance. Missed payslips represent unpaid or unchecked super — money permanently lost.
Key teaching point: In Australia, employers must pay at least 12% of your ordinary earnings into super. It is the employee’s responsibility to check their payslip and confirm super is being paid. If an employer fails to pay, it can be reported to the ATO.
What to watch for: Students who miss several payslips will start Act 2 with less super. This snowballs — connect this to real-world consequences of unchecked super.
Act 2 — Extra Contributions
VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS
Giant gold coins represent savings opportunities. Flashy temptation items try to lure the player. Students must protect their savings while kicking away temptations.
Key teaching point: Beyond employer contributions, you can voluntarily add extra to your super. Even small regular amounts compound significantly over 30–40 years. Trading short-term spending for long-term saving is one of the most powerful financial decisions a young person can make.
What to watch for: Students who yield to temptations will have a noticeably lower balance entering Act 3. Use this as a conversation starter about opportunity cost.
Act 3 — Market Shocks
INVESTMENT VOLATILITY & STAYING INVESTED
The screen simulates market crashes: red blocks and sell-pressure events hit the player. Recovery surges appear after each crash. Students must survive crashes and collect recoveries without panic-selling.
Key teaching point: Super is invested in the market, which goes up and down. Historically, markets always recover. The worst action during a downturn is to sell out — you lock in losses and miss the recovery. Staying invested and “holding the line” is the evidence-based strategy.
What to watch for: Students often instinctively want to avoid all the red objects. Emphasise that enduring the crash is part of the investment journey, not a failure.
Act 4 — Fee Factory
SUPER FUND FEES
Fees of different types march toward the player’s super vault. Admin fees are simple to kick. Investment fees are faster and dash unpredictably. “Special Services” fees have more health and absorb multiple hits. Performance fees move diagonally and are harder to intercept. Fees that reach the vault drain the balance.
Key teaching point: Super funds charge fees for managing your money — admin fees, investment management fees, performance fees, and sometimes questionable “special services” fees. These fees compound over decades and can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Students should review their super statement annually and question any fee they don’t understand.
What to watch for: The fees are calibrated so it’s very difficult to block them all. This is intentional — fees are a reality of super, but awareness and vigilance minimise their impact.
Act 5 — The Retirement Vault
RETIREMENT OUTCOMES & THE VALUE OF SUPER
The player’s accumulated super balance converts into “Retirement Power”. Seven doors represent retirement life choices: Age Pension, Simple Joys, Helping Family, Health & Care, Holidays, Comfortable Home, and World Travel. Each door has a power cost. Free doors (Pension, Simple Joys) open for everyone. Expensive doors (Comfortable Home, World Travel) require a strong balance. Charged kicks cost 50% less power — rewarding patience.
Key teaching point: Super is not an abstract number — it directly determines your quality of life in retirement. More super means more choices: better healthcare, travel, helping your family, owning a comfortable home. The “charged kick = 50% discount” mechanic reinforces that patience and deliberate action compound into better outcomes.
What to watch for: Students with the best balance (from strong play in Acts 1–4) can open all 7 doors with charged kicks. Those who struggled may only open 2–4. This visual difference is the game’s strongest teaching moment.
How to Run in a Classroom
Before the session
- Test the game on your classroom devices (any modern browser works — Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari).
- Decide whether students play individually or in pairs (pairs encourage discussion during gameplay).
- Print or display the discussion questions below for post-game reflection.
During the session (10–15 min gameplay)
- Students play individually or in pairs. Pairs encourage discussion during gameplay.
- Circulate and ask probing questions: “What just happened to your balance?” “Why did that fee cost so much?”
- Encourage at least one replay — students can test different strategies (e.g. saving more in Act 2, using charged kicks in Act 5).
After the session (10–20 min discussion)
- Compare results across the class. Who got “Best Retirement”? What did they do differently?
- Use the discussion questions below to debrief key concepts.
- Optionally, have students write a short reflection on what surprised them most.
Discussion Questions
Post-Game Discussion
- What was the single biggest factor in how many retirement doors you could open? Was it catching payslips, saving coins, surviving crashes, blocking fees, or something else?
- How did missing payslips in Act 1 affect your balance in later acts? What does this tell us about checking super early in your career?
- In Act 3 (Market Shocks), what happened if you collected recovery surges after a crash? What real-world investment behaviour does this represent?
- Were you surprised by how much fees drained your super in Act 4? How would you find out what fees your real super fund charges?
- In Act 5, did you use charged kicks? How much difference did the 50% discount make? What does “patience compounds” mean in real financial terms?
- If you played again, what would you do differently? Why?
- What is one thing you will check or do about your own super after this session?
Extension Questions
- The game shows super growing through a display multiplier (representing compound growth). If $1 of super at age 18 becomes $50 by age 67, how much would an extra $20/week voluntary contribution be worth at retirement?
- Research: What is the current Superannuation Guarantee rate in Australia? Has it changed over the past 10 years?
- Compare two super funds online. What fees does each charge? How would a 0.5% annual fee difference compound over 40 years on a $500,000 balance?
- The game’s retirement doors represent different lifestyle choices. What would your ideal retirement look like? Estimate the annual cost and work backwards to a target super balance.
Key Terminology
- Superannuation (Super) — Money set aside during your working life to fund your retirement. In Australia, employers are legally required to contribute.
- Super Guarantee — The minimum percentage of earnings an employer must contribute to an employee’s super fund (currently 12%).
- Voluntary Contributions — Additional money you choose to put into super beyond employer contributions. Can be pre-tax (salary sacrifice) or after-tax.
- Compound Returns — Earnings on your super are reinvested and themselves generate returns, creating exponential growth over long periods.
- Market Volatility — The natural fluctuation of investment markets. Short-term declines are normal; long-term trends are historically upward.
- Admin Fee — A fee charged by the super fund for account administration and record-keeping.
- Investment Management Fee — A fee for managing and investing your super money.
- Performance Fee — An additional fee some funds charge when investment returns exceed a benchmark.
- ATO (Australian Taxation Office) — The government body where you can report unpaid super.
Tips for Facilitators
- Frame it as a challenge. “Can anyone unlock all 7 retirement doors?” Competition drives engagement and replays.
- Don’t explain too much upfront. The game’s “Did You Know?” screens teach each concept. Let students discover, then discuss.
- Compare before and after. Ask students to guess what super is before playing, then revisit after. The gap is usually the best learning evidence.
- Replay with intent. A second playthrough where students deliberately change strategy (e.g. “this time I’ll save every coin”) deepens understanding of compounding effects.
- Connect to real action. End with one concrete step: “Check your myGov account to find your super fund,” or “Ask your employer about your first payslip.”