The Challenge

Norway's Government Pension Fund Global is one of the world's largest funds. Investments are spread across most markets, countries and currencies to achieve broad exposure to global growth and value creation while ensuring good risk diversification. The fund invests only abroad so that the Norwegian economy does not overheat. Since 2016, Norway's Central Bank (responsible for managing the fund) has featured an interactive role-playing game about macroeconomics, the central bank and the fund at their Knowledge Centre in Oslo. The game's finale focused on managing the Oil Fund. After 8 years NBIM (Norway's Bank Investment Management) found that the game's portrayal of the fund no longer aligned with their actual operations and communication strategy. They particularly wanted to emphasise the fund's importance for current Norwegian citizens. Most crucially, they wanted Norwegian youth to learn fundamental asset management principles through hands-on experience with stock trading, property investment, risk management, and responsible stewardship. Trust is the paramount reputation metric for Norway's Central Bank and the Oil Fund, which directly correlates with public understanding. This led them to partner with TRY to develop an entirely new interactive simulation for their Knowledge Centre, which welcomes over 5,000 secondary school students annually.

The Innovation

Following extensive research with NBIM's key experts, we developed a groundbreaking simulation concept that allows Norwegian youth to experience the responsibility and challenges of managing the nation's entire wealth portfolio. Our ambitious goal was to create an ultra-realistic experience where students could benchmark their performance against the actual fund by investing in the same market conditions over the fund's 25-year history. Like real fund managers, players must consider ethics council recommendations, respond to global events, engage with boards, and field calls from Treasury Department regulators to make informed decisions. Can participants grow the fund from NOK 2 billion in 1996 to over NOK 20 trillion by 2025 while maintaining responsible investment practices?

The Immersive Experience

We've created a pioneering time-travel experience through the fund's history by incorporating 25 years of market data from all 16,000 companies the fund has ever invested in. Using this dataset, we've developed a dynamic trading engine that allows participants to operate in a market built on real historical data. The journey began in 1996 when Finance Minister Sigbjørn Johnsen made the first deposit into what would become the world's largest sovereign wealth fund. In our innovative simulator, students step into roles as national wealth managers. They work in teams, alternating between high-pressure trading room scenarios and strategic investment decisions across bonds, real estate, and infrastructure for renewable energy. This transcends traditional gaming - it's a revolutionary approach to teaching complex financial management, where participants gain firsthand experience with the mechanisms and events that shape Norway’s collective wealth. The experience uniquely combines historical accuracy with engaging game design in a cutting-edge digital and physical environment.    