Educational video games are a staple of the industry but typically focus only on kids and whatever they might learn in their current grade level. Not to be outdone, a new visual novel has been created for the most adult task imaginable: paying taxes. The game is called Tax Haven 3000 and will walk players through all the steps of preparing their tax returns under the thin guise of a dating sim.
In Tax Haven 3000, players meet Iris (an obvious but humorous play on the IRS), who wants to get to know all about them. Dates with Iris involve sharing details about yourself, like your social security number. The steam page promises that the game “actually prepares your 2022 federal income tax return.” So with that in mind, it’s up to you how comfortable you feel typing your actual social security number into a video game.
The purpose behind the game is a noble one that calls out corporate tax filing services which aim to complicate the process and prevent taxpayers from doing their own taxes when it’s otherwise free for everyone.
In the words of the developer MSCHF Product Studios, “corporate tax filing services are (by dint of extensive lobbying) predatory, parasitic bottlenecks that deliberately complicate the tax filing process in order to make it unnavigable by ordinary people.”
Taxes are due in the United States on April 18, and Tax Haven 3000 releases on March 30, giving players plenty of time to run through the game with Iris’s help. Unlike certain aforementioned corporate tax filing services, Tax Haven 3000 will be completely free to play, so go out and get the biggest refund you can!
