Need motivation to make a saving? Now you can follow a fictional interactive script on the Alipay “Little Purse” (支付宝小荷包) and save while choosing your own adventure and progressing through a plot.
Towards the end of July, the “Little Purse” savings service from Alibaba’s payment platform Alipay launched an innovative way of gamifying savings. Called “剧本攒” ( jubenzan, lit. scripted saving, a play on “jubensha” 剧本杀, or murder mystery games), the function provides several stories from workplace survival, romcom to “reincarnate” into a star, all popular genres in online fiction, games and microdrama. The difference is that where online fiction and microdramas ask for a subscription or fee to unlock, you make a saving with the “Little Purse”. Depending on your options in choosing dialogue or action, you can save up different amounts.
The inspiration behind the savings adventure game is from an online trend earlier this year called “pretend and save” (假装存钱). Users would make up stories and settings to motivate themselves. Some pretend to have a child, others a pet, or something more imaginative like pretending to be a princess from a country ravaged by war, forced to become a refugee and work in a fast-food chain abroad. When she earns her first 30 RMB, the player saves 30 RMB (4.18 USD) to their real bank account. Some would also share their stories on Xiaohongshu (RED) so that people can follow the plot and save too.
Interestingly, earlier reports also mentioned that the “Little Purse” was one of the platforms the trend runs on as it is easy to save small amounts. It is great to see the platform pick up from the trend and leverage people’s interest, albeit several months late. But as the platform asks netizens for more ideas for stories, it might take off and serve as a great example for gamification.
