In this game, you are the head of a family with limited means and no government assistance. Your goal is to make decisions to maximize your family’s education, health, and financial well-being.

After each choice, indicators at the top of the screen will show your results. Then, you’ll see how the scenario might have been different if you had a housing voucher.

To learn more about the results, stick around for resources at the end. Let's get started!

You work full time for low wages, live far from work and extended family, and have a baby on the way. The commute was tough when you had your first child, and you’d rather not do it again.

Your current lease is about to end, and you have to decide whether to renew it. Your extended family can help with the baby if you move, and you would be closer to work. But the rents in the area are so high!

You see a small house for rent near your family in your price range. The home has a yard where your kids can play, but you’re concerned about the condition of the house. There are signs of leaks and chipping paint.

You wonder if the easy commute and proximity to family make it worth moving to the new home anyway. What’s the right move?

After a year, your older child develops asthma triggered by excessive moisture from the leaks. Recurring hospital visits lead to them missing several days of school.

At the baby’s check-up, the pediatrician finds elevated lead levels in their blood and starts asking about hazards in the home.

This would have given you a wider selection of homes if you wanted to move, but securing a decent home that takes vouchers in your desired neighborhood can still be challenging.

You would also have been better able to accommodate the new baby if you had decided to stay in your current home. The voucher’s safety net could have let you quit your job or switch to part time as you focused on finding a better job with a shorter commute.

Let’s move on to the next decision for your family

It’s almost impossible to get to work on time and drop the kids off at day care and preschool. Your boss has put you on notice, and day care late-pick-up fees are piling up.

You’re sure that house wouldn’t have been safe and healthy for your family, but your worries about money are still weighing on you.

This would have given you a wider selection of homes if you wanted to move, but securing a decent home that takes vouchers in your desired neighborhood can still be challenging.

You would also have been better able to accommodate the new baby if you had decided to stay in your current home. The voucher’s safety net could have let you quit your job or switch to part time as you focused on finding a better job with a shorter commute.

Let’s move on to the next decision for your family

Your boss has cut your hours after business started slowing down. You’re trying to find a new job but haven’t had any luck yet.

You need to figure out how to pay your rent with less money. You see a cheaper house. The quality looks decent, but it would add at least 30 minutes to your commute.

A friend who lives near your job offers a spare bedroom, but that would be a tight fit for your family.

You wonder whether you can find other ways to cut spending and ride out this tough period.What’s the right move?

You cut everything that’s not essential from your budget...and maybe a few essentials, too.

You use up the rainy-day fund and can no longer afford fresh produce. You drop to part-time day care for the toddler to save money, but it still costs a lot, and it makes it harder for you to pick up hours at the last minute.

Your older child needs a new school uniform and fees for field trips, but you just can’t afford it. You’re worried that you’ll need to cut back on food or medication if this lasts much longer.

Thanks to the voucher’s income-based rents, you could have still afforded your rent, even if you had less money. Money would have still been tight, but you’d have made it through that tough period until work ramped up again.

Now let’s see how you’d navigate one more choice for your family

Moving day comes just two months after the start of third grade for your older child. They aren’t happy about being the new kid at school and leaving friends behind.

You drop to part-time day care for the toddler to save money, but the longer commute means you’re often late for pick up. The extra commuting costs are also eating into your savings. You wonder if the move saved you any money at all.

Thanks to the voucher’s income-based rents, you could have still afforded your rent, even if you had less money. Money would have still been tight, but you’d have made it through that tough period until work ramped up again.

Now let’s see how you’d navigate one more choice for your family

The move is a squeeze for your family. The disruption has increased your toddler’s tantrums, and your stress levels are through the roof.

Your older child can’t find a quiet space to do their homework, and their grades start slipping. The school calls, and your kid’s grades aren’t the only problem. They’ve also been acting out and getting in fights with other students.

Thanks to the voucher’s income-based rents, you could have still afforded your rent, even if you had less money. Money would have still been tight, but you’d have made it through that tough period until work ramped up again.

Now let’s see how you’d navigate one more choice for your family

After a stretch of unemployment, you find a new job. You have to be careful with your budget, but you feel like a burden has been lifted and you can finally catch up on past-due bills.

Unfortunately, you still owe money to the landlord from the months when you couldn’t pay the rent in full.

So far, the landlord has been flexible about the late rent, but his patience is wearing thin.

You consider moving, but you’re not sure you can find a better option with all the bad marks on your credit.What’s the right move?

Your landlord is kind enough to work out a payment schedule, but it will take a while to pay off the past-due rent bills. Two months later, a neighbor complains about your kids being noisy.

The landlord tells you the deal is off and files for the past-due rent and late fees. You get a notice for eviction because you can’t cover that much money in time.

You could also have received guidance from housing authority staff about other emergency assistance resources or found out about special programs for improving your employment prospects to get back to work more quickly or shift into a career with better earnings and advancement potential.

When you did get that new job, your rent would go up again—but not beyond what you could comfortably pay. Most of your earnings would be yours to spend on your family’s other needs.

Let's see how those choices affected your family's well-being

Your credit and rental history mean the only rental options you can find are in neighborhoods near major industrial plants and in troubled school districts.

You decide your best bet is a home near an old industrial plant but just within the boundaries for a decent school. Your older child starts to suffer from frequent asthma attacks. Their wheezing and coughing keeps them up at night, and they often doze off in class.

You could also have received guidance from housing authority staff about other emergency assistance resources or found out about special programs for improving your employment prospects to get back to work more quickly or shift into a career with better earnings and advancement potential.

When you did get that new job, your rent would go up again—but not beyond what you could comfortably pay. Most of your earnings would be yours to spend on your family’s other needs.

Let's see how those choices affected your family's well-being

You tried to make the best decisions for your family. But as you navigated a new baby, lost pay, and a job change, you sacrificed your family's . Making the right move is hard when there isn’t enough decent affordable housing available to low-income families.

But housing vouchers are one of many tools that can make life’s ups and downs more manageable—and sometimes prevent those difficult situations from happening.

Check out these resources to learn more about the price families pay when the nation lacks affordable housing and how discrimination against voucher holders can make voucher assistance less effective.