What if a game about living in Lagos is actually teaching us more about money than most financial advice does?

Lagos Life started as a game, but somewhere between paying rent, chasing money and trying to build a better life, it became a surprisingly good lesson in how money works in the real world. From inflation and the illusion of wealth to lifestyle inflation, entrepreneurship and the value of listening to your audience, there’s more to learn from Lagos Life than how to survive its virtual economy.

Here are 12 money lessons the game and the story behind it can teach us about making, spending and building wealth in real life. 

You don’t always need a completely new idea

Shalom Rayhamen, the game’s founder, didn’t invent the life simulation genre. She took a familiar concept and made it feel Nigerian. Sometimes the opportunity is in taking something that already works and making it relevant to a specific audience.

Your local knowledge can be an economic advantage

The things that feel ordinary to you might be exactly what someone else wants. Understanding your culture, environment and audience can give you an advantage that someone outside that context simply cannot replicate.

You don’t have to wait for perfection before you start

Lagos Life got into people’s hands while it was still being developed. That gave the creator real user feedback and insights into what to improve. Sometimes the fastest way to build something better is to launch the imperfect version first.

Feedback is free market research

When people repeatedly ask for something, they are telling you where demand exists. Instead of taking every criticism personally, learn to look for patterns. Your customers can tell you what to build next.

Taking a quick, calculated risk can be more valuable than waiting for certainty

There was no guarantee people would care about a Lagos-based life simulator. It was still built and released. You can research forever and still never know whether people want something until you actually put it in front of them.

Build something people want to return to

Getting someone’s attention once is one thing. Giving them a reason to keep coming back is another. Consistent updates and improvements can turn initial curiosity into a community, and retention is valuable in almost every business.

We surveyed 5,000 workers across Nigeria’s formal and informal sectors to examine what Nigerians earn, where the money goes, and whether hard work actually translates to financial security. This is what we found. Download the Zikoko State of Income Report.

Your product can become bigger than its original purpose

A game can become a platform for advertising, partnerships, premium features and other revenue streams. Once you have an engaged audience, you have more opportunities to create and capture value.

Don’t just build income. Build assets

Your salary pays you for your labour. A product, audience, brand, intellectual property, or business can continue to create value beyond the hours you personally put in. Wealth becomes easier to build when you start owning things that can grow.

Specificity can be a competitive advantage

The appeal of the game comes partly from how specifically Nigerian it is. You don’t always need everyone to care about what you’re building. Serving a particular audience exceptionally well can be a better business strategy.

An idea is easy to copy. An ecosystem isn’t

Anyone can copy the concept. It is much harder to copy the community, brand, audience, data, relationships and trust built around it. Your advantage shouldn’t just be the idea. It should be everything you’ve built around the idea.

You can start building wealth with more than money

Skills, creativity, knowledge, relationships and an audience are all forms of capital. You don’t need to be wealthy to start creating valuable things. Sometimes your first investment is becoming capable of building something people will pay for.

The real skill is learning to spot opportunities

Beyond building a popular game, the interesting part is that someone looked at an existing category, saw a gap and thought, “Why doesn’t this exist for us?” Wealth creation often starts with seeing an opportunity others overlooked and actually doing something about it.

NEXT READ: “Lagos Life is Going to Retire Me” — How Shalom Rayhamen Built an Overnight Sensation in a Few Hours