Targeted at eight to 14 year olds, the online Great Piggy Bank Adventure game is designed to help children learn about saving and investments.

The game takes users on a journey through a mythical 3-D world while enabling them to learn financial lessons and earn currency, called truffles, along the way. As players advance through the game's three levels and attempt to reach their dream goals, the financial decisions become more complex.

The game also features a virtual piggy bank which serves as a personal investment guide (PIG), offering game strategies and educational tips.

In addition to the online game, a Great Piggy Bank Adventure exhibit has launched at Innoventions at Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, where families work together to play a series of finance related games.

After choosing a dream goal, players go through three different interactive activity stations where they direct coins into savings and away from spending buckets via a touch screen, move levers to ride the currents and capture falling coins before they've been reduced in value by the "evil wolf and his sinister inflation machine".

A survey of 504 parents of eight to 14 year olds for T Rowe Price shows nearly half are having more conversations with their kids about money because of the current economic conditions.

Parents are worried that they could be doing more to prepare their children to be financially literate, and feel that financial discussions do not happen enough, says the firm.

Edward C. Bernard, vice chairman, T Rowe Price Group, says: "Through this unique collaboration, we're excited to bring core financial principles to life in an immersive and interactive way that goes beyond mere education. The Great Piggy Bank Adventure will give parents greater confidence to discuss these personal finance concepts with their children."

You can play the online game here.