The Compensation Game is a modified version of almost any team sport designed to help us explore how pay works inside a company. The rules of the game are simple: when a player scores, the value of their next score doubles. Players can choose to keep the increased "compensation potential" for themselves or share some of it with teammates. Each team represents a company, and the first player to score naturally becomes the symbolic "CEO."

The purpose of The Compensation Game is not to imitate any one company or to say there is a right or wrong way to share. Instead, it encourages students to reflect on how pay structures, teamwork, leadership, and equity can interact inside a group, fostering a sense of fairness and social awareness.

Materials:

• Due to the versatility of this game, it can be used with any team sport you can think of, as long as you have the space and materials. However, I would recommend higher-scoring games like basketball over lower-scoring games like hockey or soccer. They can certainly be used successfully, but the higher-scoring games will do a better job of highlighting the pay disparity between the CEO and the "essential worker."

Minimum Number of Students Needed: The number of students you need is based on the sport you choose for this game. I would suggest having at least three players per team, when possible, with any of the variations you choose.

Prior Knowledge: This lesson does not need any particular previous knowledge. I personally used this lesson with my middle school students while they were studying the Industrial Revolution. However, this game ties into any type of economic or government study, too.