This Startup’s New Pokémon-Inspired Game Is Making Tax Filing Fun

Everyone knows how grueling the tax filing process can be, so the accounting software company Open Ledger has launched a new product to make the process more fun. If you grew up loving Pokemon, PokéTax will make Tax Day feel like a breeze.

Open Ledger launches PokéTax

Open Ledger is the latest venture from Pryce Adade-Yebesi, the entrepreneur who previously co-founded Utopia Labs, a crypto invoicing startup that was recently sold to Coinbase. His new company, co-founded with Ashtyn Bell, builds embedded accounting tools for small businesses and recently raised $3 million in seed funding from Kindred Ventures and Blank Ventures.

Open Ledger powers developer-friendly APIs that enable fintech and vertical SaaS companies to seamlessly embed and integrate accounting functionality—such as general ledger infrastructure, categorization, and real-time reporting—directly into their products

Adade-Yebesi said his team originally created PokéTax as a joke, but the idea stuck. The open source game is a modification of the open source Pokémon game called Pokémon Showdown. By adding a layer of fun to financial tasks, Adade-Yebesi told TechCrunch, these processes can become “more engaging and way less soul-sucking.”

How does PokéTax work?

PokéTax, removes tax forms and replaces them with Tax Trainers—gym leaders representing different parts of a tax form, such as income, deductions, and credits. Each leader asks questions that help users finish their tax forms. “Complete IRS forms while defeating gym leaders!” the game’s website says.

“Once you finish your PokéTax run, we guide you to the IRS Direct File site to officially submit,” Adade-Yebesi explained.

The game also features an AI assistant that helps organize users’ responses and allows players to win badges and find new deductions as they challenge the Tax Trainers.

Image: PokéTax