Accounting for Empires Shut Down? Try This Free CPA Game Alternative Instead

WHAT HAPPENED TO ACCOUNTING FOR EMPIRES?

If you've tried visiting Becker's Accounting for Empires game recently, you've probably encountered this:

The game, which Becker launched in 2016 as a gamified approach to CPA exam prep, appears to have been quietly discontinued. The URL now returns a standard 404 error with no redirect, no explanation, and no announcement (that we could find) about why.

For those unfamiliar, Accounting for Empires was a city-building game where players answered accounting questions to earn resources and expand their virtual empire. It was Becker's attempt to make CPA exam studying more engaging through game mechanics.

WHY THIS MATTERS FOR CPA CANDIDATES

The shutdown raises a bigger question: does gamification in CPA prep actually work?

Critics will point to this as proof that "gamification is just a gimmick." And honestly? They might be half right. A lot of gamification IS gimmicky - badges and points slapped onto boring content don't magically make it engaging.

But here's what the critics miss: the CPA exam isn't primarily a knowledge problem. It's a focus problem.

• You know how to study. You've passed college. You've passed the 150-hour requirement. You're not stupid.
• The material is learnable. Millions of people have passed this exam. The content isn't impossible.
• The real battle is attention. Can you stay engaged for 300-500 hours of studying? Can you maintain consistency for 6-18 months? Can you take breaks without losing momentum?

This is where gamification - done right - becomes incredibly valuable. Not because it makes accounting "fun," but because it helps you control your focus long enough to actually learn the material.

THE REAL CASE FOR GAMIFICATION: IT'S ABOUT FOCUS

Here's my take: the CPA exam is a focus war, not just a knowledge test.

You already know the material (or you will). The real battle is staying engaged long enough to actually learn it, retain it, and perform on test day. Traditional CPA prep fails at this because it treats studying like medicine - something unpleasant you force down.

Effective gamification works on two fronts:

PHASE 1: MAKING THE TEST BANK NOT SOUL-CRUSHING

Think about what happens when you finish a practice quiz in a traditional course:

Now compare that to what happens in Kesler's gamified test bank:

This isn't about lying to yourself. It's about reward architecture. Your brain needs dopamine hits to stay engaged. Traditional courses give you dopamine when you pass. Gamified courses give you dopamine every single study session - for showing up, for streaks, for leveling up, for completing goals.

PHASE 2: TAKING BREAKS THAT DON'T DESTROY YOUR FOCUS

Here's what most CPA candidates do when they need a mental break:

• Open Instagram/TikTok → 45 minutes disappear, feel guilty, more anxious than before
• Check Reddit → Read about someone failing for the 5th time, spiral into panic
• Watch YouTube → Algorithm serves you everything except motivation to study

The problem isn't that you need breaks. You absolutely need breaks. The problem is that social media doesn't actually rest your brain - it floods it with new anxiety, comparison, and distraction. You come back to studying more depleted than before.

This is where the second phase of gamification comes in: productive study breaks that maintain your focus state.

CPA EXAM ARCADE: STUDY BREAKS THAT DON'T BREAK YOUR FOCUS

Full disclosure: I built this. So take it with a grain of salt. But when I set out to create CPA Exam Arcade, I was trying to solve a specific problem: what do you do during study breaks that doesn't make things worse?

CPA Exam Arcade is a free, DOOM-styled video game designed specifically for CPA candidates who need to decompress without completely disconnecting:

WHY THIS WORKS

I failed the CPA exam seven times before passing. During those dark years, I noticed a pattern: my worst study days weren't the days I didn't study at all. They were the days I "took a quick break" that turned into an hour of doom scrolling, followed by guilt, followed by forced studying while mentally checked out.

The doom scroll break is a trap. Your brain thinks it's resting, but it's actually processing hundreds of micro-decisions, comparisons, and anxiety triggers. You return to studying more depleted than if you'd just kept going.

CPA Exam Arcade is different because:

• It's bounded → A game session has a clear end. Social media has infinite scroll.
• It's CPA-adjacent → You're processing the emotional experience of being a candidate, not escaping it entirely.
• It's active, not passive → Gaming engages your brain differently than passive consumption.
• Zombie Mode keeps you sharp → If you play Survival Mode, you're actually reviewing MCQs in a low-pressure context.

The goal isn't to turn your break into more studying. It's to take a break that doesn't torch your focus for the next study session.

FINAL THOUGHTS: CONTROL YOUR FOCUS, PASS THE EXAM

The shutdown of Accounting for Empires is interesting, but it's not really about whether gamification "works." It's about what problem you're trying to solve.

Building an elaborate city-builder game around CPA questions might have been solving the wrong problem. If you're optimizing for "make accounting fun," you'll probably fail. Accounting isn't fun. The CPA exam isn't fun. No amount of game mechanics changes that.

But if you're optimizing for "help candidates control their focus long enough to pass," gamification becomes incredibly powerful:

• Phase 1: Gamified test banks (XP, levels, streaks) keep you coming back to study instead of dreading it
• Phase 2: Productive study breaks (CPA Exam Arcade) keep you in the zone instead of doom scrolling into anxiety

The CPA exam is a marathon of focus. Anything that helps you stay engaged longer, return to studying more consistently, and take breaks that don't destroy your momentum - that's what actually moves the needle.

And sometimes, you just need to shoot some zombies with accounting questions. That works too.