I’m going to slip out of the metaverse for a minute and play a game. And in it, you’re in a deep dark hotel and you’re up to your neck in debt and by visiting this house of horror you can learn to manage credit better.

The developer? The US Treasury who launched a new online learning program aimed at teens called the Bad Credit Hotel.

The program walks users through the pillars of credit: debt management, credit history, credit cards, and credit score. The site gives you a budget calculator, ways to contact creditors and what to say to them, what a credit score means, and real cost calculators. The site launches into a black-and-white hotel that has a very noir feel to it, as if to reiterate the frightening, dark corners to which bad credit can lead.

Still, this reminds us of an e-mail my brother received from WaMu. The e-mail’s subject line was: “Start saving now!” Same day as the bank got folded into that other bank which, I think, is still around but who knows, maybe it was bought out by the creators of the Bad Credit Hotel.

Point being, timing is everything. The Bad Credit Hotel is a great way for teenagers – and adults as well – to get a grip on out-of-control credit card spending, and its learning interface is cinematically unique, with high production values and a clear learning tree. But the site forced us to ask: shouldn’t investment bankers and some government officials be required to take this course? Maybe then they could shave off a few million of the proposed multi-billion dollar bailout package.