LIFE has not been all fun and games for Anthony Radford. As a teenager, Mr Radford was living on the streets of Melbourne.

Most 18-year-olds in that situation would focus on surviving, but he began thinking about a way to prevent other young people ending up in his position.

Now 23, Mr Radford is back on his feet.

Yesterday his board game, Another Day, Another Dollar, was launched at Hawthorn Secondary College.

"It is based on a combination of personal experience, and also of dealing with other young people who were homeless," Mr Radford said.

"I came to the realisation that a lot of the reasons we were homeless were the same -- things like mobile phone debt, public transport fines . . ."

Mr Radford started developing the game four years ago, with the help of focus groups of young people who had been experiencing financial difficulty.

"Some were gamblers and were spending a lot of money," he said.

"Others had drug and alcohol problems.

"The majority were cigarette smokers so the cost of cigarettes had to be taken into account.

"And there were Centrelink breaches, TAFE and school fees, HECS debt and transport fines."

Mr Radford designed his board game around the lives of these young people.

On passing the "pay day" square the player receives $300, about the same as the fortnightly Centrelink independent living allowance at the time, and $150 is taken for food and bills.

Player profiles determine whether the player has bad financial habits, including alcohol and drug use.

"The game was intended to create an awareness of some different things," Mr Radford said.

"When I was homeless, it was a combination of making bad personal choices and of having a few bad habits of my own."

Mr Radford now runs his own internet hosting and IT consulting business.

He said he was extremely proud of the board game, which is being distributed to Victorian secondary schools and youth organisations.

"I am extremely proud of it, and I'm glad to see it's had such a big uptake and there's such a lot of positive interest in it," Mr Radford said.