I took an experimental economics class in college where the small lab fee was supposed to be paid out as prizes for doing well in the games we played during class. I never got a payout, but the class was pretty interesting regardless.

I did sort of "cheat" in one of the games, I recognized that the software market game was really a software monopoly game (this was circa 2000) and put the other providers out of business in the first round by paying people to be my customer.