They’re terrified of the mRNA vaccine. Because they’re incurious about science, they think it’s brand new, like invented just for this virus. Try telling them that the delivery mechanism has been around for awhile and scientists have been working on this vaccine since SARS and all they do is cover their ears and hum louder.
It has a barter system, but you don’t need to use it if you don’t want to. Nearly everything you need in the game can be harvested or made.
Their other game, Grow: Song of the Evertree, is pretty fun too. It’s partly a city builder, partly exploring new worlds that you create. It’s been a while since I played it, so I remember some sort of currency, but I don’t really remember having to work that hard for it. Mostly, I just focused on creating worlds with crazy elements.