Buy a call ▲ or a put ▼, pick your strike, and watch a simulated stock run to expiry. Beat the premium and you profit. Play money, no sign-up.
This options trading game turns the single most important idea in options — payoff at expiry — into one fast decision per round. You buy either a call (a bet the stock rises) or a put (a bet it falls), choose your strike price, and pay a premium. A simulated stock then runs forward to expiration, and your profit is the option's payoff minus what you paid.
The underlying price uses the same fair, seeded random-walk model that powers the rest of MarketGames, so no round is rigged. Your edge comes from reading the chart's direction and picking a strike that the stock can realistically clear.
Visualise the payoff: a long call's profit grows dollar-for-dollar once the stock climbs above strike + premium; a long put profits below strike − premium. Below those break-evens, the most you can lose is the premium you paid.
Notice the flat sections: an out-of-the-money option simply expires worthless and you lose only the premium. That capped, known downside is exactly why options are a defined-risk way to express a view — and why this drill rewards patience over reckless bets.
Remember: real options carry real, sometimes total, loss of premium and require a brokerage approval level. This is a free educational game, not financial advice — see the SEC's options basics at investor.gov.
New to the mechanics? Skim the trading glossary for strike, premium and expiry, then warm up your direction calls in the up/down prediction game before risking premium here.
A call profits when the stock rises above your strike; a put profits when the stock falls below it. In this game you buy one, pay a premium, and the simulated stock expires to settle your payoff.
No. The underlying price is a seeded random-walk simulation, the premium and payoff are play money, and your running P/L saves only in your browser. Nothing here is financial advice.
The premium is what you pay to own the option. To profit, the option's payoff at expiry must be larger than the premium you paid — exactly like real options.
Each round your payoff minus premium is added to a running bank. Your best bank and win rate are tracked across sessions so you can practice reading direction and strike selection.