Roll the die, move around 16 squares and trade four made-up companies against three computer players. Everyone starts with $1,000. After 12 rounds, the highest net worth wins.
Everyone starts on Payday with $1,000. On your turn, roll the die and move clockwise around the board. What happens next depends on the square you land on:
After all four players move, the market rolls: each company moves up or down by a die roll, and the more volatile companies move more.
When a company reaches $100 a share, it splits 2-for-1: every share you own becomes two shares at half the price, so your stake is worth the same. That follows how the SEC describes a stock split, an increase in the number of shares without a change in shareholders' equity. If a company falls to $8 or less, it goes bust in this game: all its shares are wiped out and it relists at $20. Both events are rare. In 20,000 simulated games, about 1 in 20 had a split and about 1 in 30 had a bust, but a bust is the one event that can erase a stake completely, which is why putting everything into one company is risky.
Watching them is part of the lesson. Chasing moves can work while prices trend and hurt right after a crash, while patient buyers often do better when prices bounce. In our test games Dividend Di wins most often of the three, because dividend days pay out again and again. Try each style yourself and see which one works for you.
A board game slows the market down. Every price change has a cause you can see: a market roll, a news card, a bull run or a crash. With four players moving 12 times each, a game almost always includes several news cards and at least one bull run or crash, so you watch prices rise, fall and recover in one sitting.
Cash earns nothing on this board, so money that sits idle falls behind. In our 20,000 test games, a player who never bought a share ended with about $1,200 on average, almost all of it from paydays, while a player who kept buying the companies they landed on averaged about $1,300 and won about a third of the time. Buying different companies as you go also limits the damage from one bad news card. Dividends add up over 12 rounds, especially with Chef Box Foods. In real markets, a dividend is a portion of a company's profit paid to shareholders, and in the game it arrives every time someone lands on Dividend day. Only net worth counts at the end: your cash plus the value of your shares.
Learn more in what are dividends and what is a stock split. If you enjoy the compete-and-win feel, try the fantasy stock market game next.
Educational game, not financial advice. The companies are made up, the prices are simulated and all money in the game is play money.
About 5 to 10 minutes. There are 12 rounds, and the computer players move on their own, so you only wait a moment between your turns.
This version is you against three computer players. Friends can each play on their own device and compare their final net worth, which works well as a classroom challenge.
No. Sunbeam Solar, Bytewave Games, Chef Box Foods and Rocket Rides are made up, and their prices are simulated with dice rolls and news cards.
The game keeps your best net worth and your number of wins in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server and there is no account.