A hands-on way to learn how investment risk really works. Each round you divide your wealth between a safe and a risky asset, the market turns, and you see how your choices stack up against every other strategy in the room. For classrooms, client workshops, and anyone curious about the tradeoff between playing it safe and reaching for more.
Students join without accounts · Works on any phone · Free while in pilot
In each round a student holds a balance, decides how much of it to put at risk, and the market outcome is drawn from the odds the instructor has set.
- game types
- 3
- rounds by default
- 25
- players per session
- 400
- minutes a session
- 15
Setting up and running a session.
Create the session.
Select the game, the number of rounds, and the market probabilities. A join code and a QR code are issued in about thirty seconds.
Students join from their phones.
They scan or enter the code. Installation, accounts, and email addresses are all unnecessary.
Run the rounds.
Students allocate, you lock submissions, the market resolves on the projector, and the standings update. This repeats for as many rounds as you set.
When the session ends, the full record exports as CSV, including each round, each allocation, and the counterfactual results.
The three game types.
All three share the same lobby, standings and projector view. What changes is the asset students are allocating between.
- Game 1 of 3
Basic
A single risky asset over twenty-five rounds
- A good or bad market each round
- Moderate or extreme payoffs
- Odds adjustable mid-session
- Game 2 of 3
Portfolio
Several risky assets and a correlation parameter
- Multiple assets, each with its own market
- Correlation ρ between them
- Diversification becomes observable
- Game 3 of 3
Manager
Active versus passive over a career
- Continuous returns, one year per round
- Fees compound against the investor
- Alpha held secret until the session ends
On the market-neutral preset, the best available strategy still ends behind its own fee structure, which is the point the game is built to demonstrate.
What is included.
Present mode
A full-screen projector view that mirrors the session while you control it from your laptop.
Real-time updates
Submissions, locks, and reveals reach every device at the same moment.
Adjustable market odds
The probability of a good market can be changed between rounds while a session is running.
Private allocations
Allocations stay private until lock, and the market outcome is recorded only at reveal.
CSV export
The complete session, including counterfactuals, for a follow-up assignment.
Large rosters
Built for rosters above one hundred, with bounded lists so the controls stay on screen.
What each screen shows.
The projector view, mirrored as the session runs.
Game code
7QK2
24 players in
Round 4
Market up!
Risky bets paid off
The control panel, on your laptop only.
Lock & reveal
21 / 24submitted
Standings
- 1Priya$164.20
- 2Diversified bot$151.80
- 3Marcus$149.05
Who this is for.
Introductory finance and economics.
Students observe risk, return and variance as measured results from their own decisions.
Personal finance and first-year seminars.
The rules fit on a single screen and assume no prior coursework.
Any course on decisions under uncertainty.
The mechanism applies equally in business, statistics and psychology courses.
Questions from instructors.
Do students need an account?
They do not. They open a link or scan a QR code, enter a name, and play. Only a display name is collected.
What device do they need?
Any phone or laptop with a browser.
How long does a session take?
Twenty-five rounds takes about fifteen to twenty minutes. Both the round count and the pace are set by you.
Can I change the market mid-game?
Yes. The odds and the payoff mode are host controls during the session.
Can students see each other's bets?
Allocations are hidden until lock, and a student can never see another student's allocation at any point. The standings can also be hidden.
Trying it in your course.
The game is free to use during the pilot. If you run a session, I would be glad to hear how it went and what was missing.