The 5 Best Stock Market Games to Play

Investing in the stock market is a serious business. When hard-earned money and important long-term financial goals are on the line, people can’t afford to treat their finances as a game. That’s not to say that investing can’t be fun — it certainly can be — only that real investing should be approached with the seriousness it deserves.

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Still, as people watch the stock market go up and down, and see fortunes being made and lost, it’s only natural to be drawn to the excitement, risk and intense competition of high finance. That’s why, with the increasing popularity of the financial media, new investments like cryptocurrency and the widespread adoption of trading and investing apps, there has been a surge in interest in stock market games.

There are several reasons for the increasing popularity of stock market games. Students and new investors are eager to learn the basics of stock market investing in an enjoyable, no-risk environment. More experienced investors enjoy sharpening their trading skills and competing with their peers. In either case, stock market games can be highly educational and great fun.

Whether you’re interested in hosting an entertaining game night with family, experimenting with long-term investment strategies, trying to outperform famous stock market gurus or just trying to beat the market, there are many excellent ways to turn stock market investing into educational and edifying play. This list of five stock market games includes some of the best stock market games available:

— The Stock Market Game by SIFMA Foundation

— Virtual Stock Exchange by MarketWatch

— Wall Street Survivor

— Monopoly: Stock Exchange

— Market Maker

The Stock Market Game by SIFMA Foundation

The Stock Market Game, called SMG for short, is an educational stock market simulation platform designed to mirror actual investing without the corresponding financial risk, a practice known as paper trading. Players — usually students under the instruction of a teacher or advisor — are allocated $100,000 in virtual money and are tasked with constructing a profitable portfolio. Holdings can include stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds.

The platform can accommodate competitive and non-competitive situations. In other words, game hosts can offer prizes if they like, or they can keep the game purely educational.

SMG has gained national recognition and has enjoyed excellent reviews. The game is highly accessible because no prior investing knowledge or experience is required to play. Not even the teachers and leaders who host the game need to be finance experts.

The game is designed for young people in middle school through high school, but college students have also benefited. SMG teaches current events, domestic and global economics, investing, and aspects of personal finance.

Several studies have verified the value of SMG. The game has been shown to boost financial literacy and, over the long run, enhance academic performance in business, math and economics.

Virtual Stock Exchange by MarketWatch

Virtual Stock Exchange is a highly intuitive, user-friendly stock market simulator for anyone interested in equity investing, virtual trading, experimenting with new strategies or enjoying the thrill of trading without the risk of loss.

The game’s emphasis is on learning — from both mistakes and successes — about the markets through real-time market simulation. The platform offers both individual and competitive play. Players can join existing live games or create their own game groups by inviting friends, family, classmates or anyone they please.

There is a strong social aspect to Virtual Stock Exchange. Users are encouraged to post on discussion boards and comment on the market throughout the trading day.

To enjoy and learn from Virtual Stock Exchange, you’ll need to register at MarketWatch.com. Don’t worry, there’s no obligation to sign up for one of their paid subscriptions. The game is available online or with mobile apps for both Android and iOS.

[How to Start Investing and Saving for Retirement With Little Money]

Wall Street Survivor

Wall Street Survivor was designed to take the mystery out of investing by turning it into a low-risk game. Experienced investors may find Wall Street Survivor a little too elementary, but it’s perfect for young people over 16, beginner investors and adults with moderate investing experience.

Unlike Virtual Stock Exchange, Wall Street Survivor does not have a mobile app. The website is, however, optimized for use on tablets and smartphones. Anyone can sign up, no specialized knowledge or education is required. You need an account to play, but registration is free and relatively nonintrusive.

Users are given virtual money to invest in real stocks in real time. There are long- and short-term leagues where players can compete against friends or the global community. Sponsored contests offer real prizes that can include cash, gift cards, Market Survivor swag or subscriptions to popular research sites like Zacks or The Motley Fool.

Monopoly: Stock Exchange

It’s only fitting that the world’s most popular capitalism-themed board game — Monopoly — has given rise to a popular variant based on the stock market. Like the iconic original, Monopoly: Stock Exchange is a player-friendly, easy-to-learn board game. But, unlike the classic, this version incorporates stock market components rather than real estate components. In the stock market version, the Free Parking space becomes the Stock Exchange. Players buy shares when they land on the exchange or when cards they pick up direct them. Players who acquire the majority of a company’s shares can become CEO and earn additional money.

Players buy stocks instead of properties and collect dividends instead of rent. Otherwise, the stock exchange version plays just like the traditional version. It offers all the cutthroat competition, the painful setbacks, the thrills of making big scores and the gratification of winning.

To win Monopoly: Stock Exchange, a player must drive all the other players into bankruptcy. Thankfully, that’s not how the real stock market works.

Monopoly: Stock Exchange is not continuously produced by Hasbro Inc. (ticker: HAS), the owner of the Monopoly brand. The stock market version is periodically released as a historical variant or a special edition. If you see it on store shelves, grab a copy. Otherwise, you can pick up new and used game sets in thrift shops or on eBay Inc. (EBAY).

Market Maker

Market Maker is a fast-paced, poker-inspired card game based on real-world stock market situations.

Up to four players — seven if two decks are used — can enjoy a friendly game of buying low and selling high as cards they play move stock prices up and down. There are news headline cards that simulate events that quickly change the value of a portfolio. The game features stock market rallies, corrections, bull markets, bear markets, stock splits and even the dreaded margin call, which, just like in real investing, can drain your account fast.

The Market Maker deck contains two kinds of cards: stock cards that represent shares with a value that fluctuates during the game, and event cards that simulate economic and world news events. As you might guess, there are good news cards that help players who hold the right stocks and bad news cards that can hurt the value of a player’s hand.

The object of the game is, of course, to end up with the most money. You can negotiate with other players for shares you want to own, and you can bluff them into thinking you’re richer than you actually are. At the end of the game, players calculate profits and losses, and the “investor” with the highest net worth is the winner.

It’s hard to find Market Maker in brick-and-mortar toy stores, but it’s usually available on Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and worth searching around for.

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The 5 Best Stock Market Games to Play originally appeared on usnews.com

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