Single-player trading simulator

TRADE THE
DOT-COM
BUBBLE

Real companies. New names. Historical prices.

Trade the companies behind the dot-com boom under fictional names and tickers, using their historical price data from February 2000 to June 2003. Start with $50,000. Keep your family afloat through the crash.

Wishlist on Steam → See the run

0:00 0:00 Vol

59Tradable Instruments

818Trading Days

86Study Lessons

5Career Paths

−78%Technology Composite Drawdown

QGRD 89.38 −1.20% VSPN 65.31 +0.86% EBSI 56.78 −0.42% LTVS 38.94 +2.10% HLWV 64.50 −3.04% PPRK 67.50 +1.18% MKAC 70.13 −2.81% PCGR 27.94 +4.75% LFAB 105.06 −1.62% STMY 47.13 +0.27% PFGE 86.81 −1.05% VLM 79.56 +0.38% TLEA 100.31 −2.04% BMRK 134.97 −0.90% ILDR 99.15 +0.12% SMCF 50.13 +0.34% CL 30.43 +0.92% GC 294.20 +0.41% EURUSD 0.9712 −0.18% USDJPY 110.04 +0.22% QGRD 89.38 −1.20% VSPN 65.31 +0.86% EBSI 56.78 −0.42% LTVS 38.94 +2.10% HLWV 64.50 −3.04% PPRK 67.50 +1.18% MKAC 70.13 −2.81% PCGR 27.94 +4.75% LFAB 105.06 −1.62% STMY 47.13 +0.27% PFGE 86.81 −1.05% VLM 79.56 +0.38% TLEA 100.31 −2.04% BMRK 134.97 −0.90% ILDR 99.15 +0.12% SMCF 50.13 +0.34% CL 30.43 +0.92% GC 294.20 +0.41% EURUSD 0.9712 −0.18% USDJPY 110.04 +0.22%

The setup

The names changed.
The crash didn’t.

Every stock corresponds to a real company. We’ve changed its name and ticker; its chart follows that company’s historical price data from February 28, 2000 to June 2, 2003.

01 / DATA

Real companies behind the stock charts.

Equities, ETFs, futures, forex & bonds.

12 tech stocks, 13 blue-chip stocks, 4 index funds, 10 commodity futures, 10 currency pairs, and 10 bond instruments. Each stock maps one-to-one to a real company’s historical candle data. How closely do prices follow history?

02 / STAKES

$50,000

Starting capital. Don't lose it.

Pay your family's bills, every month.

Rent, groceries, kids’ school, taxes — auto-debited on the last trading day of each month. Run out of cash and the run ends. The market doesn't care that you have a wife.

03 / TEST

818

Trading days. The dot-com crash.

Get out of 2003 with capital intact.

The Technology Composite peaks at 5,048 on March 10. Then it falls 78% over two and a half years. The broad-market index loses half its value. If you can survive this run profitably, you can survive any market.

Familiar faces

You might recognize a few.

The names are new. The businesses behind them were part of the dot-com era.

QGRD

QuantaGrid Software

Makes the operating system everyone uses. Sometimes communicates through a blue screen.

PPRK

ParcelPeak Retail

An online bookstore with an alarming lack of interest in remaining a bookstore.

EBSI

EmberSilicon

Makes the processor inside your PC. The sticker insists you remember.

Familiar businesses, fictional names, and their historical charts. Can you trade them through what happens next?

Explore the full roster

The household

Your wife. Your kids.
Your monthly burn.

On the last trading day of every month, the broker debits your living expenses before you place a single trade. Miss a payment and the run ends — not because you blew up, but because life kept moving while you were watching candles.

$4,820 / mo baseline · scales with career path & family size

Statement

HOUSEHOLD — MAR 2000

DEBIT

Mortgage · Brooklyn 2BR−$1,950.00

Groceries & household−$ 720.00

School tuition · 2 kids−$ 860.00

Health insurance−$ 410.00

Utilities · phone · cable−$ 240.00

Auto · gas · transit pass−$ 290.00

Federal & state withholding−$ 350.00

Net debit · 03/31/2000 −$4,820.00

Cash on hand after debit must be ≥ $0. Margin does not count.

The run

Three years. One historical chart. No restarts.

You start at 9:30am ET on Feb 28, 2000. You finish at 4:00pm ET on Jun 2, 2003 — or you go bust before then. There is no fast-forward through the bad parts.

Start

Feb 28, 2000

End

Jun 2, 2003

Trading days

818

Broad Market peak → trough

−49%

Technology Composite peak → trough

−78%

Career paths

Pick a desk. Inherit a roster.

Each mentor opens a different career. Their starting watchlist determines what you can trade and what you have to learn. You can switch later — but the first hundred days will be on their book.

Blue-Chip Equities

Margaret Wells

MRDI, NRCH, EVWH, CNRS, HHP. Slow money. Boring is the point.

Tech Aggressive

Alex Turing

QGRD, VSPN, EBSI, PCGR, TLEA. The desk most likely to blow up.

Index & Macro

David Chen

BMRK, ILDR, TLEA, SMCF. Trade the whole market, not the names.

Commodities & Futures

Ray Nakamura

CL, GC, SI, HG, NG. Leverage cuts both ways.

Forex & Bonds

Sofia Reyes

EURUSD, USDJPY, US10Y. Macro, slowly. Then all at once.

Study hall

Learn it here. Use it there.

Every concept the game tests you on is taught in the in-game Study Hall first. Glossary entries, pattern libraries, indicator math, and the psychology of losing money on purpose.

86 lessons across nine disciplines.

Chart Reading /05

Candlestick anatomy
Trends & channels
Support & resistance
Timeframes
Volume

Patterns /15

Doji, Hammer, Hanging Man
Engulfing (bull & bear)
Morning & Evening Star
Three Soldiers, Shooting Star
Head & Shoulders, Cup & Handle
Triangles, Wedges, Flags
Double Top / Bottom

Indicators /11

Moving Averages
RSI, MACD, Stochastic
Bollinger Bands, ATR
ADX, CCI, Williams %R
OBV (volume)

Trading Mechanics /14

Long & short
Order types
Bid & ask
Stop-loss / take-profit
Position sizing

Strategies /10

Trend & mean-reversion
Day, swing & pattern trading
News, options, arbitrage
Forex & futures

Psychology /12

Fear, Greed, FOMO
Revenge trading
Loss aversion, Anchoring
Confirmation bias, Overconfidence
Herd behavior, Discipline
Journaling

History /04

The Crash of 1929
The Dot-Com Bubble
Key events & recovery

Elliott Wave /10

5-3 structure, fractals
Corrective waves, Fibonacci
Personality & rules
Limitations & practice

Tools /05

Trendlines
Horizontals
Measurement
Position markers

The roster

Every instrument. Every class.

59 instruments across stocks, funds, commodities, currencies, and bonds. Every stock represents a real company under a fictional name and ticker, with that company’s historical candle data behind its chart.

QGRDQuantaGrid Softwaretech

VSPNVectorSpan Networkstech

EBSIEmberSilicontech

LTVSLatticeVault Systemstech

PFGEPulseForge Electronicstech

HLWVHelioWave Communicationstech

MKACMarketArc Commercetech

PPRKParcelPeak Retailtech

LFABLithicFab Equipmenttech

STMYStrataMemorytech

PCGRPrismCore Graphicstech

VLMVistaLine Mediatech

MRDIMeridian Industrialblue

NRCHNorthReach Energyblue

MFUMainframe Unionblue

EVWHEverwell Healthblue

CNRSCornerstone Storesblue

PVPPivotal Pharmablue

CDLNCedarline Therapeuticsblue

HHPHearth & Home Productsblue

RDBRedline Beveragesblue

CSDECascade Computingblue

PHCPark & Howe Capitalblue

UCFUnion City Financialblue

HBSHHarborShield Insuranceblue

BMRKBroad Market Fundfund

ILDRIndustrial Leaders Fundfund

TLEATechnology Leaders Fundfund

SMCFSmall Companies Fundfund

CLCrude Oilfut

GCGoldfut

SISilverfut

HGCopperfut

NGNatural Gasfut

ZCCornfut

ZWWheatfut

ZSSoybeansfut

KCCoffeefut

CTCottonfut

EURUSDEUR / USDfx

GBPUSDGBP / USDfx

USDJPYUSD / JPYfx

USDCHFUSD / CHFfx

AUDUSDAUD / USDfx

USDCADUSD / CADfx

NZDUSDNZD / USDfx

EURGBPEUR / GBPfx

EURJPYEUR / JPYfx

GBPJPYGBP / JPYfx

US10YUS 10-Yearbond

US30YUS 30-Yearbond

US5YUS 5-Yearbond

US2YUS 2-Yearbond

DE10YGerman 10-Yearbond

UK10YUK 10-Yearbond

JP10YJapan 10-Yearbond

TYLD20+ Year Treasury Fundbond

UABDUS Aggregate Bond Fundbond

IGBDIG Corporate Bond Fundbond

The details

Real history.
Your decisions.

A few things to know before your first trade.

Reviewing or streaming? Open the press kit.

Are these real companies?

Yes. Every stock corresponds to a real company from the dot-com era. The game uses fictional company names and tickers, while its stock charts follow the corresponding companies’ historical price data.

How closely do prices follow history?

Each stock maps one-to-one to its real counterpart’s historical candle data, preserving the recorded opening, highest, lowest, and closing prices. Movement within each candle is simulated. This is a replay of historical candles, rather than every individual market tick.

What has been fictionalized?

Company names, tickers, and company-specific news are fictionalized. The stock charts use historical price data. Your trades and their effect on your portfolio are part of the simulation.

Which period can I trade?

Your run starts on February 28, 2000 and ends on June 2, 2003, covering the final days of the dot-com boom, the crash, and the beginning of the recovery.

The pitch

If you can survive the dot-com crash in here, you have a fighting chance out there.

— THE CRASH · DESIGN THESIS

Coming 2026

DAY ONE.
YOUR MONEY.

Wishlist on Steam and follow the page for release updates. No spam, no upsells — just the launch when it is ready.

Wishlist on Steam → Open Steam page

The names changed.The crash didn’t.