(Caution: Highly addictive. You may also grow rather nervous as you await your main stock’s next quarterly earnings report!)

Learn by doing, in this simulation of the world economy and Wall Street, in which 2 to 10 players (human and computer) compete, trying to grow their $100,000 inheritances into an ample retirement fund by game’s end. Days and months pass by as a ‘live’ simulated stock ticker and a news headline ticker run constantly. Time stops when you halt the tickers or when important news announcements break in.

Everything happens in simulated financial markets and a world economy, all constantly changing. You can choose to trade any of 1000+ stocks and 15 funds (ETF’s), and can invest in government bonds, or in corporate bonds issued by some companies.

Once your net worth grows to $200,000, your broker will let you have a ‘margin account.’ At $300,000, you’re allowed to dabble in risky short selling of stocks; at $400,000, you will qualify to buy or sell options on any of the stocks in the simulation; at $500,000, you are considered to be sophisticated enough to speculate on highly leveraged (20-to-1) commodity futures on crude oil, gold, silver, wheat or corn, or Stock Index futures.

You can play at Level 1, where no taxes apply to your investment income or capital gains, or at higher levels in which you pay taxes. You can configure each game to play in U.S. dollars or one of 18 other currencies (Euro, Pound, etc.).

Many research tools are provided to help you analyze companies and the 70 industry groups in the simulation and learn how the economy and other factors such as commodity prices, tax rates and interest rates affect different industries (and the companies in them) and your investments.