Mr. Bigshot

http://www.mrbigshot.com (click on the demo tab)

This is a simple investment game using real stock performances on the history of New York Stock Exchange. There are four rounds in the game, with each round set in a different year, ranging from 1977 to 1990. Given $100,000 to start with, you are to gather more wealth than the other computer players to be "Mr Bigshot". You will then have to pick one of the two stocks, "Big" or "Shot", and decide how much you want to invest in. Some simple description, such as construction firm or precision instrument producer, and figures of the stocks will be given. You will be given three chances to revise your portfolio each round/year, taking into account the performance of the stock in the quarter and recalling what happened in that year. For instance, prices of oil may increase due to a war in the last quarter so you better sell your stock by then if your company is sensitive to changes in oil prices. Also, when the Black Monday's coming up, do take precautions not to invest too much or to sell off your stock before that quarter. Some of the actions you can take after each quarter include holding on to the stock, switching to the other stock (you'll have to incur switching costs, of cos), and selling the stock. Dont worry about not being able to recall what happened in 1977, there will be short The company name of the stocks will only be revealed after the end of each round.

It's rather interesting and you can play the game for as many times as you want without getting bored too soon. They have quite a variety of companies and it is unlikely that you will get a repeated stock in the same period. Pity the game allows for only buying and selling of one stock at any one time; it would have been better if players are allowed to state the percentages of each stock to purchase, creating their own portfolio. Afterall, it's just a simple game hosted online using flash platform. It's rather noisy as well (the "host" of the game likes to chant funny phrases and the background music irritates me) so do remember to turn down your speaker if you are playing the game in the office or during a lesson. The game reminds me of the AA206 project hah. Now that exams are round the corner, it's a good game for a study break.

It takes some time to load, hanging most of the time. Closing the browser and clicking on the link all over again for about thrice should guarantee you a try on the game. So please be patient. Have fun!