Learning to invest in the stock market is not an easy task. In fact, being a trader requires prior training and having skills that allow you to manage stress well and maintain constant attention. If not, the horizon of the losses can make your expectations end up not responding to reality.
However, in essence, if the world of investments catches your eye and you want to dedicate yourself to it, you have to be very clear about a series of concepts and avoid taking unnecessary risks. The best way to teach yourself risk-management is through gaming and gamification as a whole.
Thankfully, there are a lot of stock games that may teach you gradually on how to expand your knowledge in this field but none of them are created equal. That’s why we have picked the best titles that will help you look at investments from different angles.
What Gaming Can Teach You About Investments?
The answer is simple, because it is estimated that the best way to learn is by hands-on experience (85% or higher), instead of just reading about something. More so, it is a common belief that we learn much better when using different gamification techniques to make complex and dull information more accessible and doable. That explains why many avid blackjack players try to hone their skills through engaging in sessions for free (demo mode) as soon as possible before moving to Blackjack online for real money options.
Ultimately, it is possible to turn even the most difficult topics into something easy to digest when making a learning process something that involves interactivity and dynamics. That’s the reason why I started looking for several platforms with programs or games to learn how to invest in stocks
The power of practice to learn is indisputable. When learning is the result of putting your money into the stock market, being a beginner can cost you too much, so it's better to learn by practicing.
Top Stock Games to Learn How to Invest
Here, you will find some stock games to learn how to invest just by playing.
Wall Street Survivor
This one allows that, with just one click, from your mobile phone you can acquire up to $100,000 in virtual cash through different options. An avatar of the 'gurus' of the actions, Mark Brookshire, will help you make the final decision and teach some insight that may be applied in real-life scenarios, using tools such as indicators of survival, feeling, fundamental indices, or technical analysis, among others.
As an additional help to choose the actions, the page has libraries for beginners, for people with intermediate level and for advanced levels. In addition, those who need a little help to get started, can adapt one of the portfolios created by recognized stockbrokers.
MarketWatch Fantasy Earnings
This game runs as a four-week bag contest, where the winner of each week takes a chance to win an iPad. Even though there are some pro players involved, this title is especially good for rookies, due to the few actions there are to choose from each week.
Every Monday all participants must have selected the actions with which they are going to play. The shares you buy on Monday will be sold automatically at the close of Friday. There is a restriction and that is that all players can only use roughly 20 instruments that are selected for each game.
The selected organizations are those that project profits within the week. Choosing them is very easy, the player must drag the company logo to their trading folder and choose if they are going to buy the stock or take a long position (long/short investment).
Trading Game Mobile
This one is, as its name suggests, a real-time game where you can trade Forex, stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies, etc. On top of that, it is the funniest on the list since it has a lot of funny illustrations and graphics. You can use it for free and without any payment or advertising.
The game will teach you all the basic concepts with secrets, tips and real examples. You will be playing with virtual money little by little to reach an average investment level, ready to launch with real money.
How the Market Works
This game is made by investors for investors who want to gain knowledge with a type of portfolio different from that of stocks or indices like in prior offerings. Hence, the player will be able to invest in currencies, in "penny stocks" that are shares that are traded below $1 and that belong to organizations with low capitalization and not very good reputation. And if that’s not enough, with mutual funds and short sales for greater challenge.
Novices can run their game in demo/fun mode, without worrying about protocols such as opening and closing times, number of negotiations per day, the expiration of the order or the action. As you gain more experience, you can enter the "real mode" and increase the complexity of the title.
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, new technologies and gamification techniques have made trading one of the most popular and even exciting financial activities. This is a huge opportunity, but it also causes people who are unprepared to think twice before moving in this direction. Hopefully, this compilation of games could be a great starting point for you to begin to invest in stocks. But don't forget, you will need rigorous training and a constant effort to achieve the success you are looking for.