What is PaperTradle?
PaperTradle is a free daily day-trading game. Every market day at 9:30am Eastern, everyone gets the same five real stock, fund, and crypto charts. You see each chart from 9:30am to noon, then bet fake money on where it closes at 4:00pm, with leverage up to 100x. Your balance carries over from day to day, and if it drops below zero, you're bankrupt.
It works like a daily puzzle game such as Wordle: same puzzle for everyone, a new one every day, and a spoiler-free score to send to your group chat. The puzzle just happens to be the stock market.
How to play
- Every market day at 9:30am Eastern, five new charts unlock. They get harder as you go: two easy, one medium, one hard, and one wild card like a crypto crash or a meme stock.
- Each chart shows the morning, from the 9:30 open to noon, with the previous day faded behind it. The company, the date, and the real prices are hidden. The chart shows percent change instead.
- Call it: Up or Down for the 4:00pm close.
- Pick how much of your balance to bet (10%, 25%, 50%, or all in) and your leverage (1x, 5x, 10x, 25x, 50x, or 100x). At 10x, a 1% move pays or costs 10% of your bet.
- Optionally set a stop-loss or take-profit by dragging lines on the chart. Your trade closes the moment the price touches one.
- Stuck? Buy a clue with part of your balance: the sector, the year, how the whole market was doing that morning, or that morning's news headline.
- Place the trade and watch the afternoon play out in fast-forward. Then the slip reveals the company, the date, and what happened.
Money, debt, and bankruptcy
Everyone starts with $10,000 in fake money. Whatever you have at the end of the day carries into tomorrow, so a great day keeps paying off. Leverage cuts both ways, though. At 100x, a 1% move against you wipes out your entire bet, and a bigger move can put you deep into debt. Go to zero or below and you're bankrupt: your day ends, you restart at $10,000 the next trading day, and the bankruptcy stays on your record for good.
Leaderboards and firms
There are leaderboards for the richest players, the best traders by win rate, the best and worst single trades, the most bankruptcies, and the deepest debt. Each one can be filtered by today, this week, this month, this quarter, year to date, the last twelve months, or all time, and sorted by dollars or percent. Firms are private leaderboards for a group chat, club, or office.
Frequently asked questions
Is PaperTradle free?
Yes. PaperTradle is free to play. There's nothing to buy and no ads right now.
Is it real money?
No. Everything is fake money. You can't deposit, win, or cash out anything, and balances have no cash value.
Do I need an account?
No. Tap "Play now, no sign-up" and you're playing as a guest. If you want the same balance on your phone and your laptop, save your account with an email code or Google.
When do new charts come out?
Every market day at 9:30am Eastern, when the real stock market opens. There are no new charts on weekends or stock market holidays. You can finish a day's charts any time before the next opening bell.
Are the charts real?
Yes. Every chart is a real minute-by-minute trading day from the past, from stocks, index funds, commodity funds, and crypto, going back to 2016. The ticker, the date, and the real prices are hidden until you trade.
What happens if I go bankrupt?
If your balance hits zero or goes below it, you're bankrupt. Your day ends, you restart at $10,000 the next trading day, and the bankruptcy stays on your record. There's a leaderboard for the most bankruptcies and one for the deepest debt.
How is PaperTradle different from Wordle?
Like Wordle, everyone gets the same puzzle each day and shares a spoiler-free result with friends. Instead of guessing a word, you read real stock charts and bet fake money on where they close, with leverage, stop-losses, and a balance that carries over from day to day.
How is it different from other stock guessing games?
Most stock games show daily charts or ask you to guess the ticker. PaperTradle uses intraday charts on a real brokerage-style screen, lets you size your bet and use up to 100x leverage, carries your balance from day to day, and tracks bankruptcies.
Can I play on my phone?
Yes. PaperTradle runs in any web browser. On an iPhone, you can add it to your home screen from Safari's Share menu so it opens like an app.
What are firms?
A firm is a private leaderboard for a group chat, club, or office. Anyone can start one and share an invite link. Everyone keeps their own balance. A firm is only a scoreboard.
Is PaperTradle investment advice?
No. PaperTradle is a game. Nothing on it is financial or investment advice, and how you do in the game says nothing about how real trades would go.