Why a Regular Stock Simulator Doesn't Quite Fit a Class Period
A stock simulation game lets students buy and sell stocks with fake money instead of real cash, watching a virtual portfolio rise and fall exactly like it would in a real brokerage account. Moshimo StockSim's main market does exactly that — but it's a shared, live market that never stops moving, 24 hours a day.
That's great for casual play, but it makes a regular class period awkward: prices keep drifting between sessions, so there's no way for a teacher to say "look at this moment together" and have the whole room on the same page. School Mode was built to close that gap.
How School Mode Works
- ●A teacher creates a private classroom room and gets a join code
- ●Students join anonymously with just the code — no email, sign-up, or app install
- ●The teacher's 'time machine' panel advances the market day by day, syncing the same prices and news to every student's screen at once
- ●The teacher can view the full class roster and drill into any student's portfolio (cash and holdings) at any time
No. Students join with the code a teacher shares and stay fully anonymous — no email address, password, or app install required.
No. School Mode rooms use completely separate data from the main shared market and leaderboard, so classroom trades never touch a student's regular ranking or portfolio.
Which Classroom Tool Fits Your Class
Here's how four of the most popular options for classroom trading compare, from a purpose-built browser tool to full curriculum programs on real market data.
 Moshimo StockSimRecommended! | The Stock Market Game | HowTheMarketWorks | MarketWatch Virtual Stock Exchange | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tickers & price action | 200+ fictional companies across Japan and the US, with prices driven by an original news-linked storyline | Real stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, and ESG investments, using real market data | Real, live-market stocks and ETFs with real-time price data | Real, live stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds with real-time market data |
| Classroom setup | Free School Mode: a teacher creates a private room and code in under a minute, no district registration | Requires a registered teacher or school account, built around a semester-long curriculum | Teacher dashboards with trade-note requirements and progress reporting | Create or join a custom trading game in minutes |
| Price | Free (no in-app purchases) | Free, run through a registered classroom session | Free (ad-supported); ad-free plan available for schools | Free |
| Best for | A teacher who wants the whole class trading together, in sync, this week — no district sign-up required | Students in a class running an official multi-week competition | Teachers who want detailed classroom management tools and real stock data | Anyone who wants to run their own custom contest with real stocks, fast |
Information current as of September 2026 — please check each program's official site for the latest details and eligibility requirements. The Stock Market Game, HowTheMarketWorks, and MarketWatch Virtual Stock Exchange are independent, unaffiliated programs mentioned here for comparison.
- ●Teaching a formal personal finance or economics unit with lesson plans and assessments? The Stock Market Game is purpose-built for this, with resources for grades 4-12.
- ●Want real stock data and teacher oversight (trade notes, progress reports) without a semester-long commitment? HowTheMarketWorks offers classroom tools plus public contests.
- ●Want to start today, with the whole class moving through the market together and zero district paperwork? School Mode is built for exactly this.
What Makes Moshimo StockSim Different
Outside of School Mode, Moshimo StockSim is a stock trading simulation where every player shares the same virtual market — other players' trades and dynamically generated news move prices, giving students the tension of a real trading floor rather than a solo, static exercise.
- ●Over 200 fictional companies listed across Japan and the US
- ●A 'story arc' system that ties news events to price movement
- ●Sectors spanning AI/semiconductors, finance, EVs, food & retail
It's a game, not a real brokerage — no real money is ever involved, for teachers or students. It's free to use with no in-app purchases.
Often, yes. There's no risk of a younger student confusing a practice trade with a real brokerage account, and news-driven storylines can make price moves easier to follow than raw real-world market data.
Why Practicing in a Game Helps
Zero risk to experiment with
The biggest benefit is zero risk. Since no real money is on the line, mistakes cost nothing financially. Buying at the wrong time, panic-selling on a dip — every misstep becomes a lesson a student can carry forward instead of a real loss.
Realistic price action
Well-made simulations also model price movement realistically, reacting to news, earnings, and overall market mood. That intuition for how a stock responds to a headline is hard to get from a textbook alone.
Terminology that sticks
Terms like PER, PBR, market orders, and limit orders also stick better when students encounter them while actually using the app, rather than memorizing a glossary in isolation.
Start a Free Classroom in Minutes
School Mode is completely free, with no district approval or advance registration required. As soon as a teacher creates a room, a join code is ready and the class can start.
- ●1. Teacher: create a room, pick a class name and which tickers to trade, and get a join code
- ●2. Students: join with the code — no account, email, or app install
- ●3. Teacher: open the 'time machine' panel and start advancing the market together
A teacher creates a private classroom room and controls how the market moves for the whole class. Students join instantly with a code, and everything stays separate from the main leaderboard and rankings.
Yes, School Mode and every other part of Moshimo StockSim are completely free, with no in-app purchases.
It's designed around a single class (roughly 30 students). Larger rooms can slow down how quickly stock lists and rankings load, so it helps to scale the number of tickers to your class size.
