Games / IPO Hype
🚀 IPO Hype
Float through a frothy market of new listings one week at a time. Subscribe to IPOs, ride the mania, and try to sell into strength before the crash — all while a boring index fund quietly compounds in the background. Can you tell the next big thing from the next big bust?
IPO Hype
You've got $10,000 and a hot market of new listings. Subscribe to IPOs, ride the hype, and try to sell before the crash. Most listings are overhyped junk and one might be the next big thing — can you tell them apart and beat a boring index fund?
It'll go on your scorecard.
The finance behind the fun
IPO Hype is a simulation, but every figure uses the same exact arithmetic that powers our calculators, so the numbers behave the way real markets would.
- Valuation vs. price: a share price is fair value times hype, and hype fades. Estimating what a company is actually worth is the whole game — our DCF valuation calculator does it for real.
- Mean reversion & bubbles: overhyped prices revert toward value, so buying the peak leaves you holding the bag. Measure any move with our ROI calculator.
- Beating the market: a passive index compounds quietly and is hard to beat. See what steady compounding does over years with our compound interest calculator.
- Costs & taxes: every trade pays a fee, and real gains are taxed. See the bite with our capital gains tax calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How do you win IPO Hype?
There's no fixed finish beyond the trading run — the goal is to grow your net worth and, above all, beat the boring index fund you're racing against. Each week you can subscribe to new IPOs, buy or sell stocks already trading, and decide when to take profits. You can cash out early to lock in your score. Beating the index is the real prize, because most punting underperforms it.
Why is the loudest, most-hyped IPO usually a bad buy?
Because in this market — as in the real one — hype is anti-correlated with value. The flashiest listings get the biggest run-ups and the hardest crashes, while genuinely good companies often list quietly. A stock's price is its fair value multiplied by hype, and hype always fades. Read the fundamentals rating and the analysts' fair-value band, not the buzz.
What are lock-ups and why do they matter?
When you're allocated shares in an IPO, they're locked for a few weeks — you can't sell them. That's modelled on the real lock-up periods that stop insiders dumping into the opening pop. The catch is that the pop often happens during your lock-up, so by the time you're free to sell, the hype may already have faded and the price reverted. Buying on the open market has no lock-up, but you're paying the hyped-up price.
What does 'oversubscribed' mean when I subscribe?
Hot IPOs attract more demand than there are shares, so your order gets scaled back — you're allocated only a fraction of what you asked for and the rest is refunded. The hotter the deal, the smaller your slice. It feels frustrating, but it's often a blessing: the most oversubscribed deals are frequently the most overhyped.
Why is it so hard to beat the index fund?
The index just quietly tracks the whole market at no effort, while every trade you make pays a fee and every hyped stock you chase can revert below what you paid. A market-wide correction drags even good companies down, too. Beating a passive index consistently is genuinely hard — that's the real lesson, and why most investors are better off owning the index.
Is my progress saved?
Yes. The game saves to your browser automatically, so you can close the tab and pick up where you left off on the same device. Starting a new game clears the old save.