Learn · How the city works
What is MockTradeCity?
A fictional stock market whose prices come from its own participants, with no real money involved.
Last updated: 2026-09-20
A city with its own currency
MockTradeCity is a place to explore how a market works by taking part in one. Its companies, shares, institutions and news are fictional. Every purchase, sale and account balance uses City Coin (CC), the city's own currency. There is no deposit screen for real money, no withdrawal and no conversion from CC into cash or real assets. An account here is a game account, not a brokerage account.
After registering, you can claim starting CC on your Account page. Those coins let you place orders, hold shares and experience changes in account equity. Losing CC does not lose real funds; a large simulated gain cannot be cashed out either. The point is to make market mechanics observable. A result in this city measures what happened under these particular rules, with these fictional participants, during that period.
Your order joins the market
The city does not simply copy an outside stock chart and place your trades over it. Prices develop inside its own Order book. Your orders meet orders from other players, virtual investors and market makers. When two eligible orders match, the resulting execution can become the latest traded price. A new quote alone cannot replace that price, even if it is far away from the previous trade.
That distinction is visible in a small example. Suppose the best Ask is 20 CC for 100 shares. An eligible incoming purchase can take those shares; a larger purchase may reach another price level if its limit allows it. The executions become part of the city's market history. A Limit order that remains below every eligible Ask simply waits. Entering an order and printing a trade are separate events.
Companies and other participants
The company roster spans eleven sectors, including Tech Hardware, Healthcare, Energy and Consumer. Pear Technologies (APLX), for example, is a fictional business with its own profile and news. Company names are part of the city's setting, not claims about real listed businesses. Listings and delistings can change the roster, so the Market page is the place to find the current set rather than treating an article's count as permanent.
Other participants have different jobs. Some virtual investors respond to valuation, others to trends, events or portfolio targets. Market makers place bids and asks while managing inventory and risk. Their resources are finite: they do not have an invisible supply of CC or shares that guarantees every order a fill. They use the same matching system as players, and public institution profiles make parts of their activity easier to follow.
A clock that keeps running
Trading is organized around Eastern Time, with Overnight, Pre-market, Regular and After-hours sessions. The four periods cover the day, including weekends. That schedule belongs to MockTradeCity; it is not a statement about when a real exchange opens. The session matters because participants do not all trade at the same pace throughout the day. Available depth and the gap between the best Bid and Ask can change.
Being open does not mean every type of order works at every moment. Market orders execute during the Regular session, while eligible Limit orders can use broader session settings. A trading halt can interrupt matching for a particular company. The order ticket explains whether an order can act now or must wait for its selected session. These details are part of the simulation, just as much as the chart is.
Where to start in the city
The Market page provides the broad view: companies, price moves and current city news. Opening a company brings together its quote, chart, Order book and recent trades. Comparing the book with the trade list shows the difference between intentions and completed transactions. The company profile adds background on the fictional business, while Watchlist keeps selected symbols together without creating a position or placing any orders on your behalf.
Account is where those market events connect to your own CC, Positions, P&L and order history. Daily Wrap describes a completed trading day, and Season shows the current competition under its published scoring rules. Lifestyle turns CC into fictional possessions for your city profile. Each area uses a different view of the same city. The Guide explains the first steps, and Market rules supplies the details when a number or restriction needs checking.