Free license for secondary schools
No stripped-down version, no catch: the education version is the full game. Higher education institutions purchase a license: see the licenses.
✓A teaching approach the OECD recommends ✓Skills from the PISA framework
The financial literacy simulationInvesting, markets, and the economy
From Grade 10 / Year 11 → to higher education
A freeFree license for secondary schools, anywhere in the world. Higher education institutions purchase a license. simulation for the classroom. Your students analyze, decide, and figure out for themselves how the economy and financial markets work.
1 to 5 class periodsNothing to install, no accountsComputer lab or smartphone
No personal data at all
No student accounts, no email addresses, no sign-up. Students join with a simple class code. Classroom use is compatible with privacy laws such as GDPR, FERPA, and COPPA.
Ready in 2 minutes
One link that works in any browser (Chromebook, tablet, phone), a code on the board, and your class is playing.
The Teacher Portal
Your tools for running the class.
You create the game, you start each turn at the pace of your class, and you see live who has locked in, who is behind, and what students understood. The debrief practically writes itself.
Turn 7 in progress
12 / 14
students have locked in
The next turn starts when you say so.
Start turn 8Class understanding
3.4 / 5
good decisions, on average
Understood
- Return and risk
- Diversification
- Sector funds
To cover in class
- Reliability of information
- Opportunity cost
Every concept is read from the decisions students made in the face of each turn's news.
- Set up a game in two minutes. A name, a track, how turns start, and you get a four-letter class code.
- Start turns the way you want. By hand during the session, as soon as the class has locked in, or one turn a day for remote play.
- The dashboard follows every student. Turns locked in, who is behind, each portfolio, with nobody ever graded.
- The debrief is prepared for you. What the class went through, the news they read well or badly, the concepts to revisit.
- A recap, level by level. The class's understanding at each level, plus a CSV export of every decision for your own analysis.
- You stay in control to the end. End the game at the close of a level, reopen it if needed, invite colleagues from your school.
In the classroom
How it works
You create a class game from your Teacher Portal. You set how long the program runs, how the turns are released, and whether the class plays in school or at home.
You get a 4-letter class code to write on the board.
Students open the link, enter the code and their first name, and start playing. A nickname works just as well.
You track progress in real time and lead the debrief from a table of every student's decisions. If needed, each student gets a student code to keep playing at home on any device.
Two ways to use it
In the computer lab, or as a flipped classroom.
Both get the same care. Pick the one that fits your school's technology.
In the computer lab
A guided 55-minute class period: setup, three turns played together on the projector, then independent play through the end-of-level review.
Debrief and wrap-up, built on the report of the class's decisions.
One lesson plan per level, online and as a PDF.
Flipped classroom
For schools with limited technology: an intro lesson and a demo on the projector, then students play at home.
A good pace is one level a week: 12 turns, about 30 minutes of play.
The teacher leads the debrief from their dashboard. The student code lets every student play on whatever phone or computer they choose.
The program
Pick your track, pick your length.
A level runs 12 turns, covers one year in the life of an investor, and fits in a single class period. Every level wraps up cleanly, with no story left hanging, so you can pick the track that matches the time you have, the concepts you need to cover, and the class in front of you.
1
The Valley
From saving to investing
What does it mean to invest?
Risk and return, diversification, judging how reliable information is, thematic funds, opportunity cost.
2
New York
The financial markets
What makes a price move?
Regional funds (US, Europe, Asia), stocks, market risk, interest rates and asset prices, macroeconomic indicators.
3
Geneva
Stocks and bonds
What is the difference between an asset's return and its price?
Government and corporate bonds, coupons, risk premium, cash-flow income versus price change, following a chain of cause and effect.
4
Tokyo
Crisis and liquidity
What happens after a crash?
Illiquid long-term investments (real estate and private equity), systemic crisis, volatility.
5
London
Inflation, the central bank, and interest rates
Why do interest rates move asset prices?
Monetary policy, interest rates and bond prices, how it flows through to the real economy, thinking critically about rumors, signal versus noise.
Practical questions
Which grades is it for?
Level 1 from Grade 10 (US) / Year 11 (UK), the first two levels from Grade 11, the first three from Grade 12. Levels 4 and 5 (crisis, liquidity, monetary policy) are written for higher education: colleges, business and engineering schools, universities. Nothing stops a motivated Grade 12 class from going further.
How much class time should I plan for?
A level fits in a 55-minute class period: about 30 minutes of simulation, with the rest for the debrief. Students don't have to move at the same pace: each one plays their own turns.
Can students play between classes, or at home?
Yes. Each student picks their game back up with their student code, on any computer or smartphone. The "1 turn a day" setting is built for this: a new turn opens each morning, to be played during the day.
What if a student misses a class?
They jump back in at the turn the class has reached. Missed turns count as played with no changes: their portfolio stays put, and they can see what they missed.
Can we switch tracks partway through?
The track is chosen when the game is created. You can always end the game early from your Teacher Portal, at the end of a level: every level closes with a review, never with a story left hanging.
Do I need to play it myself first?
You don't have to: the lesson plans give you all the guidance you need. That said, a 30-minute solo game of level 1 will show you exactly what your students will experience: try the game.
Teaching through decisions
Students learn by deciding.
No lectures, no quizzes. Students work through the situations first, and the teacher then builds the lesson on what they just experienced. This is the approach the OECD recommendsSource: OECD, Recommendation of the Council on Financial Literacy, 2020: favor programs where learners experience what they learn, and serious games for learning by doing in a safe environment. Read the official text for financial education, and the skills students practice are those of the PISA financial literacy frameworkSource: OECD, PISA 2018 Assessment and Analytical Framework, financial literacy framework: money and transactions, planning and managing finances, risk and reward, financial landscape. Read the framework.
Leading research in financial education (Kaiser, Lusardi, Menkhoff) shows that active learning and simulations beat lectures, especially when the decision comes before the explanation. Capital Valley is built on that principle: every turn is a decision, and every decision has a consequence you can see on screen.
Nothing in the game is left to chance. Two students who make the same decisions get the same results, which makes a rigorous debrief possible: you're comparing strategies, not luck.
The licenses
Free for secondary schools. One license per institution in higher education.
Secondary schools
A free license, anywhere in the world.
The full game, all five lesson plans, as many classes and colleagues as you want. Nothing to pay and no student data: you set up your Teacher Portal, write the code on the board, and the class plays.
Higher education
One license per institution.
Technical and community colleges, bachelor's programs, business and engineering schools, universities: a one-year license, with no long-term commitment, priced by number of students. Pricing is public, with a founder price for the first institutions to join. These licenses are what pay for the free ones in secondary schools.
Teacher FAQ
The questions we hear most.
Do students need accounts?
No, none at all. A class code is all it takes. Students enter the code on the board and their first name, and they're in.
What data is collected about students?
Only a first name (which can be changed, and a nickname is fine) and the decisions they make in the game. No email address, no last name, no contact information.
Does it work on Chromebooks and on the school network?
Yes. Capital Valley is a plain web page served over HTTPS, with nothing to install and no trackers. It works on Chromebooks, tablets, phones, and desktop computers: in the computer lab or on a smartphone, the teacher decides.
How long does a game take?
One level, meaning 12 turns and about 30 minutes of play, fits in a 55-minute class period with the debrief. The complete track, five levels, takes five class periods, or students can play it on their own at home with their student code.
Is the license really free?
The license is free for secondary schools, with no limits and no hidden premium tier. Higher education institutions purchase a license: pricing is public.
How is the game funded?
Mainly through licenses purchased by higher education institutions (technical and community colleges, bachelor's programs, business and engineering schools...): those pay for the free licenses in secondary schools. Sponsorships fill in the rest, with zero say over the teaching content. No student data is collected, and none is shared with anyone.
Is there a version for higher education?
Yes, with an institutional license (technical and community colleges, bachelor's programs, business and engineering schools...): the license pricing is public, with a founder price for the first year.
Applications in progress. Capital Valley is part of the international movement for economic and financial education. Registration for Global Money Week activities and listing in catalogs of teaching resources are in progress. Free license for secondary schools, with no student data collected; licenses for higher education.
Get in touch
Have a question, need a license for higher education, or planning a tournament? [email protected]