erstwhile gameA little hindsight.
The market, in hindsight

Five years.
Ten chips.
Your call.

A hidden year. $10,000 to invest.
Find out what you would have made.

An illustrated investment chart and a gold-colored chip
✳

Real history. Your decisions.
Free to play. No account needed.

UnlimitedA little history awaits

Opening the market…

One more trip through the market

Play Erstwhile Game Unlimited

Keep playing the historical investing puzzle without a daily limit. Start with $10,000, make three portfolio decisions, and compare your five-year return with the S&P 500.

The same rules, a fresh portfolio

Each puzzle starts in a hidden year between 2005 and 2020. Spread your chips across four stocks, two other assets and cash, then hold or rebuild your portfolio at years 2 and 4.

Try the Daily puzzle

100 puzzles, plus past Daily games

Practice draws from its own puzzle bank and earlier Daily games. You will work through the available pool before puzzles repeat, and the most recent puzzle is kept out of the next draw.

Play unlimited

Play on mobile or desktop

Open the game in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer. Add and remove chips with a tap, open help when you need it, and save or share your result. Your progress stays in this browser.

How the game and prices work
Before your next round

Unlimited mode FAQ

What is Erstwhile Game Unlimited?

Unlimited is the practice mode of Erstwhile Game. It uses the same five-year investing rules as Daily, with a different puzzle whenever you choose to play another round.

How many Unlimited puzzles can I play?

There is no daily play limit. The pool starts with 100 practice puzzles and grows as earlier Daily puzzles are released into it. After you finish the available pool, puzzles can appear again.

Will Unlimited spoil today’s Daily puzzle?

No. Only Daily puzzles dated before today enter the Unlimited pool. Today’s Daily and future Daily puzzles are excluded.

Can I resume an unfinished game?

Yes. Your current practice puzzle and decisions are saved in this browser. Return on the same browser and device to continue. Clearing site data removes that progress.

Can I play Unlimited free on mobile?

Yes. Unlimited is free on mobile, tablet and desktop browsers, with no account or app download. The money is imaginary; the price history is real.

Know your options
A quick field guide

Five years. Three decisions.

You have $10,000 in a hidden year between 2005 and 2020. Can you grow it faster than the S&P 500?

  1. 1

    Build your portfolio

    Place 10 chips across four stocks, two other assets and cash. Each chip starts at $1,000. Put up to 4 on any option, including cash.

  2. 2

    Hold or change course

    At years 2 and 4, see your positions and a new historical clue. Hold keeps your actual holdings. Rebalance sells everything: divide the current total into 10 equal chips and place them again.

  3. 3

    See where you landed

    Year 5 reveals the dates, your return and the S&P 500 fund result. See the strongest possible strategy and how your result compares with all legal strategies.

Daily changes at midnight in your device’s local time. Unlimited includes 100 practice puzzles plus previously released Daily puzzles. Gold, silver, oil, bonds and commodities use the fund proxies named in asset details. No fees, taxes or trading costs are simulated.