Pump And DumpPump And Dump

It's 1987. You start in the mailroom. Eight Fridays from now your name is on the door, or you're out on the street.

Marv runs the trading floor. Agent Griggs of the SEC is building a file on you. Your phone won't stop ringing. Hit the cash target on Friday and you get promoted. Miss it and you're fired, and the next run starts back in the mailroom.

TRADE, THEN CHEAT

Nine stocks move live on your terminal. Grandma's Cookies is steady. YOLO Technologies is a coin flip. DogeCoin Classic is DogeCoin Classic. Buy, sell, and once you make Broker, short.

Then play scheme cards to move the prices yourself: PUMP IT, DUMP IT, SHORT SQUEEZE, TO THE MOON and 17 more. Cards upgrade to "+" versions that hit harder and draw less attention. The game slows down while you aim a card, so you always have time to pick your stock.

THE SEC IS WATCHING

Every scheme adds heat. Let it climb and you get subpoenas. Max it out and Agent Griggs raids your desk and walks off with a big piece of your cash. Carol, who works for Griggs, sometimes calls to warn you. Sometimes.

ANSWER THE PHONE

Your line rings all day. Dr. Feldman, a dentist from Akron, wants whatever you're holding and will pay over the board for it. Tipsters call with stock tips, and you can see each one's track record. Denny from Goldcrest calls too. Don't trust Denny. From week 3 some callers are SEC stings, so think before you sell.

PICK ONE EVERY NIGHT

After the closing bell you pick 1 of 3: a new scheme, a "+" upgrade for a card you own, or an Edge. An Edge changes a rule for the rest of the run, and there are 18 of them. WIRETAP KIT shows you which tips are true. FALL GUY makes one of your hires take the blame when the SEC raids you.

Some nights somebody turns up with an offer first. Herb from the mailroom found a briefcase. Denny wants to make a bet.

HIRE A CREW

Every weekend you visit the Back Room. Hire from 13 people, and each one changes a rule. Donnie sells your pumps at the top. Rita screens your calls for cops. The Professor shows every stock's real trend. They sit at their own desks on your floor.

Fill the bullpen with cold callers who sell your shares while you work. Take a card to Gus's print shop to get it upgraded.

NO TWO RUNS THE SAME

The weeks come in a different order every run. Every Friday has a twist, and you hear about it on Monday: MARGIN CALL halves your position limits, PHONES DOWN kills the switchboard, BULL RUN lifts everything, THE SEC AUDIT bans new shorts. Miss a target by a hair and Marv might cook the books for you. Once.

EVERY RUN COUNTS

Every run pays CLOUT, win or lose. Spend it in THE ROLODEX, a skill tree of 13 contacts who each change a rule for every run after. Aunt Fran gives you $2,000 to start. Judge Halloran gets your first raid thrown out. The Senator lowers every Friday target.

You also unlock 7 starting traders, each with their own deck and rule, and fill a Rap Sheet of 24 feats.

ALSO IN THE BOX

• 21 scheme cards, plus "+" upgrades
  

• Daily Challenge: the same market for everyone, one try
  

• The Morning Grifter, a paper that leaks the day's news every morning. The front page is about you.
  

• A phosphor pixel portrait for everyone you meet
  

• After you retire: an endless epilogue, 8 Audit Levels that make it harder and multiply your score, and seeded runs so you can race a friend on the same market
  

• Full CRT look with curvature and scanlines, plus a plain-screen option, a colorblind price palette and a reduced-flashing mode
  

No real money. No finance knowledge needed. If you can read a headline and click a button, you can commit securities fraud.