How to Play

You start with a £100 budget. The game presents you with multiple stacks (piles of cards). Each stack has a hidden payout value — your job is to figure out which ones are worth investing in.

Think of each stack as a startup: you can't see the true value upfront, but you can buy information to reduce uncertainty.

In the first round you can do two things:

• Buy signals — reveal partial information about a stack (e.g. the median card value). Depending on the game mode, each signal costs time (from the round clock) ormoney from your £100 budget.
• Invest — allocate money to stacks you believe in. Only stacks you invest in during Round 1 are eligible for follow-on investment in Round 2.

Game controls:

• Status bar — the sticky bar at the top shows your current phase, budget breakdown, signal/effort costs, and (in time mode) your remaining round time.
• Next set of stacks — appears in sequential dealing mode to load another batch of stacks before you lock the round.
• Lock Round X — submits your current actions and moves the game to the next round. After locking, that round's decisions are final.

Example status bar:

Example round bar:

Here's what a stack looks like before and after buying a signal:

After locking Round 1, new information is revealed for every stack you invested in (a public signal). You can also purchase an additional private signal per stack, and Effort on stacks you care about.

Effort is an action you’ll see on each stack tile (an "Effort" button). Buying effort tries to increase one card’s value in that stack; the attempt can succeed or fail. When it succeeds, the stack shows which card was increased (e.g. "R2: Cards 3 increased"). In time mode, effort consumes round time as well. Effort is only available in follow-on rounds and in certain deck types.

You can only invest more money in stacks you already funded in Round 1. This mirrors real VC: follow-on capital goes to your existing portfolio companies. Stacks you skipped are locked out.

Each stack shows a Financing Risk indicator: a limit (e.g. £3 in R1, £7 in R2, £15 in R3) and how much you’ve invested. If you invest too little relative to that limit, the stack has a higher chance of failing before payout — in which case it’s marked "Failed" and you get nothing from it. Investing closer to the limit lowers that risk.

A third round may follow with yet another public signal, optional private signal and Effort per stack, and the option for final follow-on investment. The same rule applies: only stacks funded in Round 2 are eligible. The Financing Risk indicator still applies — under-investing in a stack raises the chance it fails before payout.

Once all rounds are complete, every stack's true value is revealed. Your payout is calculated based on how much you invested in each stack and its actual value. The leaderboard ranks all teams by total return.

Example of what your results summary can look like:

Budget

Your £100 is for investments. Signals and effort cost either time (from the round clock) or money, depending on game mode. Spend time and money wisely.

Signals

Information that reduces uncertainty (e.g. median card value). Each stack allows one signal purchase per round. They cost time or money depending on the mode.

Effort

In follow-on rounds, you can buy "Effort" on a stack to try to increase one card’s value. The attempt can fail; when it succeeds, the tile shows which card was increased (e.g. "R2: Cards 3 increased"). Available only in R2/R3 and in certain deck types.

Financing risk

Each stack has a per-round investment limit. The tile’s "Financing Risk" indicator shows limit vs invested; under-investing raises the chance the stack fails before payout and pays nothing.

Follow-on only

In Rounds 2 and 3 you can only add money to stacks you already invested in. You cannot start new positions.

Pro-rata caps

Your follow-on investment in a stack may be capped as a multiple of your previous round's investment (e.g. 3×).

• Diversify vs concentrate — spreading thin gives more options but less upside per stack.
• Signals and effort cost time or money — every signal or effort you buy uses budget you could spend elsewhere; balance information and capital.
• Manage financing risk — invest toward the per-stack limit on stacks you care about, or accept higher failure chance.
• Save dry powder — keeping budget for later rounds lets you double-down on winners.