Stonks game: STONKS-9800, the other stonks games and the meme
The stonks game most people look for is STONKS-9800: Stock Market Simulator, a text-based trading sim on Steam set in bubble-era Japan, by Ukrainian studio Ternox. It has been in early access since July 2023. Other games carry the name too, and all of them borrow from the stonks meme.
Where to play the original: STONKS-9800 on Steam. Roam is not affiliated with it.
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STONKS-9800 in short
You play a businessman in 1980s Japan, trading stocks on a screen made to look like an old home computer. You read news, buy and sell, and build a reputation that opens new deals. Ternox makes it with publisher Gamersky Games, and it costs $9.99 on Steam.
As of November 2026 it was still in early access. The Steam page plans a full version with a story mode, and a Nintendo Switch version was announced but had not come out.
Other stonks games
- The Stonks Market. A comedy story game on Steam by Vagabond Dog, out May 5, 2021. You gamble your savings on silly trades, and it has more than one ending.
- Stonk Market. A real-time card trading game by Reiner Knizia, published by Allplay in 2026. Three to six players, about 20 minutes.
- Meme money games on Roam. Meme Mogul is a Monopoly-style meme board game over ten rounds. Same bad-deal energy, no meme face.
Where stonks came from
Stonks is a deliberate misspelling of "stocks". The classic image shows Meme Man, a smooth 3D head, in front of a rising chart, posted to cheer a money move that is clearly dumb. The Facebook page Special Meme Fresh posted the first known Stonks image on June 5, 2017, and Meme Man himself dates to the same page in 2014.
The joke got a second life in 2021, when r/WallStreetBets pushed GameStop shares up and stonks became the word for any meme stock. The flip side, "not stonks", shows the chart going down.
Three stonks game ideas
Keep the money fake and the charts big. The joke lands when the line goes up for a terrible reason.
- Buy High, Sell Low. A reverse market. Every crash you cause earns a stonks point, and every accidental profit costs one. The worst trader wins.
- Meme Futures. Fresh memes appear on a board, each with a hidden expiry date. Buy early, sell before they go stale.
- The Snack Portfolio. Invest your lunch money in a corner shop's snacks. Prices swing on rumors from the group chat, and you have ten days to beat your roommate.
Play it on Roam
Make your own stonks game with Roam
Describe the market, the memes and how it all goes wrong. Roam builds a playable game you change by talking. Roam is rated 13+ on the App Store.
Try: "meme stock market game, I am a nervous penguin trader, buy fresh memes cheap and sell before they go stale, random crashes, my friend is the rival trader, 10 days"Roam ("Roam - Make Games" on the App Store) is an iPhone app where you play games and make your own by describing them or from a photo. It is free to download and play, and making games works without a subscription; optional Spark and Reality plans and credit packs add more creation. Android: pre-register on Google Play.
Questions people ask
Who made STONKS-9800?
Ternox, an indie studio from Ukraine, with publisher Gamersky Games.
Is STONKS-9800 on Switch?
A Switch version was announced, but as of November 2026 it had not been released. The game is on Steam in early access.
Is there a game called Stonks?
Yes. STONKS-9800 and The Stonks Market are on Steam, and Stonk Market is a card game by Reiner Knizia.
What does stonks mean?
A joke spelling of "stocks". People use it to cheer a money move that is obviously a bad idea, or one that worked by pure luck.
Sources, checked November 5, 2026
- STONKS-9800: Ternox with Gamersky Games, early access July 2023, $9.99, full version with story mode planned: store.steampowered.com
- STONKS-9800 is by Ukrainian studio Ternox, 1980s Japan stock market: mezha.ua
- STONKS-9800 reputation system (devlog): stonks.jp
- The Stonks Market by Vagabond Dog, released May 5, 2021, comedy trading game with multiple endings: store.steampowered.com
- Stonk Market: Reiner Knizia, Allplay, 2026, real-time card trading, 3-6 players, about 20 minutes: boardgamequest.com
- First Stonks image posted by Special Meme Fresh on June 5, 2017; used for meme stocks after the GameStop squeeze: knowyourmeme.com
- Meme Man earliest known post 2014 on Special Meme Fresh: knowyourmeme.com