If you’re preparing for a quantitative trading interview, you already know the drill — brainteasers, mental math, probability puzzles, and of course, the infamous “make me a market” question. But reading about these concepts in a textbook is one thing. Practicing them under pressure, against real opponents, in real time? That’s where Market Making Games comes in.
We built Market Making Games as a companion platform to Trading Interview, with one goal: give aspiring quants a place to practice the actual skills that top firms like Jane Street, Citadel Securities, SIG, IMC, and many others test in their interviews — not by studying theory, but by playing.
Table of Contents
What Is Market Making Games?
Market Making Games is a multiplayer web platform featuring 8 interactive games designed by quants, for aspiring quants. Each game targets a specific skill set you’ll encounter in trading interviews: quoting bid-ask spreads, estimating probabilities, spotting arbitrage, sizing bets with the Kelly Criterion, and doing mental math at speed.
You can play solo to practice, compete against friends in private rooms, or challenge traders from around the world in public lobbies. Every game tracks your performance, feeds into a global leaderboard, and gives you detailed stats to identify where you need to improve.
The Games
New games are continuously being added to the platform. At this moment, we offer the following games.
Free to Play
- Fruit Market Game 🍊 — The perfect starting point. A beginner-friendly market making simulation where you trade based on the contents of fruit bags. Learn the fundamentals of when to buy, when to sell, and how market events like inflation or deflation affect fair value. Scoring rewards both speed and accuracy, just like a real trading floor.
- Math Challenge 🔢 — A timed mental arithmetic test covering integers, decimals, and fractions. This is the exact type of speed math that firms use to filter candidates in first-round interviews. Race against the clock, track your seconds-per-question, and see how you stack up on the leaderboard. For extra practice on the go, it pairs with our Trading Interview Math Trainer app on iOS and Android.
Premium Games
- Make Me a Market 💡 — The classic interview question, gamified. You’re given estimation questions and must quote a bid-ask spread. Quote too wide and you miss opportunities. Quote too tight and a computer counterparty will trade against you when your spread doesn’t contain the true answer. After each round, you’ll face follow-up questions about your position — maximum guaranteed loss, break-even points, P&L scenarios — just like in a real interview. This game alone is worth the subscription.
- Market of Cards 🃏 — An advanced trading game using a deck of cards. You hold private information (your 2 cards) while community cards are revealed one by one. Read your opponents’ quotes to infer what they’re holding, manage your position, and calculate expected values on the fly. It’s poker meets market making.
- ETF Trading Challenge 📈 — ETFs composed of 2-4 underlying stocks update in real time. Your job: spot arbitrage opportunities before bots and other players do. It’s pure speed mental math — add up 3-4 prices instantly and click before anyone else. Addictive, fast-paced, and incredibly good practice for desk simulations.
- Fermi Questions 🧮 — How many piano tuners are in Chicago? What’s the total weight of all the fish in the ocean? Order-of-magnitude estimation challenges with logarithmic scoring. Supports up to 50 players, making it perfect for group sessions and classroom use.
- Probability Betting 🎲 — Evaluate betting opportunities on dice rolls, card draws, and coin flips. About half the offered odds are mispriced — identify the edge, size your bets using the Kelly Criterion, and maximize your bankroll. If you’ve ever been asked “would you take this bet?” in an interview, this game will make you ready.
- Next Card Betting 🔮 — Predict whether the next card will be higher or lower, then size your bet. Card counting is explicitly rewarded here. A deceptively simple game that teaches position sizing and Bayesian updating.
Multiplayer and Single Player
Every game works in solo mode for practice. But the real magic is multiplayer. Create a public room and play against strangers, set up a private room with an invite code for your study group, or restrict it to friends only. Every room has real-time chat, configurable bot opponents for when you need extra competition, and the option to schedule games for a future time (with email reminders so nobody forgets).
Tournaments
For those who want a structured competitive experience, our tournament system lets hosts string multiple games together into a multi-round competition. Configure automated breaks between games, track cumulative standings on a live leaderboard, and crown an overall champion. It’s the closest you can get to a trading floor simulation day without actually being there.
Monthly Competitions
Starting soon, we’ll be hosting two recurring monthly events:
- Monthly Mental Math Tournament — A timed math challenge open to all players. The winner receives one month of free Trading Interview access. It’s a straightforward proposition: prove you’re the fastest mental mathematician in the community, and your interview prep is on us.
- Monthly Market Making Games Tournament — A multi-game tournament to test the full range of your trading skills. Compete against your peers across market making, estimation, arbitrage, and probability games. Climb the leaderboard and earn bragging rights.
Keep an eye on both platforms for announcements on dates and registration.
Your Stats, Your Progress
Every game you play is tracked. Your profile shows games played, win rate, weighted average finish position, and per-game breakdowns. The global leaderboard ranks the top 100 players, filterable by game type. Whether you’re grinding solo practice sessions or competing in tournaments, you can see exactly how you’re progressing — and where you need more work.
Already a Trading Interview Subscriber?
Here’s the best part: if you have an active Trading Interview subscription, Market Making Games is included at no extra cost. Just log in with your Trading Interview account and you’ll have full access to all games, tournaments, and everything else on the platform. No additional sign-up needed.
If you’re not a subscriber yet, Market Making Games offers its own affordable monthly and yearly plans, with the yearly option saving you roughly 20%.
Who’s Already Playing?
Our community includes players from top universities around the world. We partner with firms like Flow Traders and All Options, and work with university organizations like the Amsterdam Investment Club and NEFS Quant Division to bring interactive trading games to students preparing for recruiting season.
Get Started
Head to marketmakinggames.com and try the Fruit Market Game or Math Challenge for free — no subscription required. If you like what you see, unlock the full suite and start building the intuition that will set you apart in your next trading interview.
The best way to prepare for a market making interview isn’t to read about market making. It’s to do it.