About TheGame.vc — Free Venture Capital Game & VC Simulator
The free VC simulation game — plus a glossary & FAQ
Ever wondered what it's actually like to be a venture capitalist? Not the Twitter threads and podcast takes — the real thing. Picking which startups to bet on, deciding how much to invest, sweating over follow-on rounds, and watching your portfolio companies either fly or crash and burn over a decade.
That's TheGame.vc. You get a $30M fund, a stack of startup pitches, and 10 simulated years to prove you've got what it takes. Swipe right on the ones you believe in, pass on the rest, then manage your portfolio through the chaos of Series A rounds, board drama, and exits. It's free, it runs in your browser, and a round takes about 5-10 minutes. No sign-ups, no downloads, no catch. Just you vs. the market.
Venture Capital Glossary
Venture Capital Overview
LP (Limited Partner) — the investors who commit capital to a VC fund (pension funds, endowments, family offices). GP (General Partner) — the fund manager who picks investments and runs the portfolio; you play a GP in TheGame.vc. Fund Lifecycle — a VC fund runs ~10 years: roughly the first half investing, the second half managing and exiting (Years 1–5 invest, Years 6–10 portfolio management in-game).
Fund Metrics
- MOIC — Multiple on Invested Capital
- Total return multiple: returns ÷ capital invested. 3x = $3 back per $1. Your leaderboard score in TheGame.vc.
- TVPI — Total Value to Paid-In
- Total current value (realized + unrealized) ÷ capital paid in. A live snapshot of fund health.
- DPI — Distributions to Paid-In
- Cash actually returned ÷ capital paid in. The "real money" metric — paper gains don't count.
- IRR — Internal Rate of Return
- Annualized return that factors in timing. 3x in 5 years beats 3x in 10.
Startup Metrics
- B2B, B2C & Deep Tech
- The three startup categories. B2B sells to businesses, B2C to consumers, Deep Tech builds hard science / engineering breakthroughs.
- ARR — Annual Recurring Revenue
- Yearly run-rate of subscription revenue. The standard B2B SaaS top-line metric.
- MRR — Monthly Recurring Revenue
- Monthly equivalent of ARR. Common for B2C subscription businesses.
- NRR — Net Revenue Retention
- How much revenue you keep and expand from existing customers. Above 100% = growing without new customers.
- LTV/CAC — Lifetime Value to Customer Acquisition Cost
- Customer lifetime value ÷ cost to acquire them. Above 3x is healthy unit economics.
- TRL — Technology Readiness Level
- NASA-style 1–9 maturity scale for Deep Tech, from basic research (1) to proven in operation (9).
Rounds & Valuation
- Seed, Series A & Series B
- Startup funding stages. Seed = first institutional check (~$1–5M). Series A = scale (~$5–20M). Series B = accelerate (~$15–50M+).
- Pre-money Valuation
- What a startup is worth immediately before a new investment.
- Post-money Valuation
- Pre-money + new capital raised. Your ownership = investment ÷ post-money.
- Dilution
- Your ownership % shrinks when new shares are issued in later rounds. Follow-ons counteract it.
- Dry Powder
- Committed capital not yet deployed. Balancing speed vs. reserves for follow-ons is a core skill.
- Follow-on Investment
- More capital into a company you already back, usually at a later round, to protect your ownership.
Exits
- IPO — Initial Public Offering
- A portfolio company goes public on a stock exchange. Rarest exit, typically the highest MOIC.
- Acquisition
- A startup is bought by another company. The most common positive exit.
- Acqui-hire
- An acquisition for the team, not the product. Usually returns below 1x — better than a write-off.
- Secondary Sale
- Selling your shares to another investor before a formal exit. Lets you lock in returns early.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is TheGame.vc?
TheGame.vc is a free, browser-based venture capital simulation game. You play as a first-time VC raising a $30M fund, evaluating startup pitches by swiping left (pass) or right (invest), then managing your portfolio through follow-on rounds, board decisions, and exits over a 10-year fund lifecycle. It simulates the full experience of running a venture capital fund — from sourcing deals to returning capital to your LPs.
How do you play TheGame.vc?
You start by naming your fund, then swipe through startup pitch cards. Each card shows the founding team, business metrics, and investment terms. Swipe right to invest or left to pass. After 5 years of investing, you enter the Portfolio Management phase where you make follow-on decisions, handle board crises, respond to snap decisions, and navigate your companies through IPOs, acquisitions, and other exits. Your final MOIC determines your leaderboard rank.
Is TheGame.vc free? Do I need an account?
TheGame.vc is completely free to play. No login, no account creation, and no payment is required. Just open the website and start playing immediately in your browser. Your game progress is saved locally in your browser so you can resume where you left off.
How does the leaderboard work?
After completing a game, you can submit your fund name and final MOIC score to the global leaderboard. Your performance is ranked alongside other players worldwide. You can also share your results on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and WhatsApp to challenge friends and colleagues. The leaderboard uses server-side validation to ensure fair play and ranks players by their MOIC (Multiple on Invested Capital).