Live the economy of 1980s Japan in STONKS-9800

Upcoming simulator STONKS-9800 is going to use vaporwave, colors, a retro aesthetic, and a nice anime lady to transport you back in time: To the wild 1980s and '90s of the apocalyptic Japanese stock market bubble. In this fusion of interactive fiction and stock market simulation you'll ride out the chaos and try to get as rich as you can in the process.

You'll be able to play the market, buying stocks, collecting dividends, and affecting the market with your purchases and sales. At the same time, you'll manage your company, gain controlling interests in others, and try not to work yourself to death. You can also spend all that cash on houses and cars and stuff, which might help with the not having a heart attack at work, maybe? There's also pachinko and horse racing, because what else would you do with all that money?

Who wants to live through one of the biggest bubbles in recent financial history? Us, I guess, and indie developer Ternox is going to provide it. STONKS-9800 has a demo available on Steam, and is due to release in January 2022. You can read more about it on the Ternox Games website.

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.