The Arcade is a collection of short financial literacy games that students play right in the Student Portal. Each one puts a single idea into practice, like spotting a scam or affording rent, so they work well as a warm-up, a follow-up to a lesson, or something for early finishers. You can let students play freely or assign a specific game, and an assigned game marks itself done once a student has spent real time in it.
Available on: every plan, including Free. There's nothing to turn on.
Where to find it
You: in the sidebar, open Simulators > Arcade. You see the same catalog students do, and you can play any game yourself.
Students: on their Simulators page, in the Arcade band. Assigned games also show on their Assignments page.
The top of the Arcade page says how many games are available. Use Search games... to find one by name or topic, or the course menu (it starts on All courses) to see only the games that go with one course. Games can carry a New tag or an OpenStax tag for games that pair with an OpenStax textbook.
The games
The Arcade currently has 16 games. The list can grow without notice, so check the page for the latest.
Personal Finance Core Foundations (3e)
Consumer Chess: answer questions on smart shopping, warranties and scams to earn each chess move.
Paycheck to Power: turn a paycheck into stability through budgeting, saving and spending choices.
Credit Quest: build, damage and repair a credit score through everyday credit decisions.
Scam Slam: spot the red flags in realistic emails, texts and online offers.
The Rent Race: balance income, rent, utilities and lifestyle to see what housing really costs.
Bank Teller Triumph: work as a bank teller handling deposits, withdrawals and customer decisions.
Career Odyssey: weigh careers, education choices and salary trade-offs.
The Gambler's Spiral: see how odds and bias turn small bets into real losses.
Tuition Tycoon: compare colleges, financial aid, loans and career outcomes.
Stock Shock: react to news in a fast-moving market and manage risk (also listed under Principles of Finance).
Business, economics and entrepreneurship
Pitch & Pivot: test a startup idea against customer feedback and decide when to pivot.
Shark Tank Game: pitch a business, negotiate a valuation and decide whether investor money is worth it.
StartupCoach: Entrepreneurship Mentor: make founder decisions on hiring, funding and growth.
The Business Web: see how businesses, consumers, banks and governments connect.
Truck-onomics: Supply & Demand: run a trucking business through fuel costs, pricing and labor.
Brand Wars: compete on pricing, branding and advertising for market share.
Playing a game
Click a game's card to open it. At the top of the game page you'll find Arcade (back to the catalog), Restart (starts the game over) and Fullscreen, which is the best way to project a game for the whole class. Most games take a few minutes a round, but some run longer, so play one yourself before you build a lesson around it.
Assign a game
Go to Classrooms > your class > Coursework > Assignments and start a new assignment.
Under What are you assigning?, choose Arcade game.
Under Which game?, pick the game. Click Preview this game to open it in a new tab if you want to check it first.
Choose who gets it (the whole class, groups or specific students) and when it's due, then create the assignment.
An assignment always points at the game you picked. If you want students on a different game, create a new assignment instead of editing the old one. For the full walkthrough, see Creating an assignment.
What's tracked, and where you see it
Assigned games
When a student opens an assigned game from the assignment, it's marked done automatically once the game has been on their screen for about three minutes. Some games also mark it done as soon as the student finishes a round. Either way, the student sees a short message that it's marked complete. Time only counts while the game is actually on screen, so a game left open in a background tab doesn't add up. Students can also click Mark done on their Assignments page.
You see this as completion on the assignment, like any other assignment (see Tracking assignment progress and completion). Arcade assignments record done or not done. They don't carry a score into the Gradebook.
Good to know: completion means a student spent a few minutes in the game. It's a good signal of engagement, not proof they mastered the idea, so pair it with a quick exit question if you need evidence of learning.
Play time
Each student can see their own Arcade time on their Reports page: time played, sessions, how many games they've played, and time in each game. That time belongs to the student's account, so it covers every class they're in. Their Simulators page also shows how many of the games they've tried. Per-student play time isn't shown in the Teacher Portal; you see Arcade work through assignments.
What isn't saved
Don't count on a game remembering a student's place or score between visits. Leaving a game or clicking Restart starts it fresh, so plan for students to finish a round in one sitting.
Using games in class
Warm-up: project one game in fullscreen and have the class call out decisions together.
Right after the lesson: assign the matching game, like Scam Slam after a scams lesson or The Rent Race before a housing unit.
Before a simulator: Stock Shock is a quick way into volatility before the Investing Simulator, and Truck-onomics sets up supply and demand before the Economy Simulator.
Early finishers and sub days: point students to the Arcade with a short reflection question about what they'd do differently next round.
Common questions
Do I need a paid plan for the Arcade?
No. The Arcade and Arcade assignments work on every plan, including Free.
Can I hide the Arcade from a class?
No. There isn't a setting to turn the Arcade off. If you want students focused elsewhere, assign the work you want and set expectations in class.
A student played the game but the assignment isn't done.
Auto-complete only works when they open the game from the assignment, and only counts time while the game is on screen. Ask them to open it from their Assignments page and play for a few minutes, or click Mark done there.
A game shows a blank box on our school network.
Some games load from separate Intertwined web addresses that a school filter can block. Try Restart or refresh the page first. If the same game stays blank while others work, see School networks, devices, and browsers: what Intertwined needs.