Simulators are the most hands-on part of Intertwined, and most of them need your teacher to set something up first. So when a simulator says it's locked or empty, it usually means you're waiting on your teacher, not that something is broken. Find the message you see below. If the simulator won't load at all, skip to the last sections.
"Not in your class"
On the Simulators page, a simulator can show Not in your class. When you open it, you'll read "Your class doesn't include the Budget Simulator right now. Ask your teacher if you'd like to try it." (with that simulator's name).
Your teacher decides which simulators your class uses. This one isn't part of your class right now, so there's no button to start it, and it's left off your dashboard. If you're curious about it, ask your teacher. The other simulators and the Arcade still work.
Personal Budget Simulator: "No Active Budget Simulation"
If the Budget page says "No Active Budget Simulation. Contact your teacher for more information." (or "There is no Budget Simulation running in your classes yet. Ask your teacher to start one."), your teacher hasn't started a Budget Simulation for your class yet. Once they do, come back and click Join Classroom Simulation.
Economy Simulator: waiting or not in it
"Your teacher hasn't started an Economy Simulator for your class yet." There's nothing to do but wait. The page says "This page checks for a new simulation every few seconds," so leave it open and you'll be taken in when the simulation begins.
"You're not in this simulation" The simulation started before you joined the class, so you don't have a seat in it. Ask your teacher to include you when the next one begins.
"Simulation frozen." Your teacher has paused the round, usually for a class discussion. Actions are locked until they resume or move on.
Investing Simulator: no starting balance
If your portfolio says "Your teacher has not set a starting balance for this simulation yet.", your teacher still needs to finish setting up the Investing Simulator for your class. Let them know you're ready to trade.
Business Simulator: no café, paused or closed
"No café yet" "You don't have a café yet. When your teacher starts the Business Simulator, yours shows up here on its own. If your class is already playing, ask your teacher to add you."
"Paused." Your teacher paused the simulation. You can look around, but you can't save until they resume.
"Closed by the bank." Your café ran out of cash too many times. Ask your teacher to start it over.
If the page says the Business Simulator isn't included for your class, it works like "Not in your class" above. Let your teacher know if you think it should be there.
Startup Simulator: an error when you start
If you pick your startup and see a red error message instead of your company, nothing was saved yet, so it's safe to try again. If it keeps happening, wait a minute, refresh the page, and try once more.
Twine Town isn't in the menu
Twine Town appears in the menu when you're in a class that uses the Personal Finance Core Foundations course, unless your teacher has switched it off. If classmates have it and you don't, tell your teacher.
An Arcade game is blank or stuck
Click Restart at the top of the game.
Refresh the page.
Some Arcade games load from their own website. If one game always stays blank on the school network but works at home, the network may be blocking it. Pick another game, and tell your teacher which one.
"Something went wrong"
A full page that says "Something went wrong" and "We hit an unexpected error loading this page" means the page couldn't load.
Click Try again.
If that doesn't work, click Go home and open the simulator again from the Simulators page.
Still happening? Follow the steps in the next section.
Some simulators have their own version of this message. For example, the Business Simulator says "Your café didn't load. Refresh the page to try again." Refreshing is the right first step for all of them.
A simulator won't load or stays blank
Refresh the page.
Check your Wi-Fi by opening another website.
Close other tabs and apps you don't need. Simulators have a lot of charts and numbers, and older devices can slow down.
Try a different browser, like Chrome, Edge or Safari, and make sure it's up to date.
If the whole class has the same problem, the school network may be blocking something. Tell your teacher.
On your dashboard, a simulator card may say "We couldn't load your progress just now. Open the simulator to pick up where you left off." That's only the dashboard summary. Open the simulator itself and your game should be there.
Still stuck?
Tell your teacher which simulator, the exact message you see, and what you clicked just before. Your teacher can check the simulator's settings for your class and contact Intertwined if needed. See Getting help when you're stuck.