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Time Machine Life

A life simulation: wake up at twenty in 1980 New York, remembering the future. Find work, lend friends money, marry, invest with real stock and home prices, and live to 2026.

All money and scores in the game are virtual; nothing here is investment advice. Sources and rules · Privacy policy

Forty-six years, lived again with the future in mind

Time Machine Life is a simulation of one life: you wake up at twenty in New York in 1980 with $2,000 and a fuzzy memory of everything until 2026. Years pass in seconds with their paychecks, bills and market news, and time stops at the big moments. Those choices change more than money: your job, your city, your family, your friends and your health.

You have three friends: Mike, who dreams of opening a diner; careful Sarah; and gullible Danny. Lend them money and they use it their own way, with real stock prices and dice deciding how it turns out. The places where American money really leaks show up too: muggings, break-ins, uninsured hospital bills, pyramid schemes, a Ponzi fund, divorce, nursing homes, private school and college.

How to play

  1. Choose to start as a man or a woman and time starts flowing. You can pause or play at 1x, 2x or 4x speed.
  2. When an event card appears, time stops. Pick an option to see the scene, the outcome and the change in net worth, then press Keep living.
  3. Each year's review rolls past: income and savings, childcare, medical bills, investment moves and small events.
  4. Most savings flow automatically into a 401(k) (70% S&P 500, 30% Treasuries). You only pick stocks yourself at brokerage stops every few years, half a year of living costs must stay in cash, and switching stocks costs capital-gains tax.
  5. When you come back to 2026 at 66, you get your net worth, an ending and a summary of your life.

Score and endings

The leaderboard score is net worth in 2026: cash, 401(k), stocks, side bets such as friends' businesses, and home equity. The ending looks at much more: health, family, friendship, happiness, and any divorce, bankruptcy or investigation. Pick too many perfect winners and suspicion builds until the IRS or the SEC comes calling; ride out a crash without a cushion and you may have to sell at the bottom. Card debt costs 18% a year, and too much of it ends in bankruptcy.

Data and limits