Run a real country's economy. Set trade policy. Negotiate deals. Watch how global shocks reshape your strategy in a simplified world model.
Why it works
Passive absorption. You memorize terms like "trade deficit" and "tariff" — but you never feel the feedback loop.
Active decision-making. You raise tariffs and watch inflation spike. You sign a trade deal and see GDP grow. It clicks.
How it works
Choose from 12 real economies — from the US superpower to Kenya's frontier market.
Spend 3 action points each quarter. Lower tariffs, sign deals, sanction rivals, invest in infrastructure.
Oil shocks hit. Recessions spread. Trade wars escalate through archetype-based global events.
After 10 turns (5 years), your performance across GDP, trade, approval, and diplomacy is scored.
Playable countries
The world's largest economy with unmatched financial influence, military power, and reserve currency status. Every policy decision ripples across global markets.
The world's manufacturing engine. Unmatched export volume, massive infrastructure investment, and rapidly growing domestic market. But demographic challenges loom.
Europe's industrial backbone. World-class engineering, the Mittelstand SME ecosystem, and EU leadership. Navigating the energy transition from Russian gas dependency.
Pioneer of precision manufacturing and robotics. Navigating decades of deflation and demographic decline while maintaining world-class export quality.
The world's fastest-growing major economy. Young population, booming tech sector, and strategic positioning as a geopolitical swing state.
South America's giant. Agricultural superpower with the Amazon as a geopolitical asset. Rich in resources but challenged by inequality and political instability.
The world's top oil exporter and OPEC powerhouse. Vision 2030 is driving diversification — but oil still dominates. Every oil price move is existential.
Africa's largest economy and most populous nation. Massive oil wealth but extreme inequality. A young, entrepreneurial population driving a tech and fintech boom.
The world's freest economy per capita. A tiny city-state that punches far above its weight through strategic location, zero corruption, and world-class ports.
Benefiting from nearshoring as companies move supply chains from Asia. USMCA ties its economy tightly to the US. A rising manufacturing alternative to China.
A commodity superpower. The world's top iron ore and LNG exporter. China is its biggest trading partner, creating strategic tension with its US alliance.
East Africa's economic hub. A fintech leader with M-Pesa, growing agricultural exports, and a young entrepreneurial population. High debt but high potential.
Platform
The mission
GlobalTrade Sim was built to make international economics accessible to every student — not just those with access to expensive simulation software or elite university programs.
The world economy affects every person on earth. Understanding how tariffs, trade deals, and monetary policy work shouldn't be a privilege.