For instructors
Business simulations for college courses
Extrapoli is a business simulation platform for college and high-school courses. Student teams run a business in a live, shared market and compete for the top of the leaderboard, over a few weeks or a full semester.
- ✓ Free for instructors; students pay $49 a year
- ✓ Five simulations, one per course area
- ✓ Six complete courses run on the platform
- ✓ Canvas course kits for all 6 courses
The simulations
Food Truck Wars
Find the crowds. Outsmart your rivals. Dominate downtown.
Course kits: Business Mathematics, Intro to Business
Also fits: Entrepreneurship & Small Business, Managerial Accounting, Operations Management, Principles of Marketing, Principles of Management, Financial Accounting
Peak Season
Run the mountain through a shifting economy — snow, credit, confidence, survival.
Course kit: Macroeconomics
Also fits: Corporate Finance, Risk Management & Insurance, Hospitality & Tourism, Budgeting & Managerial Accounting, Business Strategy
Grand Prix
Finance a racing team: sponsorships, burn rate, and the cost of speed. One race every week — Saturdays at 10 AM.
Course kit: Money & Banking
Also fits: Corporate Finance, Entrepreneurial Finance, Sports Management, Risk Management, Project Management, Business Analytics
Coffee Shop Clash
Your rival just opened across the street. Marginal cost meets morning rush.
Course kit: Microeconomics
Also fits: Principles of Marketing, Pricing Strategy, Managerial Economics, Strategic Management, Consumer Behavior, Hospitality Management
Stock Exchange
Analyze. Invest. Grow. Beat the market — and your classmates.
Course kit: Finance & Investments
Also fits: Personal Finance, Financial Literacy, Corporate Finance, Business Statistics, Financial Statement Analysis, Behavioral Finance
How a section runs
- Open a section, choose a simulation, and set how many weeks it runs.
- Students join with the class code; you put them on teams.
- Teams make their decisions between classes, and the market settles at the close.
- Each week has a reading, a quiz and an assignment, on Extrapoli or in Canvas, answered from the team's own results.
Questions instructors ask
What is Extrapoli?
Extrapoli is a business simulation platform for college and high-school courses. Student teams run a business in a live, shared market and compete for the top of the leaderboard, over a few weeks or a full semester. There are five simulations, each with its own ready-made course: Food Truck Wars (Business Mathematics and Intro to Business), Peak Season (Macroeconomics), Grand Prix (Money & Banking), Coffee Shop Clash (Microeconomics) and Stock Exchange (Finance & Investments).
How long does a simulation run?
As long as your course does. A section can run for a few weeks or a whole semester, and every course is written fundamentals-first so any length from 1 to 15 weeks is a complete course. Teams make their decisions between classes, and the market settles at 5 PM each day (the Grand Prix races on Saturdays, and the Stock Exchange trades on real market hours).
How much does it cost?
Nothing for instructors: every simulation, the course kits and the Canvas export are free. Students buy an Annual Pass, $49 a year, and one pass covers every Extrapoli course they take in that year.
Does it work with Canvas?
Yes. Any of the 6 courses exports as a Canvas course (a Common Cartridge file) with readings, weekly assignments, quizzes, discussions, a syllabus and a final exam, every date set from your term calendar. Business Mathematics, Intro to Business, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Money & Banking and Finance & Investments can also run entirely on Extrapoli, with no LMS at all.
Does it grade itself?
In Business Mathematics, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Money & Banking and Finance & Investments, the numbers do: 14 of 15 weeks in Business Mathematics, all 15 in Microeconomics, 10 of 15 in Macroeconomics, 10 of 15 in Money & Banking and 8 of 15 in Finance & Investments are marked automatically against the team's (or, in the Stock Exchange, the student's) own simulation results, so every student's correct answer is their own. Weekly quizzes mark themselves in every on-site course. The written half, where a student explains a decision, stays with the instructor.
Do students play in teams?
Yes. Students join with a class code and the instructor puts them on teams that compete in the same market. In the Stock Exchange, each student trades their own account and teams become discussion groups.