StockPetsHow to Play StockPets: The Rules and a Beginner’s Guide to Your First Year
Updated: · StockPets team
Short answer
To play StockPets, you start in January 1996 with 10,000 virtual coins, a pet and three farm plots. Each turn is one month: care for your pet for free, plant seeds by coin budget (fractions allowed), and harvest any whole percentage from 1% to 100% at that month’s price. Seeds follow historical US stock prices, and a delisted company’s crop dies.
What are the basic rules of StockPets?
StockPets is a single-player pet and farm game. Your crops are seeds named after real US companies, and each one follows that company’s historical monthly stock price. Here are the rules in one place.
| Rule | How it works |
|---|---|
| Start | January 1996, a new pet, 3 plots and 10,000 virtual coins |
| Turn | One turn = one month; time moves only when you choose |
| Planting | By coin budget; fractional seeds allowed; minimum 0.01 coins |
| Harvesting | Any whole percentage from 1% to 100%, at the current month’s price |
| Prices | Monthly closing prices, split-adjusted; each company starts at 100 coins in its first recorded month |
| Pace | Free pace for 12 months, then 1 calendar page every 8 hours (hold up to 3) |
| Delisting | The crop dies and its game value becomes zero |
| Records ended | The crop is harvested automatically at the last available price |
| Not included | Cash dividends, taxes, fees and real trades |
How do you plant seeds?
Open the Shop to browse seeds. More than 200 are available in January 1996, and more companies appear in later months when they first join the game’s company list. Each seed’s detail page shows its price history so far, which only goes up to the current game month.
You plant by coin budget, not by counting whole seeds. Decide how many coins to put into a crop and the game works out how many seeds that buys, down to a precision of 0.000001 seed. The minimum is 0.01 coins. Anything you don’t spend stays with you for later.
Prices are in coins, not dollars. Each company’s first recorded month is set to 100 coins, so the coin price keeps the percentage changes rather than the real dollar price. If you’re curious why, read how StockPets prices and stock splits work.
How does harvesting work?
On your farm, you can harvest any whole percentage of a crop, from 1% to 100%, at the current month’s price. Harvest part of a crop and the rest keeps growing on its plot. Harvest all of it and the plot is free again.
Coins you gain above what you paid count as harvest profit. That’s the money for your pet’s treats and gifts, and coins from harvests also pay for farm expansions and building.
How does time pass?
One turn is one month. Time only moves when you choose, and nothing loses value while you’re away. For the first 12 months, you can advance as quickly as you want. After that:
- One calendar page (one month) refills every 8 hours.
- You can hold up to 3 pages.
- You can turn 1 month or 3 months at once.
- Free basic care can be included automatically when you turn several months.
- Setting your device clock backward doesn’t add pages.
Advancing also stops early if your pet grows up or a company on your farm is delisted, so you always get to see those moments.
Expanding your farm, house and greenhouse
The farm starts with 3 plots and can grow to 11. Your house has 4 improvement levels — rug and bed, bookshelf and lamp, frame and clock, curtain and toy box — and the greenhouse has 2 levels, adding a plant pot and then a fishbowl. All of this costs coins from harvests.
Special rules: delisting, records ended and no dividends
Delisting
When a company on your farm is delisted, its crop dies and its game value becomes zero. That includes delistings caused by acquisitions or mergers. This is a deliberate game rule, not real shareholder accounting — in real life, shareholders may receive cash or shares in an acquisition. You clear the dead crop to reuse the plot. A company simply leaving a company list, or missing data, is not a death. The full explanation is in what happens when a stock is delisted.
Records ended
Sometimes a company’s free price records end earlier than the company itself. In that case, its crop is harvested automatically at the last available price, and the coins come back to you.
What’s not included
There are no cash dividends, taxes, fees or real trades. Prices are adjusted for stock splits only.
Events, market weather and memories
Every month has a small life event: a pigeon or a magpie at the window, rain, first snow, petals, autumn leaves, a full moon, fireflies, coins found under the rug, the baker sharing a warm roll, a thunderstorm, cocoa, watermelon and more — 22 kinds, plus birthdays. When the average move of all your crops in a month goes beyond ±3.5%, a line of market weather appears: a bumper month, clear skies, cloudy or a storm. The game never invents news about a specific real company.
A memory of your room, pet and farm is saved to the Album on the Memories screen each month. “Share image” creates a picture card with only your pet, room and game date; your coin amounts stay private.
Your first year: a step-by-step plan
- Choose one of the eight species and give your pet a name (up to 12 characters).
- Do your free care: Feed, Play and Clean.
- Open the Shop and look through a few seeds’ price history so far.
- Plant by coin budget on your 3 plots. You don’t have to spend everything; unspent coins stay.
- Turn the months. During the first 12 you can move as fast as you like.
- Read each month’s life event and any market weather line.
- When a harvest brings profit, use some of it to grant your pet’s monthly wish.
- Save coins from harvests for a new plot, a house improvement or the greenhouse.
- Celebrate your pet’s first birthday at 1 year, then settle into the calendar-page rhythm.
From there, your pet becomes a young companion at 12 months and grows up at 36. See how your pet grows for what happens next.
Settings and saving
Progress is saved on your device only; there’s no cloud sync and no sign-in. Settings lets you adjust sound effects, vibration and language, and offers “Export my records” and “Start over.” Changing the language doesn’t change your farm.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy part of a seed in StockPets?
Yes. You plant by coin budget, and fractional seeds are allowed down to 0.000001 seed, with a minimum of 0.01 coins.
Do crops pay dividends in StockPets?
No. StockPets has no cash dividends, taxes or fees. Prices are adjusted for stock splits only.
What happens when I run out of calendar pages?
After your first 12 months, one calendar page refills every 8 hours, up to 3. Your farm doesn’t lose value while you wait.
Does changing my phone’s clock give me more turns?
No. Setting the device clock backward doesn’t add calendar pages.
What happens if a company’s price records stop early?
If a company’s free price records end before the company does, its crop is harvested automatically at the last available price and the coins are returned to you.
Can I restart StockPets from 1996?
Yes. Settings has a “Start over” option. If you want to keep a copy of your history first, use “Export my records.”
StockPets is a game that uses virtual coins only. Nothing on this page is investment advice, and past price changes do not predict future results.