Market Maker vs Pixel Conquest
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Market Maker
Engage in a strategic card game simulating market-making. Bid, ask, and bluff to outsmart opponents by estimating the true value of revealed cards. Features turn-based and live trading modes with AI opponents.
- Card-based market-making simulation
- Bid and ask spread mechanics
- Turn-based trading mode
- Live order book trading mode
- AI opponents with distinct strategies
- Career mode tournament
- Performance analytics and leaderboards
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Market Maker is a card game about market-making. Inspired by the card-based trading competition described in The Trading Game. Bid, ask, bluff and outsmart the table — just like Gary Stevenson did to win his internship. Each player holds a private card. A set of community cards is revealed round by round. The true value of the hand is the sum of all cards — but nobody knows it yet. Your edge is how precisely you can estimate it, and how well you read your opponents. HOW IT WORKS You post a bid and an ask spread. Your opponents can buy from you or sell to you. The tighter your spread, the more trades you attract — but the greater your exposure if your estimate is wrong. At settlement, cards are revealed and profits are calculated exactly as on a real trading floor. TWO TRADING MODES Turn-Based: Quote, react, and adapt at your own pace. Study the market before committing. Live Order Book: A 40-second live trading window with real-time AI re-quoting. Update your spread dynamically as new information arrives. The pressure is on. YOUR OPPONENTS Rookie — noisy estimates, wide spreads, impulsive reactions Shark — bluffs confidence, posts misleading quotes to trap you Pro — tight spreads, reads your quotes to infer your private card, executes arbitrage CAREER MODE Work your way through a four-stage trading tournament. Start at a university trading floor against rookies. Survive the sharps to reach MegaBank's live trading desk. Beat the firm's best algorithms and secure the internship. ACHIEVEMENTS & GAME CENTER 17 achievements from First Flip (common) to Winner (legendary). Five leaderboards — all-time profits and per-stage career performance — ranked globally on Game Center. ANALYTICS Every hand ends with a full performance breakdown: P&L timeline, trade-by-trade edge quality, player comparison, and an Analyst Rating from S to D. PRICE Free to download. Upgrade to Pro to unlock Live Trading mode, career stages 3 and 4, and the Pro AI opponent — one purchase, no subscription. DISCLAIMER This is a fan-made recreation inspired by the card game described in Gary Stevenson's book The Trading Game. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Gary Stevenson, Penguin Random House, or any related parties.
Pixel Conquest
Engage in a classic real-time strategy war game. Employ cunning tactics to defeat AI opponents across 10 challenging levels or utilize a random map generator for endless replayability. Master strategic nuances and battle to achieve victory.
- Real-time strategy gameplay
- AI opponents
- 10 difficulty levels
- Random map generator
- Battle strategy mastery
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A classic real time map strategy war game. Use strategy and cunning to beat the AI at its own game. Learn more about the nuances of strategy and battle to best your opponenet. work up 10 levels each one harder than the last or start a game with the random map generator.
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Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pixel Conquest at none against Market Maker's 1. Pixel Conquest also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 6 weeks) and rating (4.3 vs 4.0). Market Maker's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Market Maker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pixel Conquest asks for nothing beyond the download.
Pixel Conquest holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pixel Conquest has 40 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Market Maker ships an update every 6 weeks, Pixel Conquest every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Market Maker | Pixel Conquest |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (1 ratings) | 4.3 (40 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 95.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 40 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 86 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Patrick Doig | Bee Cave |
In-app purchases
Market Maker
- Market_Maker Pro$1.99
Pixel Conquest
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Market Maker free?
Is Pixel Conquest free?
Which has better reviews, Market Maker or Pixel Conquest?
Do Market Maker or Pixel Conquest have ads?
Which is updated more often, Market Maker or Pixel Conquest?
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