The 2008 financial crisis game: run a bank through the crash

It is 2008. House prices are falling, defaults are rising, the interbank market is freezing, and you have just been handed the keys to a bank with thin capital. Can you survive the crash — and come out bigger?

▶ Play the 2008 scenario free

What you face

• A recession from day one — credit losses spike and loan demand dries up.
• Bad loans already on the books — part of your small-business book has soured before you arrive.
• Thin capital — your CET1 ratio is uncomfortably close to the requirement.
• Frozen funding — wholesale markets can shut without warning.
• Failing rivals — weak banks go on fire sale at 40–60% discounts. A rival CEO is circling them too.
• Bank runs — in the smartphone era, a viral rumour can empty accounts over a weekend.

How players survive it

1. Protect capital first. Cut the dividend, tighten underwriting, raise equity if you must — thin capital is what kills banks in 2008.
2. Build liquidity. Cash and short bonds before the rumour, not during it.
3. Grant payment holidays — or don't. Kind to customers, costly if the losses just arrive later.
4. Buy the fire sales. The banks that survive 2008 with dry powder buy their rivals for a fraction of book value.

Want it short? The Crash Course — 2008 quick mode is five years from the middle of the crisis, scored on balance-sheet growth, with a medal at the final bell.

Learn what really happened

The scenario is a game, but the mechanics are real. Read why banks fail, how bank runs happen and how the rules changed after 2008.

Frequently asked questions