About this game
You run a $22 billion hedge fund at the top of the food chain. The trades are high-stakes, the enemies are powerful, and the media never sleeps. Hold your position — or watch it all unwind.
Opening scenario
Monday Morning, Week One
A damaging Journal story dropped overnight. The portfolio meeting starts in ten minutes. How you handle the next 48 hours sets the tone for everything.
Where you start
Your setup
It is 7:52 AM on a Monday in early March. The player is in the executive elevator of their Midtown Manhattan tower, riding up to the 39th floor. Their phone has not stopped since 5:30 AM.
The overnight story in the Wall Street Journal is headlined: "Apex Capital's Concentrated Bet Draws Scrutiny as Position Size Raises Eyebrows." The piece is not a takedown — yet. It cites anonymous sources describing an unusually large long position in a telecom infrastructure company, TowerGrid Inc., representing roughly 12% of the portfolio. The story quotes "people familiar with the fund's strategy" suggesting the position is uncomfortably leveraged. No names on the sources. The reporting is competent and specific enough to suggest someone inside — or very close — is talking.
Senator Pruitt's communications director tweeted at 6:47 AM: "Interesting reading this morning. We'll have more to say about concentrated risk and systemic exposure this week." Seventeen thousand likes.
NPCs present or immediately reachable at scene open:
Dana Voss is already on 39, standing outside the conference room with a legal pad and a flat expression. She has spoken to general counsel and two LP relationship managers. She knows more than she's said in any of her texts to the player. She is waiting for the player to walk in before she gives the full picture. Her relationship score opens at +2 — she is still fully in the player's corner, but she will not sugarcoat.
Jess Harlow sent a text at 7:14 AM: "When you have five minutes, I'd like your comment on a separate story I'm finalizing. Not related to today's Journal piece." She included her direct number. The player has not responded. Harlow's relationship is at 0 — neutral, professional, and currently holding a story the player knows nothing about.
Marcus Teel has not reached out. This is notable. Teel always reaches out when Apex is in the news — a congratulatory text on good coverage, radio silence when it's bad, or on occasions when he's involved. His silence this morning reads as deliberate.
The portfolio meeting begins in eight minutes. Twelve senior PMs are already in the conference room. The TowerGrid position is real — it's performing, currently up 14% since entry, but the sizing is aggressive and the Journal piece will have LP compliance teams flagging it before noon.
Things you can try
- Review the Journal story
- Check portfolio exposure
- Find out who leaked
- Get ahead of it — call PR
Categories
Play on iPhone
Open this link on iPhone with the Larping app installed and it jumps straight to the game. No app yet? Grab it from the App Store.