Press start. The Mortgage Reports just launched The Homebuyer’s Trail, a free retro game that turns the first-time homebuying journey into a playable adventure straight out of the computer lab.
Instead of reading another checklist, you play your way through the real steps of buying a home — getting ready, touring houses, making an offer, and surviving closing — and see whether you can make it all the way to the keys.
What the game is
The Homebuyer’s Trail is a browser-based game in the style of the classic trail games many of us played in school. You guide your character through the four big stages of buying a home:
- Get ready — budgeting, credit, and preapproval, the groundwork most buyers skip
- Tour houses — weighing what you want against what you can actually afford
- Make an offer — navigating competition, negotiation, and contingencies
- Survive closing — the paperwork, inspections, and last-minute surprises between “offer accepted” and keys in hand
Each stage reflects how the process really works, so the choices you make in the game mirror the trade-offs real buyers face. Win or lose, you come out knowing more about homebuying than when you pressed start.
Why we built it
First-time buyers tell us the same thing over and over: the process feels like a maze, and most of the advice out there reads like homework. The Homebuyer’s Trail flips that — it teaches the real mechanics of buying a home through play, where mistakes cost you game points instead of earnest money.
It’s also free, takes just a few minutes, and doesn’t require any personal information to play. Entering the gift card drawing after you finish is optional, isn’t a mortgage inquiry, and won’t trigger a credit pull or lender calls.
How to play — and the $100 gift card drawing
Play free at themortgagereports.com/tools/the-homebuyers-trail on desktop or mobile. No download, no sign-up required to play.
🎁 Win a $100 gift card
Complete the game, then submit your first name and email to enter the weekly random drawings. The promotion runs through December 6, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT.
No purchase necessary. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and D.C., except New York and Florida, 18+ and the age of majority in their state. One entry per person and email address for the entire promotion; one prize per person. Odds depend on eligible entries in each drawing. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: Full Beaker, Inc. See Official Rules.
Keep leveling up
New to the process? Start with our first-time home buyer guide, then run your numbers with the mortgage payment calculator and home affordability calculator.
