I built a free quant interview trainer (Optiver/Citadel style games) - looking for honest feedback

Hey everyone,

I spent the last few months building outcryarcade - a practice site for quant trading interviews. It has timed games for mental math, probability, market making, and stats, plus mock interview sims modeled on formats from firms like Optiver, Citadel, and Two Sigma.

You get 3 free scored runs a day with no account and no card, so you can try it in about 2 minutes.

Full disclosure: it's my site. I'm not trying to sell anyone here - I'm posting because recruiting season is kicking off and I want feedback from people who have actually sat these interviews:

1. Do the questions feel like the real thing, or too easy/too hard?
2. Which firm formats am I missing or getting wrong?
3. What would make you actually use this over grinding a PDF of practice questions?

Brutal honesty welcome. If something feels off about a sim I'd genuinely rather hear it here than have it mislead someone before an interview. I can't link but the website is OutcryArcade

280 WSO Academy Sales & Trading Session Reviews: 4.85/5

Class of '28 Aug 2026 Cohort

5.00/5

Sales & Trading Career Roadmap (optional)

“John listened before giving advice. I told him I had accepted an offer at Bank of America but was still interested in JLL and Wellington. Instead of telling me what to do, he asked what I wanted from my career and helped me think about which path would give me more options. I also liked that he was honest about what he knew and didn’t know. He gave me a clear reason to keep working toward JLL, while reminding me that Bank of America was still a good place to start. When I practiced my interview answer, he told me what worked and gave me one simple way to improve it. That made the feedback easy to use. Most of all, John made me feel less stressed about figuring everything out right now. He offered to help with a mock interview too, which meant a lot to me. ”

Class of '28 Apr 2026 Cohort

5.00/5

Sales & Trading Mock Interview

“The mentor provided extremely detailed and thoughtful feedback throughout our session. What I appreciated most was that the advice was not generic. He took the time to understand my background, past experiences, and the specific roles I am currently recruiting for, and then tailored his suggestions accordingly. He also connected many of his recommendations to his own professional background and experiences, which made the feedback much more practical and credible. Instead of simply telling me what to change, he explained why certain answers or approaches would be more effective and how an interviewer might interpret them. He also shared specific examples from his own experience to illustrate his points. I came away from the session with a much clearer understanding of both my strengths and the areas I should improve, as well as several concrete ways to strengthen my interview preparation. Overall, the session was extremely helpful, personalized, and actionable, and I would definitely work with him again.”

See All 11,101 WSO Academy Reviews

2 Comments

WSO Monkey Bot

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1mo

Based on the most helpful WSO content, here are some insights and suggestions for your quant interview trainer:

Realism of Questions:
- Users often emphasize the importance of interview prep tools mimicking the actual difficulty and style of questions from firms like Optiver, Citadel, and Two Sigma. Ensure your games reflect the time pressure, complexity, and problem-solving nature of these interviews. Feedback from beta users who have recently gone through these processes would be invaluable.
Firm-Specific Formats:
- Firms like Optiver and Citadel are known for their unique approaches. For example, Optiver often focuses on rapid mental math and market-making scenarios, while Citadel leans heavily on probability and statistics. If you haven't already, consider adding firm-specific modules or labeling games by firm to help users target their preparation.
Differentiation from PDFs:
- To stand out from static PDFs, focus on interactivity and analytics. Features like detailed performance breakdowns, progress tracking, and adaptive difficulty can make your platform more engaging. Additionally, incorporating a leaderboard or gamification elements could motivate users to return daily.
Missing Features:
- Based on WSO discussions, some users might appreciate:
  - Explanations for answers: After completing a game or question, provide a detailed explanation to help users understand their mistakes.
  - Customizable difficulty levels: Allow users to adjust the difficulty as they improve.
  - Mock interview simulations: Include a feature where users can simulate a full interview experience, complete with time constraints and varied question types.
Feedback Collection:
- Encourage users to provide feedback directly on the platform. A simple post-game survey or feedback button can help you continuously refine the experience.
Community Engagement:
- Consider integrating a forum or discussion board where users can share tips, discuss strategies, and provide feedback. This could also help build a loyal user base.

Your approach of offering free runs without requiring an account is a great way to lower the barrier to entry and attract users. Keep iterating based on feedback, and your platform could become a go-to resource for quant interview prep!

Sources: New Private Equity Interview Course - v3.0 - Looking for Beta Users ($100 Off for Feedback), Bottom buckets: Where are you now?, Annual Review was bad how do I bounce back?, Hedge Fund Interview Guide BETA is LIVE!

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I built a free quant interview trainer (Optiver/Citadel style games) - looking for honest feedback

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I built a free quant interview trainer (Optiver/Citadel style games) - looking for honest feedback

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