Lionel Laurent: “The Nov. 19 release date of video-game series Grand Theft Auto’s latest installment must seem like an agonizing wait for fans. But there’s an amuse bouche for those looking for perhaps less bloody but just as dramatic interactive thrills: A new game that puts you in the shoes of a French budget minister trying to bring public finances under control.”

“Created by a former advisor to one-time prime minister and current presidential candidate Gabriel Attal, the ‘Battle of the Budget‘ is educational, entertaining and a little depressing. You start off creating your own minister – battle-hardened politician, ivory-tower academic or charismatic tycoon – and then make a series of choices to craft the next budget, from the pace of deficit reduction to choosing which specific subsidy to withdraw.”

“So far, so predictable. But it’s after those initial choices that the game really cranks up a gear, unfolding episode by episode like a Netflix series.”