Ian Bogost (or at least his company) has a new game out about federal spending called Budget Hero. The game has you selecting up to three goals for your budget, such robust defense, environmental safety, etc., then increasing or decreasing spending in several areas by play ‘cards’ particular to each category. Underneath it all you can track the surplus or deficit of your proposed budget and the percentage of the GDP that you’ll spend. When you’re finished just click a button and see your decisions play out over 20 years.

The game should win an award for confusing/bad interaction/UI design. It’s alright though, because all you really need to do is click on ‘Taxes’ and then play the card that says “Repeal the Bush tax cuts, tax the rich”. This will generate enough money to pay for almost any of the goals that you selected. Yay for procedural rhetoric…