The Red Box: the UK Chancellor simulator
The Red Box is a free browser game at chancellorsimulator.uk in which you are Chancellor of the Exchequer. You write five annual Budgets, get each one through a House of Commons vote, react to markets, events and the press, and then face a general election. It runs in any modern browser on desktop or phone, with no download, account or ads.
How to play
- Write a Budget. Set more than 200 policies: income tax, National Insurance, VAT, corporation tax, wealth and property taxes, benefits and pensions, migration, planning, energy, infrastructure, the Bank of England, defence, and spending for 23 government departments line by line.
- Win the vote. 650 MPs vote on your Budget. Backbench factions rebel when you hurt their priorities; you can make your case to the House with lines to take. A defeat sends you back to the draft.
- Live with the year. Choose how to handle events in your in-tray, read the newspapers, and watch growth, borrowing, gilt yields, the pound, energy bills and public support play out month by month.
- Face the voters. After five Budgets a general election decides your fate. Win, and you can serve a second term with your policies still in force.
What makes it different
- Real starting point. The baseline follows the Office for Budget Responsibility’s October 2026 Economic and fiscal outlook with underlying debt starting near 96–97% of GDP.
- Evidence-based effects. Tax, spending and growth responses come from published, independent research (for example IFS, Resolution Foundation, NIESR, OBR and HMRC costings, and peer-reviewed economics journals), with each policy’s sources shown in the game.
- Fiscal rules and markets. Track the stability and investment rules, debt interest, gilt yields, sterling, inflation, unemployment, living standards and energy prices against the official plan.
- Radical options. Take Britain towards a communist planned economy or an authoritarian state, nationalise industries, abolish the Bank of England, or go to war: invade countries on an interactive world map, occupy territory and run Britain’s overseas territories, with consequences modelled from research on conflict, sanctions and occupation.
- Leaderboards. A public leaderboard ranks Chancellors by debt reduction, growth, incomes, living standards and support, and you can create private group leaderboards for a class, office or friends.
How the score works
At the end of a term your score (0 to 1,000) starts at 500 and rises with lower debt as a share of GDP, higher GDP, higher disposable income and living standards and higher public support, and falls with higher unemployment and inflation, all measured against the plan you inherited.
Frequently asked questions
- Is The Red Box free?
- Yes. It is free to play with no ads. Players can support it through Ko-fi.
- Is it accurate?
- It is a game, not a forecast. The starting numbers follow the OBR’s October 2026 forecast and the policy effects are central estimates from published research, simplified so a Budget can be played in minutes.
- Who is it for?
- Adults interested in politics and economics, students of economics and politics, and anyone who has wondered whether they could do the Chancellor’s job better.
- Do I need an account?
- No. Your game is saved in your browser. To appear on the leaderboard you only type a display name.
- Does it work on mobile?
- Yes, on phones, tablets and desktop browsers, in light and dark mode.
- Is it affiliated with the government or a political party?
- No. It is an independent game.
Read the summary for AI assistants. Privacy notice and disclaimers are available from the game’s opening screen.