Passpartout The Starving Artist

Passpartout drops you into the shoes of a French artist trying to survive the inscrutable art scene. You paint your own canvases in-game, then hang them in your gallery and watch (or rather hear) self-styled connoisseurs critique your work in real time.

The economics are the puzzle. Pay rent, fund your wine and baguette habit, and decide how far you'll bend your "artistic integrity" to charm the next customer. Sell enough and you unlock fancier galleries with pickier clientele; fail to sell, and the baguette bills win.

A living puppet-theatre presentation, soundtrack by Synkronosaurus, and unlockable customers keep the loop entertaining well past the first few canvases. Developed by Flamebait Games and released in 2017.