Fancy being a rabbi? Computer-game designer Dave Gilbert has come up with a game that enables you to do just that — well, virtually, at least.

In his creation, The Shivah, players take control of ‘Rabbi Stone’, who is struggling to deal with the decline in interest in his New York synagogue and the impact this has on his faith. He then discovers that someone from his past has been murdered and left him enough money to save the synagogue. The question — and what players must attempt to determine — is who?

US-based Mr Gilbert, 32, has been making computer games for the past two-and-a-half years. He tells People: “Before I wrote The Shivah, I had been working in Korea, where I was the only Jewish person around. It was a unique experience. I sat down and decided that I wanted to make a game with a Jewish slant and reconnect with my Judaism.” He adds: “I never expected the game to take off the way it has.”

Mr Gilbert, who runs his own company, Wadget Eye Games, has created two other games but The Shivah, he says, was his first real commercial project. He describes it as a rabbinical adventure of mourning and mystery.

Tempted? The game can be downloaded for around $5 from www.wadjeteyegames.com/shivah