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You are ferocious convicts locked up on ANIMALCATRAZ island with savage psychos, corrupt guards and ruthless gangs.
It's a jungle in there. BE KING...or BREAK OUT!
Take on rivals Solo or in 2 player Co-op Teams in this SANDBOX PRISON BRAWLER for 2 to 8 players. Take turns playing unique feral Convicts from their 1st day behind bars. Commit crimes to raise your Reputation to KINGPIN status or plan the perfect ESCAPE to win!
2 WAYS TO WIN:
1- With REPUTATION points earned by committing crimes: raise your reputation to Kingpin rank
before your rivals do or be the one with the most points after the Riot (the last Event card!)
OR...
2- Be the first to ESCAPE.
OVERVIEW:
Convicts start with unique Cunning and Strength levels, 2 specific skills to unlock, a weapon of choice to acquire, 3 Carry Item slots and the capability to go Primal to rage-boost stats. Strength is for attacks, Cunning for theft and corruption, both for escaping and recruiting Gangsters. Commit crimes and succeed at the above to raise your Reputation and gain ranks and perks. But fail, then lose REP!
Each day in prison has 5 rounds. A Convict has 5 Actions to spend per round. Rounds are dynamic: Guards change position after a dice-roll, altering options, Contraband is distributed in cells and Events come into play. Then, lockdown for the night. All in cell! Gain REP from recruited Gangsters still alive, lose REP or not fighting rivals that taunted you with Bitch coins. Then choose how to upgrade your convict with a read and/or workout. A new day begins!
On your turn, pick from your Cell Stash what Contraband your Convict pockets as hidden Carry Items. Then, move him from his cell passed Gangster filled cellblocks, prowling rivals and guarded rooms, while managing spent Actions. Choose to spend more Actions by upgrading your Convict’s Strength or Cunning with a workout in the Courtyard, game of chess and more. Corrupt Guards, recruit Gangsters etc.
Trade Contraband on the Black Market for improvised Weapons, Escape tools, Armor, Upgrades, nasty Traps and more! Keep traded items hidden and your rivals guessing. Is it a toothbrush shank, an Escape tool...Need to attack or steal to find out! Planning a breakout? Get the Tools matching your Escape Card then secure them. Added to your Strength and Cunning, they improve your odds.
Preyed upon? End your turn next to a Guard for protection, and pray he won’t move. Or better! Corrupt a Guard aided by Contraband bribes like booze, pills and porn. Owning Guards grants you access to restricted areas and no-cost Actions while leaving rivals unprotected. Take control of the board!
The more the bloodier! In advanced mode, hire skill-specific Gangsters to do your dirty work, break bones in riots, steal or gang up on rivals. These Thieves, Brawlers, Pushers and Hookers will pimp up your Reputation too. So use them to complete Crime Assignments such as Fight Clubs, Cartels, Bordellos etc. It will boost your rank in the race to be crowned KING.
-description from designer
- Humorous and satirical take on prison life.
- Multiple ways to win (escape or become Kingpin).
- Variety of player counts and team options (1v1, teams, multiple players).
- Interactive gameplay with other players and guards.
- Legacy elements introduce evolving gameplay.
- Over-the-top thematic elements like the electric chair card holder.
- Guards can block paths and actions.
- Other players can impede progress by corrupting guards, fighting, or stealing.
- Limited action points require focused planning.
- Potential for Contraband to be stolen, especially near escape.
- Anthropomorphic convicts in a prison lifestyle, satirized with a tongue-in-cheek and comical bent.
- A prison
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action Point Allowance — Players have five action points to spend each round on movement and taking actions.
- Area Control — Guards block paths and actions in different rooms, and players can corrupt guards to control them and impede other characters.
- Card Drafting — Players draw Contraband cards from decks in different rooms, which act as interaction cards for the game.
- Dice Rolling — Used for actions like stealing or fighting, where rolls are modified by player stats and collected cards.
- Hidden Movement/Information — Collected contraband is secret, and players don't know if another player has a key item needed for escape.
- Objective Completion — Players race to complete one of two goals: escaping the prison or becoming the Kingpin by gaining reputation.
- Player Elimination (indirect) — While not direct elimination, the 'riot' at the end is a 'No Holds Barred fight between all of the convicts who are remaining'.
- Player Trading — Players can collect and trade Contraband cards.
- Set Collection — Collecting specific items is required for completing Escape cards or Crime cards, which are objectives.
- Stat progression — Convicts have strength and cunning stats that can be leveled up by taking actions in specific areas.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This is kind of an adult themed game.
- It takes that prison lifestyle idea and kind of plays with it a little bit in a very tongue-in-cheek way kind of satirizing what it's like to be in a prison and also giving it kind of a comical bent with these over-the-top characters that you're playing.
- You're either trying to escape which is going to have you collect a variety of items and then try to complete one of these two possible Escape cards or you're trying to become the king pin of the prison.
- This is a completely competitive game and you're actually kind of racing in this game as well.
- It's a lot of things that are going on that field again very much like prison life.
- There's no way to just walk up to a player and steal from them or fight them you need to go to one of the possible locations that's going to have that ability to fight a convict or steal from a convict.
- It's a kind of a sandboxing game and when you add in the Legacy stuff it's going to be any uh even more so.
References (from this video)
- Amazing artwork and character work.
- High attention to detail.
- Good comedic effect from bribing guards.
- Objectively enjoyable for many despite not being the host's preference.
- Potential for lots of add-ons and variability.
- Mechanisms are not for the host (too lucky, too roll-to-resolve).
- Gameplay is a bit too lucky.
- Too much roll to resolve style gameplay.
- anthropomorphic animals in a prison simulator
- prison
- Dead of Winter
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- deck thinning — Skimming the top of decks is part of the gameplay.
- Dice Rolling — A lot of dice rolling is involved.
- Push Your Luck — Trying to increase odds to roll a certain configuration on dice.
- Set Collection — Collecting certain items is a key part of navigating the prison.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This is why I take a look at the last five new to me board games that I played and I rank and review them in order of preference.
- I'm much more of a euro gamer and a card gamer.
- So yeah while I can say it's not for me it might be for you and it might be worth checking out and it's definitely going to be a contender for artwork of the year because everything in this game just looks spectacular.
- It's just a really charming fun family weight experience and I left the game fing really impressed by actually and I did thoroughly enjoy my plays.
- This one is exactly what I'm looking for in a deduction game because you are in charge of your own t because again you can't share your own information so you know you're in the hot seat and you actually have some autonomy you're not going to be quarterbacked by another player.
- And all in all I don't really have a single bad thing to say about this game um other than the fact I might say I'm not always in the mood to play it.