Lock ‘em Up! is a game of political dirty tricks where you have to put your opponents in jail before they do it to you. The winner is the last player with a character not in jail.
The game consists of a total of three decks worth of cards split into two groups: the Character Cards, the people you’re trying to keep out of jail; and the Action Cards which give you power and influence to make strategic moves in the game.
Players choose which group of characters they want to control — the White House, the Military, Law & Order, Progressives, Conservatives, or Lobbyists. Players then take turns drawing from the Action Cards deck, using those cards to indict or save characters. When the game board resembling a courtroom is full, the convictions start. Turn by turn, the Characters on the docket are sent to a jail cell, and out of the game.