The Gallows are ready! Mages accused of wickedness are prepared to meet their end. It's high noon and yet the sky darkens as if it too knows what the future brings. Today, all of mages on the gallows will face their final fate. One by one the wicked will be executed until only one remains...
...and you want that one remaining to be your client. That's right you're a lawyer and the mage you are protecting is a secret. Your job is to protect your mage by making sure all the other mages on the gallows are executed first. Of course, the other lawyers are also secretly protecting one of the mages.
In The Gallows each player is secretly defending one of the characters in the center. On your turn you add one vote token to any character and then move one vote token from a character to a different character. Once a character has enough votes they are executed. Whoever had the most votes on a character when they are executed scores the conviction worth one point. When only one character remains in the middle, whoever was protecting them scores an acquittal worth lots of points.
Play consists of players trying to manipulate the votes so they score convictions and prevent their own defendant from getting convicted.