Prison library games

WWE Superstar Showdown is usually over within 30 minutes but sometimes can go long. There are no dice. You have a board, 6 minis, 6 decks of cards.

Southernman wrote:

Game of Thrones: Hand of the King or maybe even the more advanced Game of Thrones LCG 2E for a TV franchise hook for them.

Who says this place doesn't drown you in knowledge? My coworkers and I spent part of lunchtime at a game store a couple of days ago. One of them was wanting to buy a couple of small, light games to play over the upcoming holidays, and he asked, "What's the name of that Game of Thrones card game, you put cards in a grid then move pieces over top of the grid," etc. We, including the clerk at the store, were all stumped. It turns out he meant GoT:Hand of the King.

hotseatgames wrote: And don't miss Gen-Pop Con

Why not Con Con?

Gregarius wrote:

hotseatgames wrote: And don't miss Gen-Pop Con

Why not Con Con?

There's already anough shady people at the current Con Con, it might harm their future parole chances if they start mixing there.

edulis wrote: Thanks for the suggestions, In your experience how fast does the WWE game play? Does it contain dice. I do not see it listed on GF9 website.

It's there gf9.com/ , under out of print games. This is quite fun and easy to play, it plays quick but you can have multiple players playing multiple matches in an 'Event' that can make it longer but still competitive fun.
Looking back at my post WWE Showdown and Family Business must go down well in prison, thematic direct conflict card games.

What about traditional games like Battleship, Connect 4 and Uno?

I work at a boardgame restaurant (with over 500 games), teaching/recommending games to patrons and the most telling part of the job is what games are popular and which ones sit on the shelves (98% of the hobby games).

The latest "hot" games requested by hobbyists get played a handful of times, at most. We have replaced, Uno, Guess Who, Clue, Battleship and Connect 4 multiple times during my 2 and half year stint with the restaurant.

It's purely anecdotal but nostagia can play a huge part of some people's gaming experience.

Dr. Mabuse wrote: What about traditional games like Battleship, Connect 4 and Uno?

I work at a boardgame restaurant (with over 500 games), teaching/recommending games to patrons and the most telling part of the job is what games are popular and which ones sit on the shelves (98% of the hobby games).

The latest "hot" games requested by hobbyists get played a handful of times, at most. We have replaced, Uno, Guess Who, Clue, Battleship and Connect 4 multiple times during my 2 and half year stint with the restaurant.

It's purely anecdotal but nostagia can play a huge part of some people's gaming experience.

I think your percentage of games just sitting, 98%, is also the same percentage of the population who have no idea what a hobby game is and just grab one they recognise or doesn't scare them when reading the back of the box

Here is an article/ review written by one of my offender library clerks that appeared in the prison newspaper. Thought you guys might get a kick out of it.

Very well written.

So it is now 2024 and I run what might be one of the most exclusive board gaming clubs in the country. Once a month I run a board game night in the prison library as part of a rotating Friday night programming option. The other Friday programs are book club, crocheting/knitting group, and quiet study hall. It is a 2 to 2 and half hour session.

I have a collection of about 35 games. One of my inmate clerks comes in and teaches / runs one a table of 'heavier games'. They've played Root, Ticket to Ride, Diplomacy (obviously not all the way) , Santorini and Pandemic.

There is usually a couple of guys that just want to play chess or scrabble.

Then I take the leftovers, which tend to be guys who mostly just want to get out of their cells and don't have much board gaming experience beyond Sorry and Monopoly. We play a lot of 6 Nimmit/ Take 5, Saboteur was a BIG hit - they liked the sneaky aspect. We've also played Love Letter, Quirkle and Ingenious, but we tend to have larger groups. The most complex game I've tried was Escape the Aliens from Outerspace and several guys couldn't figure it out.

I am thinking of adding Cheating Moth and maybe Finger Guns, does anyone have other suggestions for larger player count, high player interaction card games that can be learned quickly?

Board games really are a great tool for pro-social behavior. It is pretty crazy to watch the dynamic change around the table as people relax and enjoy themselves. I guess it is true in with any strangers gaming together, but to see it here, where there is so much tension- racial, gangs, status based on crime - from refusing to acknowledge each other to laughing and joking as someone has to take a set of cards in Take 5, is pretty fulfilling.

Perhaps Hellapagos would be a good one?

edulis wrote: does anyone have other suggestions for larger player count, high player interaction card games that can be learned quickly?

Nuclear War is a classic, and Noble Knight has a copy for $24.00 right now.

Though not just a card game, Kill Dr. Lucky is easy to learn and high in interaction. It's a fairly short game with 4 players, but 6 to 8 players could easily take 2+ hours to play.

I wonder if removing some failure cards would speed it up.

Removing some failure cards would definitely speed up Dr. Lucky. Failure cards get discarded after use into a separate discard pile that doesn't get shuffled back into the deck, so they eventually become scarce anyway, but starting out with fewer can really accelerate the process.

Looking at Hellapagos - looks like it plays quick and looks fun. Reading the description, is there is player elimination? or do players still have a role if there character is out?