1A.M. Jailbreak

In 1A.M. Jailbreak players are trying to help their prisoners – cards in their hand – dig their way out of a prison, by playing them to the table. The player who liberates the most criminals will be the winner!

Happily the criminals in question look more like (Where’s) Wally than a bunch of gangsters. Maybe they were wrongfully convicted after marching for nationalised pyjamas. Or maybe we’re just bad ourselves. Either way, we’re dealt a large hand of cards and try to shed them before anyone else does.

It works like this: the starting player plays between one and three cards to ‘the tunnel’ to kick the game off: if more than one, they must be a set (-all the same number) or a run (-consecutive numbers). The next player then plays their set or run (or single) on top of these cards, with the caveat that you must play either the same number or cards, or one more or less. So if someone opens with a run of 4-5-6, I can play anything from two cards to four cards on top, as long as they are a set or run. After playing, you must pick up at least one card from the display (called the Cell) or top of the deck, but you can take two if you want to. Ideally, you’re trying to make your hand into sets or runs in order to play them. If you cannot (or choose not to) play, you must pick up two cards, not just one, and the tunnel is emptied out. The only time you don’t pick up any is if the turn you just had was playing all the cards left in your hand.

The game inserts a couple of interesting options. There are a few Leader cards that can be any number you like, which are very helpful in their flexibility. There’s also an option called ‘Shooting Ahead’. This is when before playing your cards, you add an additional card to the previous player’s cards! This is both a way to shed more cards from your hand and – potentially – allow you to play a bigger run or set. Let’s say you have four sevens but the previous play was just a four and a five. If you have a three or a six in your hand, you can shoot ahead by adding a card to the four and five – and now you can play your four sevens as well. You can shoot ahead even if you pass.

Everyone keeps playing either until only one player has cards left or the bottom of the deck is reached – anyone who has cards gets a point per card – and points are bad! The cards are shuffled and redealt for a new round and then after three rounds the player with the fewest points is the winner.