Dig Your Way Out

The game setup begins by placing the double-sided game board in the center of the table. In the specially designated spaces, place the four stacks of tool cards: knife, shovel, spoon, and pickaxe. Discarded cards from these stacks are placed on top of the original stack. Next, separate and place the gang cards from the prison, with discarded gang cards placed under the original stack. The largest stack is the search deck, consisting of object cards obtained from searches; shuffle these and place them in their designated spot, with discarded search cards placed next to the original stack face-up. Place the cigarette tokens and fight tokens next to the game board. Each player chooses a character and their corresponding standee, which is placed in a cell. Each player draws one background card and keeps it secret from other players. The last step of the setup is for each player to draw three cards from the search deck, which will form their starting hand.

The objective of the game is to escape prison. This is achieved by accumulating a certain number of points, which depends on the number of players. If you are the first to reach the required number of points, you escape prison before the alarm sounds. The remaining players will be caught during the general search and transferred to a maximum-security prison.

The player with the most impressive scar goes first. Then, in clockwise order, each player takes their turn. On your turn, you have the right to perform up to two actions. Actions are of two types: basic actions and specific actions. Basic actions can be performed in multiple locations within the prison, while specific actions can only be performed in dedicated locations. Additionally, you can perform an extra action from your background card. If you are part of a specific gang, you can perform another action. The basic actions are: Search (can only be done once per turn, draw cards as indicated by your location), Move (two types: simple move by rolling a die and moving to one of two indicated locations, or cautious move by sacrificing both actions to move to any chosen location without rolling), Join a Gang (requires specific accessory cards in hand), Play an Action Card (play an action card from your hand), Blackmail (requires at least one weapon, be in the same room as another player, announce which tool you want from them, and place your weapon face-up; if the opponent has the tool and offers it, the blackmail ends without a fight; if not, a fight begins), and Craft (requires combining specific cards as shown on the crafting table). The specific actions are: Dig (can only be done in cells, play a tool card next to your player board to gain points), Sell (can only be done in the recreation area, discard any number of cards to gain cigarette tokens based on their total value), Buy (can only be done in the recreation area, spend cigarette tokens to buy weapons or tools), Steal a Spoon (can only be done in the canteen, simply take the spoon card into your hand), and Heal (can only be done in the infirmary, spend one action to remove one beating token, or two actions if you have a two-beating token).

Points are primarily earned by digging tunnels. When you play a tool card next to your player board, the points indicated on the top of the card contribute to your total score needed to escape prison.

The game ends immediately when, on your turn, you have accumulated the necessary number of points to escape prison. There is no concept of a tie; the first player to reach the point threshold wins.