Animalcatraz preview – This isn’t your normal zoo…

I’ve been soured on prison themed games in the past. Whether it was the basic gameplay or the over the top stereotypes, I’ve just been turned off to the theme. When Animalcatraz came across my radar, I had some preconceived notions of what it may be. I was met with a surprisingly fun, strategic, and expandable game and I’m looking forward to seeing the final product.

Animalcatraz has been in development for a number of years and is finally hitting Kickstarter later this fall. The designer, Alain Matte, started his career working as a designer and illustrator on titles such as Assassin’s Creed, Spiderman, Guitar Hero, and Borderlands. Born of his love of open world games and his fascination with prison life, Animalcatraz is a prison sandbox with multiple ways to play and achieve victory.

The most basic variant of the game plays with 3-4 players each controlling a single convict, all members of rival prison gangs. The prison is divided into four cell blocks surrounding a central courtyard. Each cell block is made up of one main cell, assigned to one of the characters, three adjacent cells, and special space such as the prison entrance, escape routes, or the showers. In the corners are special rooms consisting of the infirmary, the cafeteria, the utility room, and the library. Inhabiting each of these locations are the guards, who each have their own vices and can be swayed to work for the prisoners. Also in these locations are different actions that players can take to work their way towards their chosen win condition.

There are two ways to win Animalcatraz: by becoming the kingpin of the prison or by escaping. Players can become the kingpin by earning reputation points through the various nefarious activities around the prison including winning fights, stealing, committing crimes, and bribing guards. To escape, players must raise their physical and mental skills and collect items by trading contraband to escape through a series of skill tests. The more items they have acquired and the higher their skill levels, the easier it is to escape.

Before starting, players choose or randomly pick a convict, or multiple if playing a larger group game, to move about the prison. Each convict is a different species of animal and has a variety of unlockable skills, different starting strengths and weaknesses, and a specialty weapon that boosts their attack when equipped. Convict cards are stored on a player mat that tracks your reputation, the convicts’ carried items, your gangsters when playing with advanced rules, and any escape plan items and crime cards.

A day in prison consists of five rounds of player turns. Rounds 1-4 represent the day, and round 5 represents a night, or reset, round. Guards will shift through the prison, the first player marker can shift, and players gain new contraband at the start of each round. In Round 5, all convicts are required to return to their cells and then can do some night upgrades to their strength and cunning tracks. At the beginning of rounds 1 and 3, an event card is turned over that gives players a unique game condition available such as stopping by the entrance for a conjugal visit or dropping off contraband in the library for some redemption. The event card deck is limited and the final card starts a riot and the end of the game phases.

A player turn consists of five actions that are normally split between moving and interacting with the rooms the convicts find themselves in. Each room a player moves through is considered an action, including leaving and entering your cell. Each room in the prison has different action spaces that players can activate once per turn. Some of these actions are blocked by patrolling guards. Each corner room has a deck of cards with different items themed to the room type. These cards hold items that can be used as weapons, upgrade your convict, bribe the guards, make escape attempts easier, and even booby trap your cell. There are also action spaces that use up two actions, but can raise your convict’s strength or your cunning or gain you contraband cards from a deck that is stored in a model electric chair. Most areas allow you to earn reputation by stealing from or attacking other convicts. Each action becomes easier depending on your cunning and attack levels and the luck of the dice. Convicts who are defeated in combat are sent to the infirmary and can lose items. Convicts who win combat can earn reputation based on the reputation level of the defeated rival.

Speciality jobs are available in the showers where players can commit different crimes to earn a reputation around the prison. These crimes could involve bribing specific guards, delivering contraband to different locations, or even attacking other convicts. Each guard in the prison has different vices and players can attempt to bribe them by giving them their fix. Bribing a guard gains reputation and allows players to take any actions under their corrupted guards for free. Players can also visit escape locations to pick up an escape plan. These cards denote the different items that convicts can collect to make an escape attempt easier.

Another fun element to the gameplay is owning a cellblock. Players can claim a cellblock for their gang by discarding cards to adjacent cells. When three items have been stored, they put an ownership tag on the block. This tag allows free movement in and out of their cell, rival convicts moving into the cell lose an action, and convicts are granted reputation points the first time they take ownership. Rival convicts can come in and take the stored cards, losing the cellblock king status for the original convict. However, convicts can store booby traps in the cells to do some damage when rivals come snooping about.

Players will continue to play through rounds until one player, or team, gains enough reputation or the final event card is revealed to start an end game riot. When a riot starts, all convicts are placed in the same room and combat begins. Players will continue to fight each other until one convict is left standing. The winner of the riot will gain two reputation points. The player with the most reputation points after the riot is over, wins…unless someone escapes beforehand. Players can attempt an escape by rolling against a strength and a cunning test. The more items they have collected from the escape card and the higher their skill level, the easier the roll will be. If the players can successfully complete both tests, they escape the prison, and win the game!

A number of advanced variants are included in the game, designed to be added as players learn the rules. Some of these involve different rules for stealing, interacting with guards, and attacking players. One includes a gangster variant, where players can recruit other inmates to their gang, giving them bonuses when fighting and other situations. Another fun addition are Trash Tags. If entering a rival’s space, you can call them out by giving them a trash tag. That player has until the night round of the current phase to fight you or lose reputation. There are also a variety of end of game variants adding to or changing the win conditions. After playing the basic rules, the game comes with a variety of envelopes, each with different modules you can add to the game.

There will also be a Legacy expansion for the game available as well. Each legacy envelope will present the players with different challenges and are tracked by getting fresh ink on a rhino image in the rulebook. Each envelope will also add more content to the game in the form of contraband, unlocked characters, and other fun surprises.

So as a kickstarter preview, there is still time for game tweaks and rule changes before the game hits backers hands, but for the most part, the gameplay is set. That being said, I had a blast with this game. This is a true prison sandbox and there is a lot of variability in the game for hours of replayability. In many sandbox games, there can be an overwhelming amount of choices to be made which can slow down the endgame or allow a player to take the lead quickly and never look back. The mechanics of this game, however, are very tight and work well with each other for whichever win condition you choose to pursue. To get enough skill to attempt a breakout, you will need to complete tasks that gain you reputation, which work towards the Kingpin end game condition. It is easy to pivot towards one goal in the middle of the game, without it feeling like an uphill battle.

The variety of playstyles at various player counts is also a lot of fun. Playing at two, each person controls two different convicts, but both convicts are working towards the same reputation track. A breakout victory at two players also requires both convicts to escape, but both can be working towards a collective group of supplies to break out. Having convicts in different parts of the prison can also work towards a collective goal. A one vs. many four player game brought out temporary alliances, but then having to stab someone to get the Kingpin win. There can only be one ruler of the prison after all. The biggest surprise was how well a six player team game worked, with three different gangs vying for control of the prison. One team attempted an escape, but one of their convicts failed the final test. This allowed another team to start a riot and gain the win in the end.

As a preview, components can change quite a bit from the copy I played to the finished copy going to retail and kickstarter backers. That being said, there is still a lot to talk about. The anthropomorphic convicts are illustrated with a vicious caricature that makes you wonder where this cuddly animal went wrong in their lives to end up in prison. The animal theming helps soften the blow that many of the things you encounter in this game come from real life situations. While the base game will come with different colored stands populated with cardboard representations of the guards and convicts, a higher pledge level in the Kickstarter will get you miniature replicas of the convicts in their regular and primal states. When it comes to shocking editions, the light up electric chair that houses the contraband cards and the gangster variant is a frightening touch and you can’t leave out the toothbrush shank first player marker either.

Now let me add a disclaimer to this preview: This game is for mature audiences only. It is not that the gameplay is all that bad, but there is a lot of blood, mature themes, and unadulterated jokes and artwork. However, at the end of the day, Animalcatraz is a lot of fun to play. The different variants and scalable playstyles helped the game feel fresh each time it hit my table. For a sandbox game, decisions and strategy were easily adapted and players never felt out of the game. With so much content already included in the box, I can see the difficulty in adding a solo mode, but a man can dream. I’ll be interested to see the final product with the additional miniatures, finished gang stands, and the other depraved and wacky content the creative team can fit into an already loaded game.

Animacatraz launches its kickstarter on October 29th, 2024. Click here to check out the campaign and secure your copy of the game!

Stay tuned to GamingTrend for all of your tabletop gaming news, reviews, and previews.

See below for our list of partners and affiliates: