You and your mates have been imprisoned for crimes you didn’t commit, thrown together into the last available cell of a filthy, overcrowded American megajail. You are now cellmates.
Playing as yourself, the goal is to survive your sentence until Parole Day. There is no escape.
The terms ‘Race’ and ‘Sex’ are used throughout the game to reflect current real-world US detention and inmate categorisation practices.
From Day One, Prison Life cards detail the routine, and often absurd, realities of day-to-day incarceration.
‘The System’ will also impose out-of-touch prejudices, stereotypes and sweeping judgements that directly modify any implicated Inmate profiles with alleged characteristics – whether they like it or not.
Hell in the Cell contains themes of political and social injustice, including discrimination and stereotyping based on ethnicity, skin colour, culture, age, gender identity, sexuality, political persuasion, religious beliefs and current events.
The game and its creator are satirising these subjects and prejudices – not endorsing them.
As The System transforms each of you into the very things it labels you as, Players can utilise a scaling arsenal of Prison Skills to fight, deal, steal, hustle and pimp their way through an escalating cycle of events – and into increasingly ridiculous criminal identities.
Hell in the Cell is all about how innocent people can be incarcerated for ridiculous reasons and have to embrace criminality to survive. Your pacifist best mate could become a violent psychopath. Your sober, wellness-obsessed workmate could become a ruthless drug dealer. Your liberal partner could masquerade as a bigot just to make parole.
Throughout your sentence, you’ll build hidden stashes of Contraband – illicit items, dodgy favours and questionable resources that open up strategic options beyond any unlocked Prison Skills.
From DIY Tattoo Guns, Methadone Packs and Forged Parole Papers, to Bath Salts and a crown made from used hypodermic needles, every item offers its own benefits and drawbacks.
However, Contraband owned by an Inmate counts as incriminating evidence on Parole Day – becoming part of the case against them. Keep an eye on what you have on your person come Parole Day…
New non-player Inmates also get thrown into your overcrowded cell, disrupting the hierarchy and creating fresh opportunities for chaos with their own unique characteristics and Prison Skills.
Drawn from an ever-expanding database, your next cellmate could be almost anyone.
Despite the undeniable successes of the US healthcare system, it can be hard to avoid willingly or forcibly taking up new Drug Addictions whilst in prison.
Each Drug Addiction brings its own unique gameplay implications, risks and rewards. However, push things too far, and Players risk having a Meltdown – temporarily losing control as your criminal expertise spectacularly backfires, with game-changing results.
…and then judge you for it.
The criminal elements helping you to survive can also destroy your chances of earning back your freedom – as every incriminating factor against your Record carries specific +/- values that make up your score.
Similarly, Mugshots can become defaced and altered throughout the game, turning every Inmate’s self-portrait into an evolving visual record of their personal journey through Hell…
On Parole Day, victory goes to the Inmate with the lowest final score, presenting as the ‘least threat to society’ despite how they may have actually conducted themselves throughout their megajail misadventure.
Depending on who’s sitting on your Trial Jury, everything written across your Inmate Record can suddenly matter even more. The Trial Jury is a corruptible ensemble of bias-riddled clowns who can impact the scores of specific subsets of Inmates, based on certain characteristics.
As Parole Day nears, you’ll want to weaponise everything you’ve learned behind bars to ‘make good’ in the eyes of the law by having the lowest final score – possibly making yourself vulnerable in the process.
