Summary
Some video games give players a license to commit crimes that they (hopefully) wouldn’t recreate in real life, but that doesn’t mean they can escape the reality of jail time. Jail cells feature regularly in video games, but rarely on a voluntary basis. Certain titles set entire levels in prisons, script main quest sequences involving jailbreaks, or challenge players to assassinate inmates, but incarcerating gamers for their actions can define whether players follow in-game rules or seek to destroy them.
RPGs tend to craft crime systems in which the laws of their universe are obeyed, or else players face repercussions, namely lengthy prison sentences that either reduce skills, pause progress, endanger the protagonist, or simply waste a mind-numbing amount of the gamer’s real time. In these video games, players who do the crime regret every second having to do the time.
Kingdom Come: Deliveranceis a 2018 RPG that drops players into the 1400s Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic) to avenge the family of protagonist Henry.Historically accurate to a point,Kingdom Come: Deliverancemakes an attempt at punishing criminals with a jail system for their in-game crimes, with an absence of infamous bloody medieval executions. Law-breakers in this RPG can evade jail by paying fines or using Charisma, Speech, or Strength skills. Jail sentences typically last between 10 and 20 minutes of real time and result in a lower Reputation and a temporary ‘Released Prisoner debuff’ of reduced Strength, Agility, and Vitality. The justice system inKingdom Come: Deliverancehas strange priorities, as players are punished with a maximum of 10 days for firing arrows at people, picking a lock, or attacking NPCs, but they only receive 6 days for actually killing someone.
Impatient players who would rather the world be lawless thansit through a 20-minute loading screenwill be disheartened to know that the crime system in the upcoming sequel,Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2,will be far more unforgiving in tackling in-game crime. Players will be at risk of suffering pillories, executions, and other methods of medieval punishment for breaking the law, with a worse chance of escaping guards. Crime will inflict long-lasting damage on Reputation, with thieves being branded so that Henry’s actions will be remembered and condemned by NPCs. The severity of the sequel’s jail system is yet to be determined, but convicts in theKingdom Come: Deliverancefranchise are due a nasty surprise.
Many fans argued that being wanted for crimes of robbery and murder was counterproductive in a series about being an outlawed gun for hire. In theRed Dead Redemptionfranchise,committing a crime will incur a bounty, and any witnesses will send law enforcement in the player’s direction. Killing lawmakers will only spur on an angry mob; surrendering or paying off the bounty is the only way to clear Arthur or John’s name. Serving a jail sentence is as simple as watching a cutscene and being released again with slightly less money, depending on how much money is needed to pay off the player’s bounty.
Some debate that the crime system inRed Dead Redemptionis redundant or incredibly lenient, because the player’s skills do not take a hit, nor do guards clear out the protagonist’s inventory during their sentence. Furthermore, if players rack up a high bounty by committing multiple murders, robberies, and assaults inRed Dead Redemption 2, they may be rewarded with a cutscene in which Arthur’s friends get him out of prison by paying bail, bribing officers with alcohol, or carrying out explosive jailbreaks. Jails and the crime system are so half-hearted in theRed Dead Redemptionfranchise that the first installment features abandoned jails that can be visited like relics of the past, and perhaps this is for the best, to facilitate legendary criminal activity.
Few would recommend investing inStar Citizendue to its long, controversial,unfinished development history spanning over a decade, resulting in the heavily fan-funded project being released in modules, demos, and updates that have been riddled with ‘unplayable’ glitches since 2013. Intended as a sandbox space simulator and massively multiplayer online game,Star Citizenhas an established crime system that punishes players for in-game felonies such as kidnapping, assassinations, and enslavement. Those who earn a CrimeStat above 2 are arrested and imprisoned at the Klescher Rehabilitation Facility. Repeat offenders or those with a CrimeStat of 4 can receive between 5-8 real hours of prison time.
However, unlike other prison systems that use loading screens or the boredom of staring at an empty cell,Star Citizenhas an explorable prison with its own unique gameplay. Inmates can reduce their jail sentence by mining in a cave system for merits (while avoiding violent fellow prisoners), or they can escape the prison inStar Citizen, hack into a security terminal, and clear their CrimeStat. The prison system inStar Citizenis an entertaining experiment in consequences for players, although some gamers may think waiting for a full game release is enough of a sentence.
Gamers who weren’t thwarted by the tedium of assembling a car from scratch, piece by piece with no help or instructions (aside from online guides), may well have rage-quit when faced with a jail sentence in the survival-meets-vehicle simulation game,My Summer Car. This bizarre 2016 Finnish oddity appears at first glance to enable an unsupervised teenager to drink, smoke, and generallybe a menace to societywhile building a car for amateur racing. Entire buttons are dedicated to enabling the teen to swear, urinate, and raise their middle finger with minimal negative reactions from indifferent NPCs (except an enraged Grandma). Ironically, this is also a game universe with one of the strictest prison systems, due to the IRL hours players sacrificed while waiting to be released from jail.
The main crimes punishable with jail time inMy Summer Carrange from petty 2-3 day sentences for resisting arrest and unpaid fines to 5 or 10 day sentences for fatalities or manslaughter. This seems reasonable at face value until remembering that the conversion rate for 1 day in-game is worth 2 real hours; hence, one 10 day sentence is roughly equivalent to a brutal 20 hours of unskippable player time. Trapped in a mind-numbing cell with only a radio and toilet for hours, players might wrongly believe that breaking out is a viable alternative to boredom. Escaped convicts can find police waiting by their home and by Teimo’s shop to arrest them, preventing players from accessing resources. Gamers can technically survive while on the run, but they will be blocked from many activities, often resulting in disgruntled inmates eventually surrendering and restarting their original jail sentence or players quitting or restarting altogether.
Ina literal sandbox post-apocalyptic worldwhere slavery is legal and common practice and NPCs have no qualms fighting to the death on sight, gamers might mistakenly assume that crime is not policed in the complex 2018 RPG,Kenshi. Corruption is rife in this gaming universe, and the prison system is not exempt. Players earn bounties for stealing, looting bodies and trespassing among other activities, but they will only be captured by specific factions that uphold their own unique laws. If players are unlucky enough to be caught by a pro-slavery faction, they will be enslaved during their sentence in mines, often locked in small prisoner cages overnight.
AsKenshiis a real-time strategy game, units of time during gameplay nearly mirror IRL player time, which is bad news for any criminal masterminds. It is estimated that major crimes inKenshiare punishable by 100 to 200 hours of imprisonment, which can only be evaded by escape attempts or paying off various police, inquisitors, or guards. The perk of jail time inKenshiis that gameplay doesn’t come to a screeching halt; players will still be immersed in intriguing landscapes with the potential to conduct a myriad of activities, even collecting disguises in attempts to break out.InKenshi, newcomers may need tips to get startedinthis rich, elaborate yet harsh world, as avoiding (or relishing) prison sentences will not be their only struggle.
In theElder Scrollsfranchise, almost every heroic protagonist starts as a prisoner who is liberated, encouraging players to build their protagonist from the dregs of society up to a highly skilled character. Although release from prison is scripted inMorrowind, Oblivion, andSkyrim, players must be careful to obey the laws of different guilds and factions, or else they will land right back where their quest started: in jail. Mystery surrounds why exactlyeach protagonist is a prisoner in the opening sequence, but the player’s actions may determine whether the character is actually a wrongly accused law-abiding citizen after all or a true criminal.
Crimes earn a consistent bounty across various crime systems inMorrowind, Oblivion, andSkyrimdepending on severity, with murder and shapeshifting being universally considered the most grievous offences. A high bounty results in immediate arrest, and prison sentences typically equate to one day per 100 coins of a player’s bounty. During prison sentences, one or more of player’s skills will decrease in increments. The prison system in theElder Scrollsfranchise is especially unique because there are roughly ten prisons per title, and each one has its own design, NPC guards and inmates, security level, and escape routes that help each experience to feel fulfilling despite the inconvenience.
