Prison in a property trading game: pay, wait or use the pardon card?
Prison is where tokens go to wait in a property trading game, and in Property Rush, an independent Monopoly alternative I build, it takes 12.0% of all stops. That is a lot of time spent in a corner. So the question matters: when you are in Prison, should you pay the fee, wait for doubles, or spend a pardon card?
How do you get in?
Three ways. Three doubles in a row send you there. The Go to Prison tile sends you there directly. And some cards do: one in the Treasure deck and two in the Surprise deck. Together they put a token in Prison often enough to take one stop in eight.
How do you get out?
Four ways: throw doubles, pay the fee, use a pardon card, or serve three attempts, after which you are freed. There are three pardon cards in the game, two in Treasure and one in Surprise, and a player may keep one until needed.
By default, leaving costs your turn: whichever route frees you, your turn ends there. The Prison rules also say that an owner sitting in Prison collects no rent, by default. Both are switches the host can change.
What does waiting cost?
A turn in Prison is a turn you do not buy, build or collect. Early in the game, when cities are unowned, that is a real cost. A token that waits three turns misses nearly a lap of purchases.
Later, the cost changes. If you own a developed country, you cannot collect rent while you sit there, by default. If you own nothing, you lose nothing.
When should you pay?
Early. When the board is open and each turn can win you a city, paying the fee to get back to buying is usually worth it, if you have the cash. The fee is small next to the price of a city.
When should you wait?
When the board is dangerous. Late in the game, with rival hotels all round the board, a token in Prison cannot land on them. Waiting a couple of turns can be safer than rejoining a gauntlet. It is the one time when the corner is a refuge.
The cost is that you collect no rent while you wait, if you own cities, so it suits a player who owns little.
When should you use the pardon card?
When you need to move now: to buy a city at auction, to build before a rival, or to take advantage of a lucky position. A pardon is worth most early. Late in the game, you may prefer to keep it as a rescue for a moment when you would otherwise have to pay a rent with no cash.
Whatever you decide, decide early in the turn, because the cost of Prison is measured in turns.
What do the odds say?
You will spend a good share of the game in Prison without trying. Since 12% of all stops are there, a game of fifty turns will have six or so. Plan for it: keep enough cash that a few lost turns do not hurt.
Where can you test it?
Try the options on the free table at Boardit, where you can play a property trading game online with friends. Notice, over a few games, whether you do better paying early or waiting late.
What if everyone is in a hurry?
Prison is one of the places where a table's tempo shows. A group that wants a quick game pays at once and moves on. A group that likes tension waits and watches. Neither is wrong, but mixing the two styles at one table can frustrate the quick player, who watches a rival sit in a cell for three turns.
If that happens, the host can switch the setting so that leaving does not cost the turn, which makes the corner much less of a pause. It is worth asking at the start of a game.
A short rule of thumb
Pay when there is land to buy. Wait when there is rent to avoid. Use the card when the moment matters.
Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.
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