Break-Out Game Rules

  1. Place a #1 round ID card in the center of the table/Jail Yard with a coin, this card is  playable, but not in a break-out.
  2. Place a coin in front of each inmate representing their active Jail Cell.  
  3. Deal each inmate one card, the lowest card plays first and deals out 7 cards. 
  4. Place the first draw card next to the Round ID card. 
  5. Each inmate must play a meld of 3 or more cards from their hand into the Jail Cell or Jail Yard or draw a card.  
  6. Melds less than 15 points are placed in a Jail Cell, melds of 15 or more are used to break-out into the Jail Yard. 
  7. If no melds are played the card must be drawn. 
  8. A drawn card is playable, say next and replace the draw card from the draw pile, indicating your turn is over. 
  9. The next inmate in the clockwise direction makes a play or draws the next card. 
  10. A Jail Cell can hold a maximum of 9 cards, no WILD card extractions are allowed inside of a Jail Cell. 
  11. After a Jail Cell has 9 cards, a break-out is allowed on the next turn, removing the coin to close the Jail Cell. 
  12. An inmate must break out   to play melds into the Jail Yard. 
  13. Jail Cell melds can be used to break-out with a meld of 15 or more,  including 1 card from your hand. 
  14. After a break-out, you can move all or some of the melds from your Jail Cell into the Jail Yard. 
  15. Each inmate  must play a card or draw a card at their turn. 
  16. A drawn card is  playable, if it is not a ”DRAW” card, say “NEXT” and replace the draw card to end your turn. 
  17. The next inmate attempts to expand or create melds in their Jail Cell or the Jail Yard. 
  18. The first inmate to play all of their cards to the table, wins  the bonus points. 
  19. The winner of round 1 gets -5 bonus points,  2/-10, 3/-15 ... 6/-30 points. 
  20. If no inmates play all of their cards to the table, no bonus points are awarded. 
  21. Add the points from each  inmate’s hand to their running total score. 
  22. The inmate with the lowest points from the last round deals and plays first.
  23. Place the next-round card, i.e. 2, 3 ... 6 in the Jail Yard with a coin and deal out 7 cards. 
  24. The inmate with the least points at the end of the 6th round wins  the game.

 

Game Objective

The objective is to play all of your cards from your hand to the table/Jail Yard. Each inmate has a Jail Cell represented by their coin. There is a common Jail Yard open to all inmates after they break-out. The goal is to make and play as many melds as possible to win the bonus points for each round.

 Wild cards are used to make melds and if held in a hand are counted as 8 points at the end of the round. 

 The DRAW cards force all other inmates to draw a card and count as 9 points if held. Only inmates that have broken out can play a DRAW card, it must be the first card played. Only one Draw card can  be played per turn. 

The Super Wild card can be used as a Draw, Wild or a stand-alone breakout card, and if held, counts as 10 points. 

 Melds (3 to 6 cards)

Melds less than 15 points can be placed into an inmate's Jail Cell. A Jail Cell can hold a maximum of 9 cards and is used as a break-out if full, at the inmates next turn.

 A break-out is made by playing a meld totaling 15 or more points into the Jail Yard. The Super Wild card can also be played alone to break-out into the Jail Yard.  

 A direct play of 15 points from a hand to the Jail Yard closes and empties a Jail Cell for that round. Wild card substitutions and extractions, i.e. replacing a WILD card with the actual card are allowed only in the Jail Yard. 

After breaking out an inmate can perform extractions, substitutions and additions to the melds in the Jail Yard, by playing cards from their hand or Jail Cell into the Jail Yard. A coin indicates that an inmate's Jail Cell is open. A Jail Cell can hold a maximum of 9 cards. 

No WILD card  extractions are allowed in a Jail Cell. Jail Cell melds can be used to break-out with a meld of 15 or more and 1 card from your hand. 

An inmate that does not play a card  must draw a card. A drawn card is playable if it is not a DRAW card. Inmates that play a card, do not have to draw a card. Inmates must say “NEXT" when  they are done, indicating that their turn is over, for penalty recognition. After breaking-out, an inmate can move all or some melds from their Jail Cell into the Jail Yard.  

 Penalties

Penalties are caught when an inmate says “DRAW” or “MELD” to another inmate after they say “NEXT”. Each inmate must play a card or draw a card. The inmate that does not play a card and does not draw a card before saying “NEXT”, risks a DRAW penalty. The draw card is forced and the Catcher gives the Catchee one card from their hand.

 An inmate that plays a bad MELD risks a penalty, if caught. The bad meld is returned to the catchee’s hand and the Catcher gives the Catchee one card from their hand. 

 A penalty tie goes to the catcher  closest to the catchee in the clockwise direction. Penalties must be caught after the catchee says NEXT and before the next inmate says NEXT. Late detected bad melds are removed from play.

 Scoring

There are 6 rounds of play in the game. The progressive scoring awards bonus points to the winner of each round. Round 1 winner gets -5 points, Round 2 gets -10 points, Round 3 gets -15 points, ... Round 6 gets -30 points.  Each inmate's score is tallied at the end of each round. The player with the least points after 6 rounds, wins the game.