Game Show Concept: Jailbreak

This is a game show concept, inspired by Bradley Walsh's UK quiz show "Cash Trapped". It builds upon the concept of "trapping" all contestants in the same recurring gameplay loop until one of them wins, but greatly revamps the overall concept of building the prize and deciding the "escapee", and simplifies and focuses the rules on the core concept the show revolves around.

1. The Problems With "Cash Trapped"

While Cash Trapped has a lot of potential in its basic premise, I feel like the opportunity to turn it into an exciting battle of wits between all contestants has somewhat been missed. In essence, most of the game revolves around building up a large cash prize, and only the endgame really invokes the concept itself - the five "losers" trying to prevent the "potential winner" from escaping and keeping their chance at being the next escapee in the next show. All rounds leading up to that point involve a large amount of "dead time" for contestants, where they are not allowed to do anything at all - whether it's being frozen, or outright "cash-trapped". This does introduce a certain amount of tactical play, but "too direct" in my opinion. There is no true element of risk/reward, no exciting showdowns, and no "sacrifices" that could be made. The amount of choices a player has in any given situation is limited to "buzz in and risk being cash-trapped on the wrong answer", or "wait and hope that everyone else knocks each other out in order to sweep at the last second".

The final round improves on this, as it's the only instance in which the "losing" players are encouraged to actively work together against the one person who is about to walk away with everything. But even then, the alliance is completely static. There's no intrigue, no deliberations to be made, no nuance. The moment the third round finishes, all allegiances are set into stone - everyone gang up on the person with the most money. This is, of course, hardly avoidable due to the "ultimate" nature of the endgame round, but it does end up being a problem because all those things aren't present during any part of the rest of the game either. The concept has a strong hook, but falters on execution.

2. How Jailbreak Improves On Them

Enter Jailbreak.

Jailbreak operates on the same premise as Cash Trapped: a number of contestants compete against each other, building up their prize pool, and playing towards a final climax in which they attempt to escape and break the loop while everyone else tries to stop them and pave everyone's way into the next show. However, it puts the element of escape - the "Final Chase", if you will - into its very center throughout the whole game.

Every round is spent "setting up" one's perfect escape, while at the same time also trying to hinder anyone who might surpass oneself before the final round begins. It turns the game into an act of balancing - I, Contestant A, am pretty close to the top right now, but Contestant B could catch up or even overtake me if they pick a money question and answer it correctly, and the end of the round is very near. Do I try to go for a money question as well in order to extend my lead? Do I try to make Contestant B's escape harder in case they answer their question correctly? Or do I bank on them getting the question wrong and take a few required steps off my own escape, should everything work out as planned?

This kind of rule set encourages risk/reward play, tense situations, close outcomes, temporary alliances, intrigue and nuance, and wraps it all up in a high-octane, fast-paced endgame where all bets are off the table. It places the "escape from prison" - or the Jailbreak - dead-center into focus, from the very moment everyone's initial personal bank is decided, up until it is time for the escape itself.

Here's how Jailbreak accomplishes this.

3. The Rules

There are 5 contestants in every game. They all play on their own, and only one of them may leave with their winnings - everyone else will leave empty-handed. In order to win the money, they'll have to successfully stand victorious in the final round of the game. If they fail to do so, then all contestants are once more invited to the next show, and the escape attempt begins anew. Should the finalist succeed in winning the endgame, then all contestants are "released", and the next show introduces 5 new contestants.

The game is structured into three distinct rounds: The Heist, the Escape Plan, and finally, the Jailbreak.

3.1. The Heist

Each of the five contestants, in turn, is given 90 seconds to answer as many quick-fire questions correctly as they can. Each correct answer adds $1000 to their personal bank, while each wrong answer deducts $1000 (their bank can't drop lower than $0). The amount of money they win during the Heist carries over to the next round. Once every player has played their quick-fire question round, the game advances to the Escape Plan stage.

3.2. The Escape Plan

The Path to Freedom is displayed to all contestants throughout the entirety of this round and starts out at the minimum of 5 required steps. The amount of required steps can not drop below the minimum, meaning that the winner of this round always has to answer at least five questions correctly in order to successfully escape. Players are allotted five turns each. Play starts with the player who has banked the least money in the Heist, and proceeds in ascending order, meaning that the player who has banked the highest amount always draws last. The order is set into stone at the beginning on the round and does not change based on any player's current bank amount, regardless of how that bank amount is modified throughout the round.

During their turn, a player may choose one of nine different actions to take. These actions are as follows:



In order to successfully complete an action, the player has to answer a multiple-choice question. The difficulty thereof depends on the action they wish to take - actions from the top row will present the most difficult questions, while actions from the bottom row usually present very solvable questions.

Should the player choose to "Add X Steps", the Path to Freedom is extended by X amount of steps in the event that they answer their question correctly. Should they choose to "Remove X Steps", the Path to Freedom is shortened by that number, down to a minimum of 3 steps, which it can not drop below. Should they choose one of the money values, that amount is added to their personal bank. In any case, should the contestant answer incorrectly, their turn is forfeit and no action will be taken.

The player with the most money in their bank at the end of the round is declared that show's Escapee and will attempt to escape in the Jailbreak stage, while everyone else will work against them. In case of a tie, a Sudden Death tiebreaker is played until a winner can be determined.

Players will have to weigh their chances at coming out on top against their desire to make the escape for the eventual winner as difficult as possible. They will have to think carefully about how to spend each of their turns and which actions to take, as every additional step they add to the Path to Freedom may come back to bite them, should they end up with the most money at the end of the round - while, similarly, every step that they take away will make it easier for someone who manages to rack up enough money to surpass them to escape the prison and end everyone's run in the show.

3.3. The Jailbreak

The show's Escapee will now play against the rest of the players in an attempt to escape the game, break the cycle, and walk away with their total winnings. The Jailbreak is the ultimate showdown between the Escapee and the Team.

The clock is set to 180 seconds, and quick-fire questions are asked to all players. Players must buzz in to answer the questions, and everyone plays at the same time. From the moment they buzz in, players have 5 seconds to give an answer to the question.

Should the Escapee buzz in and answer correctly, they will advance one step on the Path to Freedom; should they answer incorrectly or run out of time, they will remain in-place, but lose the time they spent to answer that question.

Should a member of the Team buzz in and answer correctly, the Escapee will be moved back one step on the Path to Freedom; should they answer incorrectly, they are "knocked out" for 10 seconds, during which they may not buzz in again. Should they run out of time, the Escapee will additionally advance one step on the Path to Freedom (in order to discourage wasting time by intentionally buzzing in and letting the time run out).

If the Escapee manages to walk through all required steps on the Path to Freedom, the game ends, they are declared the winner, and they will leave with whatever money they had in their personal bank at the end of the Escape Plan stage. If time runs out without the Escapee being able to reach the end, the Team is declared the winner; all contestants will appear again in the next show, and their current winnings will be carried over.

4. Conclusion

So, what does everyone think? I believe I've managed to capture the essence of what has the potential to make Cash Trapped incredibly exciting, and build a game around that essence, meant to augment and emphasize it, while giving players meaningful choices and introducing a significant risk-reward element.

Of course, they may be glaring issues in that concept that I've missed while formulating it. Please let me know your thoughts!