D&D Behind Bars – Can Fantasy Set You Free?
A new documentary, Kickstarting now, is ready to take a look at fantasy escapism in American Prisons. Come take a look at Let’s Play today.
This is a fascinating one, folks. Let’s Play is a documentary that looks at Dungeons and Dragons in American Prisons. More specifically it looks at the benefits the game can have–and the lengths players will go to to play the game. When books and dice are banned, what can you do? And yet, these folks are finding connections and a sense of community through the game. Which should come as little surprise, given that we’ve seen the social and developmental benefits that D&D has to offer everyone from at-risk youth and neurodivergent children to people who spend their time reading articles about their favorite hobbies on the internet.
This takes a look at one of the more fascinating sides of D&D history while showing the real-world trials and tribulations the game has gone through–and we mean trials literally. In one of the cases, Gary Gygax had to provide testimony as to D&D’s behalf. If this sounds up your alley, check out the Kickstarter below.
via Kickstarter
ET’S PLAY tells the little-known stories of inmates and former inmates who go to great lengths to play table top role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons behind bars. They handcraft twenty-sided dice, build their own campaigns from scratch, even wage legal battles against the United States prison system to assert their right to play.
For decades, role-playing games like D&D and Pathfinder have been banned in many United States prisons. Some wardens claim these games are demonic and foster fantasies of escape.
Yet even when books and dice are banned, incarcerated players have found creative workarounds. They band together to battle monsters and overcome obstacles, in virtual worlds as well as real life.
AdvertisementInmates say these games are rehabilitative and are helping them prepare for life on the outside. Recent research studies agree: Cooperative gaming builds skills like teamwork, critical thinking, and creativity. Even more importantly, games like D&D bridge racial divides. In California, the gaming table is one of the only places where prisoners of different races and gang affiliations set aside their differences to do something cooperatively.
Happy Adventuring!
