CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Annapolis, Maryland: Hammerhead Enterprises, Inc., 1981. The creators of this game are no strangers to controversy. Already fighting protests and boycotts of their popular board game “Public Assistance – Why Bother Working for a Living?”, they decided to tackle the death penalty. The object of the game is for players to get all of their “criminals” to a combination of life imprisonment, death row, or the electric chair. However, a player may also use “liberals” which move out of the “Ivory Tower” and put a criminal back on the streets. The game can be won with this second victory condition: puting criminals on the street to kill all fifteen of an opponents’ “citizens” and sending them to Heaven. Although it likely caused some furrowed brows, this game didn’t generate nearly as much public outcry as Public Assistance, which civic and community leaders asked the public to boycott. In 2005, the game’s creators, Robert Johnson, a small publisher, and Ron Pramschufer, a graphic designer, published a now-defunct website which offered a downloadable Celebrity Edition of “Capital Punishment.” Celebrity criminals included O. J. Simpson, Osama Bin Laden, Charles Manson, and Susan Smith. Celebrity liberals included Hillary Clinton, Dan Rather, Al Franken, and Jesse Jackson. The board game is complete and includes: game Board, 16 capital criminals in four colors (a murderer, rapist, arsonist, and kidnapper), 8 liberals in four different colors, 60 innocent citizens, and 2 dice. Housed in the original pictorial two-part box with the rules printed on the lower panel. Minor soiling and wear to the box; otherwise very good. Very good. Item #72061

Price: $250.00