Spotlight on Games > Ludographies
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Games about Doctors
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Board Games About Lawyers and the Law

Eight gift recommendations for 2016: (alphabetical order)
Disorderly Conduct
(uncredited); The Idea Corps-2007; 2
Roll-and-move trivia game for law students includes seven categories questions: torts, contracts, property, criminal, evidence, constitutional and general law. Questions are quite challenging and probably require law school education. This may help in trying to pass the bar exam!

 

Founding Fathers
Rick Heli; The Game Crafter-2014; 2-6
In this game of the early American republic, play begins with George Washington as president and John Adams as vice president. Together the players try to solve the issues faced by the young republic – wars, debt, financial panics, the growth of the Union, north-south division, and more. Along the way they must grapple with issues of constitutional law and the Supreme Court.

 


Founding Fathers
The Game Crafter

High Treason: The Trial of Louis Riel
Alex Berry; Victory Point Games-2016; 2; 45
A deduction and hand management simulation of a fascinating event in Canadian history. In history, Riel was hanged for treason, but now you can see whether you can change this outcome. [Learn More]

Lawsuit!
Tina Eskreis Nelson; Professional Games-2005; 2-6; 7+
Educational game for aspiring lawyers on the law and careers in the law. It's a roll-and-move affair of getting through law school, starting a practice, hiring help, setting up an office, preparing a case, etc.

Passing the Bar
Caryn Pincus; P&R Educational Games-2009; 1-6
Roll-and-move trivia games to help students learn what they need to know to pass the bar exam.

 

Patential: Prescription of Success
Richard Warburg; Patential-2004; 1-4; 60
Roll-and-move game about patenting new drugs to be the first to make a billion dollars.

 

Real Dumb Laws
(uncredited); Pressman-2003; 2-4; 60
A party game of guessing which dumb law is the real dumb law? Based on the book 101 Real Dumb Laws.

 

So Sue Me!
(uncredited); New York Game Factory-2004
Players acquire businesses which are at risk of being sued. Spin the spinner, and if you land on your own business you collect money. But if someone else lands on your business, he am likely to sue you. Five decks of lawsuit cards give reasons to sue, and suggest different amounts for lawsuits. The card backs, unseen by others, show the odds of winning suits at different levels. So only you know the odds of winning a suit. But if you have an Unfair Advantage card you can modify the odds. Only you know what your card says, so it may be wiser to to bluff our way to a settlement; failing that, it's off to trial.

Other Titles
In chronological order

Verdict
Charles S. Roberts, Niessen, Thiem; Avalon Hill-1959; 2
Two-player game with one prosecutor and one defender. Fifteen cases are available. The game revolves around movement of pawns on the board.
Released in a new edition in 1961.

Arrest and Trial
(uncredited); Transogram/Juegos Crone-1963; 2-6
Tie-in game for the ABC television network's Arrest and Trial starring Chuck Connors and Ben Gazzara. Players travel around the city collecting clues and questioning witnesses to deduce a culprit. Adapted from the earlier game Dragnet. Spanish edition published as B.C.M. Brigada Criminal Movil.

Burke's Law
(uncredited); Transogram-1963; 2-4
Tie-in game for the ABC television network's program of the same name starring Gene Barry. Players gather evidence from a country and a city house in the form of cards, trying to match one of the houses and thus "prove" the murderer and murder weapon.

Inventus-Patentus
(uncredited); Patented Products Industries-1965; 2-4; 8+
Roll-and-move game akin to
Monopoly with the addition of a trivia element; landing on an unowned space grants ownership if the player successfully answers a question about the inventor of a historical item.

Lawsuit
L.J. Gendron; self-1967
Play cards to increase the value of your lawsuit or lower that of the other side. First to $100,000 wins. (Sounds like a Take That! game).

Trial!
(uncredited); Creative Communications & Research-1971
Role-playing party game with a voted result.

Point of Law
Michel Lipman; 3M/Avalon Hill-1972
The information on this Bookshelf Game reads "POINT OF LAW is an exciting game of involvement for all players. You are the judge and jury! You decide which argument is most convincing. Many an interesting discussion – and an occasional laugh or two – takes place as players use logic and intuition in reaching their decisions."

Trial Lawyer
James N. Vail; self-published-1977
Roll and move trying to win over enough jurors to be declared not guilty.

Capital Punishment
(uncredited); Hammerhead Enterprises-1981
Win by manoeuvring all four "criminals" in such a way that they are all in Life Imprisonment, Death Row or the Electric Chair. Or the player may use his two "liberals" to spring the opposing players' criminals from the "Path of Justice" back to the Street often enough to turn all fifteen of each opponent's Innocent Citizens into Victims of violent crimes. Victims go to Heaven. Employs the roll-and-move mechanism.

Attorney Power
(uncredited); publisher-1982
Roll and move trying to be the first to fill your law office with clients.

Legal Decision
James N. Vail; Professional Games-1985
It seems that James N. Vail decided to take a second try... Roll, move and learn about the law and legal system.

U.B. the Judge
(uncredited); Edu-Game Enterprises-1985
Roll, move and learn about California law.

Guilty Party
(uncredited); Don Scott Associates-1986
Role-playing party game in which players are presented various bits of evidence and then vote on the verdict.

Doolittle & Waite
(uncredited); Inward Games-1986
Negotiate your way through a pre-trial settlement.

The People's Court
(uncredited); Hoyle Products-1986
Roll and move tie-in to the American television program.

Sue For a Million
Gary Sherbell; Gary Sherbell-1986
Players move around the board; who can sue whom, and for how much money, depends on where the players land. Players sue in one of four torts: assault, fraud, libel and negligence. Players are dealt a hand of evidence and other cards, which are used to determine a trial winner, if a trial is necessary. The winner is the player who has the most money when the game ends.

The Perry Mason Game
(uncredited); TSR-1987
Roll and move with logical deduction tie-in to the American television program.

L.A. Law
(uncredited); Galoob-1988
Two players argue one of the included cases while the rest vote a verdict, and then the real-life verdict is revealed.

Blind Justice
Dyer & Katz; Avalon Hill/Klee-1989
Sub-titled "The Game of Lawsuits", it uses 168 condensed versions of actual claims for damages in the US courts, as players represent the plaintiffs and defendants. As they win or lose cases, by skill or chance, players rise through the court system and win by getting lots of money. Published by Avalon Hill, with a German edition by Klee. May be limited in its replay value as cards are single use.

Law Courts
(uncredited); Oliron Games Limited-1991
Roll and move game of deciding which cases to prosecute. Based on British legal system.

The Game of Law School
(uncredited); Charles Games Concepts-1991; 2-4; 90
Trivia game that includes dice rolling and movement to determine the question type, one of constitutional, tort, judicial, criminal, business or property law.

Tribunal Popular
unknown; unknown-1991; 3-6; 15
There are five different types of cases: murder, rape, divorce, drunk driving and fraud. Players move about the board via dice, answering legal questions, until 2-3 of these are resolved.

The Lawyer's Game
(uncredited); Pastime Games-1992
"Each player must take a case to explain away the known facts on their Crime Card in under two minutes, suffer the cross examination of their fellow players and succeed in predicting the jury's verdict following your stirring defense. Any actual knowledge of the law may be a handicap, so top lawyers will probably do well."

$ue me!
(uncredited); Litke Brothers-1993; 60
Subtitled "The Classic Game of Lawsuits". Simulates and parodies the craftiness employed by attorneys. Choose to counsel the plaintiff or the defendant, but prepare for some surprising facts, unlikely witnesses, and outrageous characters.

Sue You!
(uncredited); (uncredited)-1994
Become the wealthiest player by successfully suing other players. The game ends when one of the players runs out of money. (Another form of Monopoly?)

New Games in Old Rome
Reiner Knizia; Piatnik-1994
Reiner Knizia's game pack includes "Tribunal", a negotiation game of trying to save one's defendants in the notorious courts of Ancient Rome.

Attorneys at Flaw
(uncredited); Windbreaker Entertainment-1995
A whole raft of new games on the topic suddenly appeared in 1995... Roll, move and sue trying to be the first to earn a million.

Squeeze the Juice
(uncredited); SCNA Corp.-1995
The event this game is based on is no doubt the reason ... Monopoly variant based on O.J. Simpson's defense team in which players try to gain as much of his defense money as possible.

Judge 'n' Jury
(uncredited); Winning Moves USA-1995
Trivia game of guessing the verdicts for various cases presented on audio tape.

In Dubio Pro Reo
Valentin Herman; Fanfor-Verlag-1995
German card game of guilt or innocence.

Trial of the Century
(uncredited); Companion Games-1996
The trend continued on into 1996 ... Roll and move trying to prove O.J. Simpson guilty or innocent.

Jury Trial
Edward Longan. Home Rock Entertainment-1996; 2-4; 8+
Each plays the role of an attorney, representing the same defendant. The one delivering a Not Guilty verdict, and earning the most money, wins this game of roll-and-move with some negotiation.

Judge for Yourself
(uncredited); Pressman-1998
Trivia game of guessing the verdicts for various cases.

Nuremberg: Trial of the Century
Gary Graber; Minden Games-1999
This one seems too serious a topic for a board game ... Roll and move trying to gain as many convictions as possible while avoiding the appearance of a "show trial".

Divorce Court
(uncredited); Hubline-2000; 2-9
Roll-and-move game of court appearances and collecting money.

US Patent Number 1
James Ernest; Cheapass Games-2001; 3-6; 60
Game about a competition to be the first to patent a time machine with wonderful Victorian-era-inspired time machine and gadget artwork.
Review

Witch Trial
James Ernest; Cheapass Games-2001
Negotiate your way through a series of trials in the days of old Salem. Review

Law & Order Game
(uncredited); Cardinal-2004; 2-4; 30
Tie-in to the NBC television network program. Players travel around the city collecting clues and questioning witnesses to deduce a culprit.

O Jogo Legal
Maciel Rocha, Gustavo Eugenio; Estude & Brinque-2004
Brazilian game that simulates the legal profession, not just lawyers, but also judge, prosecutor, commission agent, notary, solicitor, appeals court judge ...

The Trial of Socrates
Steve Finn; Dr. Finn's Card Company-2009; 2; 20
Antagonists in this card game use simultaneous choices and majority control to determine the outcome of this famous trial.

Patent Pending
Nicholas Witchey; self-2012; 3-5; 45
Card game about securing patents. The current player attempts to get a patent card approved while the rest play cards that represent prior art or change the game play. If the patent survives these attacks, credit is awarded to the current player.

High Treason: The Trial of Louis Riel
Alex Berry; Victory Point Games-2016; 2; 45
A deduction and hand management simulation of a fascinating event in Canadian history. Louis Riel was a figure who in the 1800s led a rebellion in Manitoba's Red River valley, forcing the government into a compromise. Later he participated in the North West Resistance, but the goverment quashed it in 1885 and put Riel on trial for treason. Players take opposite sides in the five day trial. In history, Riel was hanged, but now you can see whether you can change this outcome. The game is also available in a print-and-plan version.

Unknown Year ...

Law & Order
(uncredited); BV Leisure-(year unknown); 2-6; 120
British law is the subject of this trivia game, including matrimonial, employment, criminal, police, family and consumer law. Players roll to move with the landing space determining the question type. Includes 168 question cards.

Voir Dire: The Game of Lawyers, Jurors and Justice
Benjamin D. & Tim Stanley; (unknown)-(unknown year); 2; 10
As every attorney knows, the title is the term for jury selection. In this short game the players attempt to influence a jury trial in their favor by means of bluffing, planning and jury manipulation.

Spotlight on Games > Ludographies
Created November 29, 2014


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