The time is the Great Depression and you are a lawyer who has had a terrible run of luck. You’ve lost your money, your home, and your wife. Sent to prison for a pretty crime, you befriend the legendary outlaw John Dillinger. When you are both released on the same day, it’s time to get back to doing what Dillinger does best, robbing banks.
American Outlaws: The Dillinger Game is a choose-your-own-adventure style game, in which you are a member of Dillinger’s gang and an associate of outlaws like Baby Face Nelson, Red Hamilton, and Homer van Meter. The choices start out simple. Do you accompany Dillinger on his latest robbery? Do you head to Indiana with Dillinger or do you instead decide to join Baby Face Nelson’s gang? The choices start to get more difficult. Do you run when the cops show up? Do you fight with the cops? When a member of the gang orders you to shoot someone, do you do it? The game keeps a running tally of the number of gunfights you’ve taken part in, the number of people you’ve injured, the number that you’ve killed, the number of banks you’ve robbed, and the amount of money you’ve made. Depending on the decisions you make, it’s totally possible to make it all the way through this game and retire without having killed or even injured someone. It’s also possible to be such a viscous outlaw that even Baby Face Nelson wouldn’t mess with you. The longer your play, the more money you can potentially make but the more money you make, the more likely it is that you’ll commit a crime that will make it impossible for you to safely retire. You could end up the last member of the Dillinger Gang. You could also just as easily end up getting taken down by the FBI.
It helps to know the history of the Dillinger gang. That saved my life at least once. In fact, it’s really not difficult to survive the game. The sensible decisions are there and easy to make. But why be sensible when you’re hanging out with John Dillinger and there’s more and more money to be made?
This is a good game because every choice really does effect what happens to your bank robber. There are no throw-away choices and who your outlaw turns out to be really does depend on the decisions that you make. Because there are so many different outcomes, this is a fast-paced game can be played again and again.
Through the Shattered Lens 