How to Play Prisoner

Prisoner darts is a great party game. The more the merrier!

Prisoner Dart Game Rules

Prisoner lends itself incredibly well to larger groups of players so get a group of friends together and make sure everyone has their own set of darts.

Number of Players

Two or more players can play, but Prisoner is great for larger groups. Make sure everyone has their own set of darts.

How to Play

The goal of Prisoner is to hit every segment once clockwise, starting on 1. However, the only segments on the dartboard that count are the double, triple, and outer single spaces of each number.

If a player hits outside of the double ring, then they don't retrieve that dart until after their next turn.

Here is where the game gets weird, and is why it's important everyone has their own set of darts. If a player hits the inner single ring or the bull, then that dart becomes a prisoner. Once a dart becomes a prisoner, any player is able to capture that dart by hitting the treble, single, or double of the number that it is captured in.

For darts that get imprisoned in the bull, there are two different ways to play. One way is by making it so any treble, outer single, or double captures it (good for newer players). The second way is by making it required for a player to hit the bull to capture the imprisoned dart, which means only one dart can be a prisoner in the bull at a time (good for more advanced players). You can choose whichever version you'd prefer.

It is possible for multiple darts to be prisoners in the same inner single. When this happens, only one dart can be captured at a time. So if two darts are in the inner single 19 and a player hits the outer single 19, they can only capture one of the two darts.

Once a dart is captured, the player who captured that dart is able to use it for the rest of the game, unless it becomes a prisoner again.

How to Win

There are two ways to win the dart game Prisoner. One is by making it all the way around the dartboard to the 20 segment before your opponent(s). The second way to win this dart game is by capturing all of the darts.