Proof that there is a GURPS sourcebook for everything: here’s the one for The Prisoner.

The Prisoner was a short-lived 1968 British TV show starring Patrick McGoohan about a secret agent kidnapped and forced to live in a bizarre village that is part resort town, part prison, part psychedelic fun house. It’s a cult classic thanks to its weirdness and its counter culture themes and you should check it out if you haven’t already. If nothing else, you’re probably familiar with the line, “I am not a number, I am a free man!” especially if you’re familiar with Iron Maiden’s song “The Prisoner.”

Running a paranoid campaign in the Village, a place of constant surveillance and weird science, (which, incidentally is the topic of another Maiden song, “Back in the Village”) is an intriguing idea. This book makes an honest go of it, but I find it a bit thinner than I like. While details of life in the Village, painstakingly mined from the TV show, are welcome, I would have liked a lot more suggestions on how to make the game a serious head-trip for players without rehashing the events of the show. As it stands, I came away with a better understanding of the show, but not a lot of confidence I could run a game based on it.

That said, this is a loving re-examination of the show. Published in 1989, well before the internet, when tracking down even a single episode of The Prisoner took a great deal of effort, this is was a welcome resource for fans of the show (it even contains a handy episode guide with thorough synopses). So, great RPG supplement? Maybe not. Great book for a fan of The Prisoner? Definitely.