The purpose of this literature review is to summarize the extant literature on the use and impacts of games, both analog and digital, in carceral settings. Our goal is to identify how games are being implemented and evaluated in correctional contexts and to what ends (rehabilitation, education, mental health, behavior management, social dynamics, etc.). Drawing on academic and news sources, this review synthesizes empirical and publicly reported accounts of the use of games in carceral contexts to chart the development, implementation, and outcomes of game-based interventions in prisons and detention facilities. Here we emulate the work of Jenness and colleagues [20] by bringing in the voice of the incarcerated and the administrative staff that serve them. One lead academic researcher authored the main body of the literature review, with two co-authors providing commentary where relevant from the perspectives of those who live and who work inside. Our findings show that, while early implementations used games primarily for external behavioral control or mere diversion, contemporary efforts use games in increasingly sophisticated ways to foster emotional regulation and self-control, social connection and communication skills, rational decision-making and thinking through consequences, mental fitness and the reduction of prejudices. Analog games remain disproportionately prevalent in carceral settings, with chess and Dungeons & Dragons [17] the two most prevalent games used. Future longitudinal and mixed methods research is needed to interrogate the lived experiences of incarcerated players, the emergent dynamics of game play in carceral contexts, and the institutional logics that shape game-based programs and policies.