premise
PREMISE
Deadman Wonderland is Japan's very first privately-owned prison, located near a remote countryside village called Akagawa. If you're here, it means you've done something wrong and need to be incarcerated. Crimes can range from theft to treason to rape and murder. All prisoners are housed in the same facility, regardless of the severity of their crime, and are allowed to mingle.
The world
The world this game is set in is the real world we're all familiar with. Deadman Wonderland itself is located just outside of the fictional village of Akagawa, Japan, but characters may come from anywhere in the world -- thanks to a special United Nations economic treaty, criminals from any country may be exported to DW to serve out their sentences.
The Earth of this world is an average, ordinary world, nothing special. There are no space aliens, no magical powers, just a bunch of criminals being sent away to a prison of dubious ethicality. Unlike in the Deadman Wonderland manga and anime, branches of sin are not known to anyone before they enter the prison; additionally the game is set in the year 2011, and therefore the 2014 earthquake in Tokyo has not happened.
Arrival
You arrive at DW in the back of a paddy wagon escorting you from the jail where you were held prior to sentencing. (This means that DW only houses criminals who have already been tried and convicted of their crimes.) Upon arrival, each group of new inmates is given a bag of essentials -- one change of jumpsuit, one piece of "candy", and a manual that details the rules and regulations and daily life of DW.
The death sentence
Every inmate wears an unremovable metal collar around their neck. This collar contains a GPS tracking system so the inmate's whereabouts can be traced at all times, and it can inject a sedative if the inmate becomes too unruly, but its main function is to continuously pump a deadly poison into the inmate's bloodstream. After one week, this poison will kill even the strongest of humans.
The only antidote for the poison comes in the form of "candy", a small, round hard candy that tastes unimaginably bitter. Candy can be purchased for 100,000 CP, won in certain events, and sometimes given out for exceptionably good behavior.
Events
Deadman Wonderland receives most of its funding from the shows and performances put on by its inmates -- that is, you. Events will range from relay races to obstacle courses to bloody fights to the death. The winner will receive a fabulous prize; as for the losers, they're lucky if they survive. More information on events can be found here.