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Prison Architect |OT| We punish here as well as correct

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Site | Steam, $29.99 (PC, Mac, Linux) | Launch Trailer
$19.99/30% discount for launch week

Build and manage a Maximum Security Prison.

As the sun casts it’s early morning rays on a beautiful patch of countryside the clock starts ticking. You’ve got to crack on and build a holding cell to detain the job-lot of maximum security prisoners that are trundling to your future prison on their yellow bus. As your workmen lay the last brick you don’t have a moment to let them rest as they need to get started on the first proper cell block so you can make room for the next prisoner intake. Once they’ve all got a place to lay their weary heads the fun can really start. You’ll need a canteen, infirmary and a guard room, oh, and don’t forget to plumb in a toilet, or things will get messy, but what about a workout area? Or solitary confinement cells? Or an execution chamber?

Inspired by Dungeon Keeper, Dwarf Fortress and Theme Hospital and with over 1 million players having spent time inside, Prison Architect is the world’s best lock-em-up.


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Story Mode
Prison Architect opens with the story of Edward, a man facing the electric chair for committing a crime of passion. This is followed by four additional chapters focusing on different characters and aspects of prison life. From Mafia Dons to power-crazed senators, Prison Architect has them all! To bring these characters to life, Introversion teamed up with award winning professional writer Chris Hastings, producing an enthralling tale of corruption and human misery set against the background of the modern prison industrial complex.

Escape Mode
Finished your supermax? Got guard dogs roving every corridor and prisoners eating out of your hand? Now you can live the horror by firing up escape mode and play as a prisoner hell-bent on getting the hell out of dodge.

Dig a tunnel, go for the armoury or start a riot and slip out in the chaos, it’s entirely up to you! Figure out how to escape from your own creation, or hit the random button and load one of the 12,000 prisons created by the steam community, whichever you choose it’s not going to be easy...

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IGN - 8.3/10
Prison Architect is one of the most in-depth, satisfying builder games in ages, if you can get past the initiation.
The Sixth Axis - 8/10
Even if Prison Architect didn’t come with a thought provoking, if short, campaign, it’d be easy to recommend to anyone with an interest in management sims. That addition not only brings some depth to the game, but it also serves as one of the most enjoyable and comprehensive tutorials I’ve ever played in a game. The only missed opportunity is the potential for more stories in main section of the game, perhaps coming as random events when a new prisoner arrives.
Game Informer - 8/10
Despite its rough edges, Prison Architect provides enough depth and customization to make it compelling. Every riot, escape attempt, and execution brings you a step closer to building the perfect prison – all accompanied by the amusing (and sometimes horrifying) moments that emerge naturally in any good simulation.
RockPaperShotgun
PA in its final form is complex, refreshing and sometimes frustrating.

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BibiMaghoo

Member
Fantastic game. The best example of early access done right. Looking forward to digging into the full release, I've not played it for a few updates now.
 

Jyrii

Banned
How in the hell can I (successfully) assign guards to patrol the inner courtyard in the second mission?

I have drawn a path and assigned a guard, but no one goes to patrol.
 
Is it possible to try to focus on rehabilitation instead of punishment?
Yes, there's drug rehab, therapy and psychologists, safety education for the workshop and kitchen, carpentry apprenticeships, and even non-lethal equipment for your guards

And probably more, that stuff was add almost two years ago
 
Campaign seems pretty interesting, but it's more like an elongated tutorial with story.

It's a shame escape mode needs a finished prison first. I wonder if there are prisons somewhere I can download.
 

Raptomex

Member
I bought the name-in-game edition over a year ago and was quite pleased with the development process. Great game.
 
Escape mode is pretty lame. Might as well play escapist.

I stole a knife, went through a metal detector, quickly put it in my bed, and let the cop check me.

Found nothing, then I went to dig the hole in my toilet and dug out pretty quickly.
 

Raist

Banned
So... I've made this really nice ~400 prisoners strong prison.
Got one of these random viral outbreaks. My doctors just happen to not give a shit. Had 50+ deaths, got a warning and had to use the one off legal thing to not lose the game. Infection's still not cleared, it's a mess.

I guess it's some kind of bug, I've ran into a few like this when stuff breaks down with no apparent reason :(
 
So... I've made this really nice ~400 prisoners strong prison.
Got one of these random viral outbreaks. My doctors just happen to not give a shit. Had 50+ deaths, got a warning and had to use the one off legal thing to not lose the game. Infection's still not cleared, it's a mess.

I guess it's some kind of bug, I've ran into a few like this when stuff breaks down with no apparent reason :(

This easy to deal with, not so much now but for the future.
As soon as she calls,pause, lockdown prison. Zoom in and look for the 3, it might be a few more by the time you lock them down .Right click their doors and lock them shut. occasionally look at infection number, when it goes down you can release ebola guy.

My first was a MESS i ended up with like 50 in a makeshift quarantine, they wouldnt heal, guess they were infecting eachother, got mad and just tore down the wall that was right next to road and let them escape. So yeah if a zombie apocalypse breaks out blame me
 

Raist

Banned
This easy to deal with, not so much now but for the future.
As soon as she calls,pause, lockdown prison. Zoom in and look for the 3, it might be a few more by the time you lock them down .Right click their doors and lock them shut. occasionally look at infection number, when it goes down you can release ebola guy.

My first was a MESS i ended up with like 50 in a makeshift quarantine, they wouldnt heal, guess they were infecting eachother, got mad and just tore down the wall that was right next to road and let them escape. So yeah if a zombie apocalypse breaks out blame me

Yeah well that was a little too late for that solution :p

In the end I managed to clear it. Set up a holding cell on minimum security only accessible by a staff only corridor, transfered all the sick prisoners to that, and set the schedule to sleep only (to prevent them from being fed and going out for stuff like parole or visitation). Eventually they starved and got injured, doctors came to pick them up and somehow treated them at the same time they healed them.

I have no idea why the doctors suddenly started to ignore infected prisoners. It worked fine a couple of times before that.
 

Raist

Banned
Anyone ever had available prisoners for death row? It's always been on "0" for me. Not sure if there are some pre-requisites.

Anyway are they planning to add more content soon? Like new room types and objects etc. I also wish there was a little bit more of micro-management available. There's a ton on utilities stuff that seem very specific and not that useful (the whole logic circuits thing) but some basic things are missing.
 
Anyone ever had available prisoners for death row? It's always been on "0" for me. Not sure if there are some pre-requisites.

Anyway are they planning to add more content soon? Like new room types and objects etc. I also wish there was a little bit more of micro-management available. There's a ton on utilities stuff that seem very specific and not that useful (the whole logic circuits thing) but some basic things are missing.
Lawyer-> death row stuffs->a cell block set to max-> cell block set to Death row you need both.
after that its just luck that one gets shipped to you.

I do hope they add some stuff a few things that irk me:
No prisoner drop off zone. Id like them right at my reception.
A way to set pathiung specifically for visitors, nothing like baby jenny just sauntering through max on a visit
Floodlights would be cool for the outside.
Fix armed guard deployment bug, nothing like 10 them dudes just standing about
usable new road on other side of prison would be cool as well
 

Raist

Banned
Lawyer-> death row stuffs->a cell block set to max-> cell block set to Death row you need both.
after that its just luck that one gets shipped to you.

I do hope they add some stuff a few things

I've had that for ages :/

Or do you mean a supermax cell block?
 

Raist

Banned
should just be max, you have the chair set up?

what size the cell for DR? they need to be bigger

Yeah so... I'm an idiot. Didn't have the cells set up to a cell type xD

So got a few eventually. 2 passed their appeal and one didn't so I executed him. Not sure it's actually worth it to have a DR. The whole prison needs to go on lockdown and since it takes a while that was basically a guaranteed riot once it was done.

Also legendary prisoners are a pain in the ass. I have them all in a supermax facility but they just keep wrecking shit up. Not sure what to do with that guy especially:

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Notice the serving time. He's killed like 20 guards so far...
 
I playes the shit outta this game a few months ago and stopped just before they patched in some new stuff. I think they patched it so thr architect couldn't make a perfect prison (ergo, one way or another, a riot or something bad will happen).

I'll probably hop back in with this full release. Story and escape mode might be really good fun.
 

Raist

Banned
good deal.
I just supermax them fuckers and lock them down 24/7.

Im running a 400+ min/med prison and saw the 1death sign....hmmm wats going on.
They killed a priest..................

Up to 781 years now... I wish at some point you could transfer them to death row because that's a bit ridiculous now :p

That guy just doesn't give a fuck. I tried everything. On permanent lockdown he breaks stuff every other day, guards come in, he kills one or two. I even tried locking the door shut so that guards don't go there, he just beats the shit out of the door until it breaks down >.>
 
So, I've been watching streams. This thing is ridiculously in-depth and complex. Must wait for Winter Sale.... but daddy, I want it nooooooooooooooow.
 
Ha, this game.

My minimum security prisoners demanded that I reduce the work regime to under 2 hours (apparently 5-6 hours of class was too much!), and I even got a call from the warden. After a threatening a couple days, the bastards went crazy. I called in the riot squad but didn't deploy my armed guards... until a regular guard got killed in the laundry room. Now free-fire is a thing, 5-6 prisoners (guys in jail for fraud etc) are dead and the prison is getting torn apart. Time to start over!
 

Lumine

Member
I've been playing this too. I waited for the full (1.0) release to start. The campaign/story mode is more of a tutorial but it works great and helped me get into it. It's a pretty awesome game actually. Definitely scratched that dungeon keeper/rollercoaster tycoon/theme hospital itch I've had for a while. :p
 

Herne

Member
I'm enjoying the campaign so far but I'm not eager to start designing my own prison as I'm running into some bugs. For example, I built a small building that was to be a kennel, but despite it being of reasonable size, once I added the door and designated it as a kennel, nothing could be done with it. I couldn't add anything to it, the game showed it as being a kennel but no walls were built.

I tried destroying it - deleted the room and got rid of the door, and tried to demolish the foundations. It would not do so - trying to demolish the foundations gave me a red box. I tried deleting materials, both options, and nothing. So there it sits, up in the corner on it's own, a small set of foundations that can neither be built on nor destroyed. Irritating.

Anyway, I bought GoG version and I tried looking for prisons other people had built. Apparently the only place they are to be found is on the Steam Workshop - trying to find them anywhere else had Google Search thinking I was looking for something illegal. So, they're only on Steam Workshop. I'm thinking no, but is there a way to get the Steam Workshop mods and prisons into my game?

Also I'm scratching my head as to why I have to subscribe to each individual prison or mod to download it. What's wrong with having a seperate site where people can share what they've built? This doesn't make sense to me.
 

Lumine

Member
If I remember right I ran into something similar. It's not really bug, I think. Try right-clicking on the foundation to cancel it. Then make a new one on top. Your workers should now finish it properly. Also Kennels need to be at least 5x5 I think and the only thing you can put in them are dog crates.
 
Looking forward to getting some alone time with this. Got it on early access from Humble Bundle and forgot all about it, now it's showing up with great reviews and a price tag I can laugh at. I have literally zero community spirit. But I loves me a good sim.
 

Raist

Banned
Got a DR inmate passing his appeal. Within 5 minutes he stole a knife from god knows where and killed 3 inmates. wtf dude.
 

DBT85

Member
Can anyone recommend some good youtubers?

Bored shitless at work and sadly this won't run in AnyDesk like Football Manager does.
 

abd

Member
I got this game four years ago with early access. It was nice to watch how intricate this simulator became.
 
Glad to see it out of Early Access

I loved the concept and backed it

But the number of prisoners coming in was overwhelming so put it down.

Will have to go back to it now!
 

Recall

Member
Out on PS4 and Xbox One

Base game is £19.99
Day One DLC is £7.99
Bundle is £24.99

I got the bundle on PS4 and I'm enjoying it a lot. The menu system works well early on but as you progress and want finer detail it can take a good memory to find exactly where an option or menu is.

Im 3 hours in and it's not as good as the PC version but it is a good game and they've ported it quite well.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
just bought this on PC and starting out playing what I assume is the tutorial. I've just been tasked with setting up an alcoholics group therapy and a drug addiction program.

I made a second common room with 8 chairs (2 rows of 4) but it didn't trigger as done. So I put 8 in a row (ugly) and it worked. However, when the program started, 4 prisoners went to the normal common room which only has 4 chairs, so I'm not getting many treated. Is there any way to avoid that? Seems to me it would make sense to have a treatment room or other designated room.

Also for the drug treatment, I wanted to put more beds in the infirmary but it won't let me - can't seem to put any objects in there. Is that just a limitation because its a controlled tutorial? I also can't extend by building a room next door - it won't let me put a door in the wall of the infirmary.
 

Aaron D.

Member
I had similar problems with the Optional Drug & Alcohol Treatment quests as well. Not sure if the game is bugged or if I was just not doing something right.

I eventually created a couple treatment sessions for each addiction. You can go into the scheduler and toggle more than one meeting a day. Then I went into the Regime time scheduler and simply extended the number of Work hours in the day to accommodate for the extra classes.

Eventually got both the Alcohol and Drug treatment up to 100%, but you do have to be patient as it takes a bit.

Outside of that, I'm absolutely loving this game on PC. I've had it in my Steam library when it was still EA but didn't get around to it until just recently.

Wonder if the dev has any plans to bring the console DLC over to PC?
 

Nyx

Member
So general consensus seems to be that the game plays well on consoles?

From what I've read, yes.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/prison-architect

Prison Architect is a great strategy game that has been ported really well from PC. There are occasional problems when moving the camera around your prison and zooming in on specifics, but the controls are straightforward, useful and easy to become familiar with, especially the ability to speed things up when you’ve just scheduled a ton of construction work. The World of Wardens is also a really cool feature, letting you download and experience user-created prisons from all over the world. The sheer amount of options is staggering and it’ll take some time before you get to grips with everything, but I’m positive you’ll adore the details when deep in a contraband pandemic or a full-on riot.

Unfortunately, there is one rogue element which will stop this from being a smooth learning experience: the game's controls. When it comes down to it, this style of simulation really ought to be played with a mouse and keyboard. The need to constantly move the camera around combined with the intricacies of construction mean that you're often left fighting your controller. With that said, the developer has done an admirable job of making it as bearable as possible, and you will eventually acclimatise.
 
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