Prison Architect Reviews

Although I’m not proud of my actions in this particular instance – these are the sort of scenarios Prison Architect will constantly be assaulting you with. On top of balancing the everyday managerial tasks of running a prison, fires of the metaphorical and literal kind will pop up everywhere and how you deal with them usually comes down to what’s best for your prison in the long run

Prison Architect may seem like your everyday, ordinary Prison Simulator. But in reality it is so much more. The creators of the game stress that they aim for absolute realism, and by doing so created one of the most detailed simulators I have ever played.

Prison Architect is a full-on sim that will eat your time. If you fancy a dark look inside the running of a prison, look no further.

I have not played Prison Architect on the PC so can’t speak to how the controls translated over. But personally speaking, although it does take advantage of damn near every controller button and is ungodly in scope for consoles, I thought it was handled wonderfully. The game performs very well too, in case anyone was worried this might be a potential Cities Skylines waiting to happen.

Prison Architect is a great simulator that made the transition from computers to console admirably.

Emerging from Early Access lean and focused, Prison Architect is one of the best management games in a long time.

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Porting PC simulation games to consoles is fraught with danger, with systemic complexities and control issues abound. Thankfully, Prison Architect manages to avoid most of these pitfalls, and serves as an exemplar of how the genre should make the transition in future.

In many ways, Prison Architect feels like the ‘Theme Prison’ game from Bullfrog’s golden years that we never actually got. Certainly, if Prison Architect’s extended stint in Early Access was any indication, developer Introversion, much like the aforementioned legendary British developer, had no shortage of ambition and this is certainly something that has translated into the final product because minor niggles aside, Prison Architect is a one-of-a-kind prison building experience rife ...

Prison Architect is not friendly to new users, requires patching of numerous errors, and provides a disappointing campaign but its key elements – construction and management – are amazingly executed.

Despite the few bugs, I can’t praise Prison Architect enough: the fact that I’ve spent over 125 hours in the game pretty much speaks for itself. The mixture of construction and management simulation is balanced perfectly, and the gameplay is both enjoyable and rewarding; even at its most frustrating, it kept me wanting more. A longer, more in-depth campaign mode wouldn’t go amiss, but for fans of sandbox games it’s really a must play.

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A place called prison and a place called jail

Some of these ants are jerks and need to be locked up though. They’ve been convicted of murder, break and enters, theft, and all manner of other violent crimes, so you’ll need to build cells and other special facilities in order keep your staff and the other prisoners safe. You’re presented with a very dysfunctional ant farm that needs to be controlled and managed to a point where everyone is happy. This can actually feel fairly impossible at times since there are so many things going on under the surface. It’s a lot to take in at first.

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.

There is only one major difficulty for any reviewer of Introversion's incarceration fest. It isn't deciding whether or not to recommend it. I very much do. It is that anyone who is interested in Prison Architect is already likely to have picked it up. Many of us have already had 36 months of early access to amuse ourselves by building giant toilets with some prison beds inside. And those who haven't got it by now may be quite happy to continue ignoring it. I think this would be an enormous shame. If this is you, I want to tell you that it is a game worth playing. If you already have a copy, however, I want to tell you it is worth going back to, even if how much you get out out of it will depend on when you last played. Three years ago? Absolutely, get back in there. There's a lot to mess around with. One year ago? I don't know. At the very least, it is worth firing up escape mode and throwing yourself into an old prison you made, as an exercise in memory and nostalgia. Trust me, I've been there.

Prison Architect is a triumphant simulator that almost perfectly captures the world of prison building and administration. The game spares no detail when crafting a toolbox for the player to imaginatively build and run a prison to their specific liking. The game is so deep that no review can capture all you will see and do in Prison Architect, but rarely does a simulation game hit on all levels from building down to micromanagement so well. Prison Architect overcomes a few minor glitches to earn extraordinary status, and is a must-play for anyone looking to kill some time punishing crime.

After a poorly handled start, Prison Architect becomes one of the most in-depth, satisfying builder games in a long time. It’s a shame the non-sandbox options aren’t better, and the nature of the simulation inherently lacks the joy and beauty of other subjects, but few other games have done such a good job at capturing not just the nature of the job they simulate, but also the mindset required to do it ‘properly’.