Prison Architect

Prison Architect

Prison Architect is a prison construction and management simulation game developed and published by Paradox Interactive. As the player, you are tasked with building and running a private prison. Core gameplay involves designing prison blocks, scheduling prisoner regimes, hiring s
Prison Architect image
prison management construction simulation

Prison Architect: Prison Construction and Management Simulation Game

Prison Architect is a prison construction and management simulation game developed and published by Paradox Interactive. As the player, you are tasked with building and running a private prison. Core gameplay involves designing prison blocks, scheduling prisoner regimes, hiring staff, and managing facility budgets.

What is Prison Architect?

Prison Architect is a prison construction and management simulation game developed and published by Paradox Interactive in 2015. As the player, you take on the role of a private prison architect hired to design and run a correctional facility. The core gameplay focuses around constructing different zones and rooms in your prison like cell blocks, canteens, workshops, offices and more. You also need to schedule daily regimes for your inmates, hire various staff like guards, cooks, administrators and psychologists, while carefully managing the facility's budget through government grants and private investments.

Key features include:

  • Building a variety of rooms and facilities like Holding Cells, Kitchens, Canteens, Common Rooms, Cell Blocks, Infirmaries, Offices, Execution Chambers and more
  • Zoning different security levels from Minimum to Supermax
  • Hiring various types of staff like Guards, Dog Handlers, Chefs, Gardeners, Mechanics, Accountants etc.
  • Implementation of reform programs like Pharmacological Treatment of Drug Addiction, Counseling, Workshop Safety Induction etc.
  • Managing prisoner needs like Sleep, Food, Family, Comfort, Environment etc.
  • Option for multiplayer where multiple players control their own prisons in the same map

With engaging construction and management oriented gameplay along with emergent storytelling stemming from prisoner interactions, Prison Architect provides a unique spin on the prison simulation genre. Its core premise allows the player to design their ideal correctional institute or intentionally create an oppressive prison regime. This leads to fascinating player-driven narratives, making every prison unique. Challenging yet rewarding, Prison Architect is a great pick for fans of deep management simulators.

Prison Architect Features

Features

  1. Prison design and construction
  2. Prisoner management and scheduling
  3. Staff hiring and management
  4. Facility budget and financial management
  5. Prisoner rehabilitation and reform programs
  6. Incident response and security management
  7. Expansion and upgrades to the prison facility

Pricing

  • One-time Purchase

Pros

Detailed and realistic prison simulation

Engaging and challenging gameplay

Customizable prison design and management

Diverse range of prisoner types and behaviors

Opportunity to implement rehabilitation programs

Detailed financial management and budgeting

Cons

Steep learning curve for new players

Limited replayability due to repetitive gameplay

Potential ethical concerns around the subject matter

Performance issues and technical bugs on some platforms


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