Prison Architect from Introversion Software is one of the great classics of the management genre. Since October 6, 2015, you've been building and running your own prison here, and Paradox Interactive now looks after the brand. I took a look at why the game still has so many fans today.
Table of contents
Rating and verdict
Prison Architect still has me completely hooked years after release. Planning your own prison from the first fence to the maximum-security wing, laying power lines, setting daily schedules and then watching hundreds of inmates and guards go about their day is incredibly motivating. And when a riot breaks out or a tunnel is discovered, you get exactly the kind of chaos that makes good management games great.
Prison Architect isn't without its weaknesses, though. The simple graphics are a matter of taste, large prisons make the tech sweat, and the game hasn't been developed further since its last update in 2023. The sheer number of systems can also overwhelm newcomers at first. Still, if you like building and management games, you get a true genre classic.
What we liked
✅ Enormous depth with many interlocking systems
✅ Exciting story mode and Escape mode
✅ Huge Workshop community with thousands of prisons
What bothered us
❌ Very simple graphics and hardly any sound
❌ Performance issues with large prisons
❌ No further development since 2023
Score: 85 %
Building and management
You start with an empty plot of land and some starting capital. You have to plan cells, showers, a canteen, an infirmary and workshops yourself, lay power and water lines and hire staff. Through a bureaucracy menu, you unlock new staff such as psychologists or lawyers. Every inmate has their own backstory and needs that you have to keep an eye on, or you risk fights, smuggling and riots.
What I especially like is how tightly everything is connected. A schedule that's too tight causes frustration, too few guards lead to violence and a bad kitchen causes unrest. With work programs and courses, you can rehabilitate inmates and earn money at the same time.
Story mode and Escape mode
The story mode walks you through the basics in short chapters and tells surprisingly dark stories in a comic-book style. In Escape mode, you turn the tables and try to break out of a prison as an inmate. There's also a sandbox mode where you can build without restrictions.
Graphics, sound and tech
Graphically, Prison Architect is very simple. The 2D top-down view with small figures is clear but anything but modern. Audio-wise, hardly anything happens, which quickly becomes noticeable in long sessions. The hardware requirements, on the other hand, are extremely low; you'll find the exact specs in the table below this article. With very large prisons housing hundreds of inmates, however, performance takes a noticeable hit.
DLCs, Workshop and consoles
Over the years, numerous DLCs have been released, such as Island Bound, Psych Ward, Second Chances and Perfect Storm. Through the Steam Workshop, you'll find thousands of player-built prisons and mods. Prison Architect was also released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, and according to Steam it's Playable on Steam Deck.
End of development and successor
With the Sunset Update on May 16, 2023, Paradox concluded development of Prison Architect, and there has been no new content since. The successor, Prison Architect 2, features 3D graphics and multiple floors but has been delayed indefinitely. On Steam, overall reviews are Very Positive at 88 percent, but recent reviews are much more negative: in the last 30 days, only around 30 percent of reviews were positive. Steam flags this wave as off-topic review activity, meaning it doesn't relate directly to the game itself.
System requirements (PC)
| Minimum | |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10 64 Bit |
| Processor | Intel Core2 Duo 2,4 GHz / AMD 3 GHz |
| graphics card | Nvidia 8600 / vergleichbare Radeon (2009) |
| Memory | 6 GB RAM |
| storage | 400 MB |
