Prison Architect PC Gameplay Part 1

Prison Architect PC 

Gameplay

The game is a top-down 2D (with a partially 3D mode)^[6] construction and management simulation where the player has been hired by the CEO of a for-profit prison company to take control of building and running a prison. The player's role is of both architect and governor with sandbox micromanagement themes, responsible for managing various aspects of the prison, including building facilities, connecting utilities, and managing staff. The player needs to recruit specific staff to unlock some aspects of the game (e.g., information about the prison's finances is unavailable without an accountant). The player is also responsible for the finances of their prison, and for meeting the needs of their prisoners (e.g., sanitation). The player is also able to implement various reform and labour programmes that reduce the specific prisoner's recidivism rate. The player tells the prisoners what to do indirectly by setting their schedule.^[7] The game takes inspiration from Theme Hospital, Dungeon Keeper, and Dwarf Fortress.^[8] The player can also allow additional conditions to be applied to their game (such as simulated temperature, gang activities and more extreme weather conditions) to increase the difficulty of the game and to simulate a prison in conditions nearer to reality. A player's prison is graded by an in-game report according to various factors, such as recidivism rate of prisoners that have left the prison, overall happiness, violence levels within the prison, et cetera.

Prisoners are also ranked according to five different classes in the base game: Minimum, Medium, Maximum, Supermax Security prisoners as well as Death Row prisoners; each different class corresponds to a different temperament and length of sentence. Death Row prisoners arrive with a 'clemency' gauge, expressed as a percentage. This percentage can be lowered with successive failed Death Row Appeal sessions; below a certain percentage, the prisoner can be executed without legal backlash to the facility regardless of the innocence of the prisoner. Should the Death Row prisoner pass an appeal, he may be released from the prison or transferred into the general prison population. There is also a Protective Custody class that players can assign prisoners as.

Players may also opt to build a female prison, which necessitates the construction of nursing and childcare facilities for female inmates that are pregnant or are accompanying an infant.

Players can be 'fired' by the CEO by reaching a Failure Condition, and the player is then prevented from further managing that prison. Failure Conditions include:

1. Riot — the prison suffers a prolonged and bloody riot, necessitating the intervention of the National Guard
2. Bankruptcy — the prison has a negative bank balance and a negative cash-flow, and is unable to improve its financial situation within 24 hours
3. Deaths — the prison sees twenty deaths in a single in-game day, and then experiences a further five fatalities on the next day
4. Escapes — the prison sees twenty prisoner escapes in a single in-game day, and then experiences a further five escapes on the next day
5. Warden Deaths — the prison sees too many Warden fatalities
6. Re-offending Paroles — too many of the prisoners released on parole often re-offend
7. Wrongful Executions — the prison executes too many Death Row inmates with a 'clemency' rate above that stipulated by the State, who are later found to have been innocent or suitable for transfer to the general prison populace

The first "official" (non-beta) release introduced an expanded story mode as a tutorial as well as an escape mode which casts the player as a prisoner with the goal of escaping, while causing as much trouble as possible.^[9]

With the addition of the Psych Ward DLC, players are given the option to house criminally insane prisoners, and build relevant facilities to meet their needs (such as padded cells), and hire additional personnel needed to keep them in check, such as orderlies and psychiatrists. Additionally, regular prisoners may become criminally insane when they experience excessive punishment or when their needs are not regularly met (such as lack of access to food or sanitation).