Prison Architect

There is a built in introduction/scenario in which you do have to build an execution room, install an electric chair and execute a prisoner... And in the sand box game you can install the Chair, but as yet there aren't any death row inmates, so you never get to use it. There is quite a bit of chatter on the official forums about this matter, some saying prisons wouldn't control who, when and how executions happen, but, I'm hoping they do bring it a use for the chair, to use it as a punishment for certain crimes within the prison, such as prisoners attacking guards, killing each other or even stealing spoons from the canteen.
 
definitely tempted to finally make a purchase on this, seems right up my street. I've held off in the past due to there being so make bugs, which ofc is to be expected with it being in alpha still, however its starting to sound like its becoming a much more polished game..
 
Played one of the alpha updates about 6 months ago. The overall idea was enjoyable, but still required a lot of ironing out. Will probably wait until it's out of alpha before trying again.
 
I'm interested to see what other features they're going to add in.

The game is great, but at the moment I feel that it needs a little more depth or objectives in the gameplay.
 
Glaucus said:
It needs to be half the price. Thats the biggest issue with it. Its insanely over valued.
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I thought the same, until I played it... you get a huge number of hours out of the game, making it great value for money!

I have 90 hours logged on Steam (plus the 20+ hours I played on a mates Steam account before I decided to buy it).

Steam price is £19.99
You can currently grab it from the Humble Store for $19.99 (£12.50ish)

Compared to some of the PC games I've bought, I've already had immense value for money from PA!
 
Darryn said:
There is a built in introduction/scenario in which you do have to build an execution room, install an electric chair and execute a prisoner... And in the sand box game you can install the Chair, but as yet there aren't any death row inmates, so you never get to use it. There is quite a bit of chatter on the official forums about this matter, some saying prisons wouldn't control who, when and how executions happen, but, I'm hoping they do bring it a use for the chair, to use it as a punishment for certain crimes within the prison, such as prisoners attacking guards, killing each other or even stealing spoons from the canteen.
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Sounds a little extreme, maybe prisoners & attacking guards, but this should be set by some sort of disciplinary board or court, because obviously as it stands killing inmates being a solitary punishment isnt realistic, but then IMO it isnt realistic for this to be a matter for the prison to decide how such acts are dealt with. Theft & fighting, sure. Murder, no.
A disciplinary board would make an interesting addition actually, allowing some inmates out on good behaviour or forced to serve the full term, also you could go soft on punishment if your overcrowded, rather than having an overcrowded prison and waiting for them to drop 1-2 a day.

The first time i played a proper go at it, i had 80+ inmates and about 30 beds, cos i didnt realise i could stop the busses :D I could have done with help then!!

As for method, isnt it state mandated how they chose to kill death row inmates? So unless it was something you picked when building the plot, where its effectively asking which state to build it in, one with lethal injection or electric chair, it shouldnt be the choice of the prison which they opt for, unless im mistaken and they do have that right.
 
PaulC2K said:
Sounds a little extreme, maybe prisoners & attacking guards, but this should be set by some sort of disciplinary board or court, because obviously as it stands killing inmates being a solitary punishment isnt realistic, but then IMO it isnt realistic for this to be a matter for the prison to decide how such acts are dealt with. Theft & fighting, sure. Murder, no.
A disciplinary board would make an interesting addition actually, allowing some inmates out on good behaviour or forced to serve the full term, also you could go soft on punishment if your overcrowded, rather than having an overcrowded prison and waiting for them to drop 1-2 a day.

The first time i played a proper go at it, i had 80+ inmates and about 30 beds, cos i didnt realise i could stop the busses :D I could have done with help then!!

As for method, isnt it state mandated how they chose to kill death row inmates? So unless it was something you picked when building the plot, where its effectively asking which state to build it in, one with lethal injection or electric chair, it shouldnt be the choice of the prison which they opt for, unless im mistaken and they do have that right.
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Surely that should be an option you should pick. Like how you can change the level of punishment for someone when they get caught with different contraband on them, have the chair be an option for any of the crimes. It's up to you if you want to make every single crime punishable by death, and you'll have a prison full of extremely compliant but hate filled prisoners just waiting for the chance to throw you in there instead!
 
Glaucus said:
It needs to be half the price. Thats the biggest issue with it. Its insanely over valued.
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Its not cheap, thats certainly fair. But it is a very good game if those Theme Hospital type games are something you loved. Personally, i dont think its quite justifiable to charge full price on an alpha product, certainly not when its £20 and it'll end up on sale for £5 eventually. They've already done it at half price while its in alpha, and considering some people have already been contributing for a year i find it a little insulting (i certainly appreciated it though) and that stops me buying in at the full price. I could wait 6mo or whatever, let them release it and get 3mo under their belt and grab it for much less when its on sale, so why pay full price for an unfinished/in development title? I've done it for pCars mind you, but then they had a £13 license and i eventually went to the standard £35 one.

So i agree with you, but its a very good game underneath, not £20 good IMO, even if i'll play it more than some £30-40 games, just like ppl wouldnt pay £20 for angry birds yet they'd spend hours on it.
 
iviv said:
Surely that should be an option you should pick. Like how you can change the level of punishment for someone when they get caught with different contraband on them, have the chair be an option for any of the crimes. It's up to you if you want to make every single crime punishable by death, and you'll have a prison full of extremely compliant but hate filled prisoners just waiting for the chance to throw you in there instead!
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But no prison has the legal right to decide on such a punishment. They'll have the right to issue solitary, reduced privileges etc, but they cant dictate whether or not someone should be put to death for any crime, murder or otherwise. There should be some artistic license to keep it enjoyable and not uber-strict on realism, but i dont believe thats one they'd consider, its too far.
 
Yamahahahahaha said:
Coming from a studio that made a game about nuclear war? I doubt it.
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Thats horses for courses though, they make a game based on a simulation of nuclear war, you expect a fair degree of realism. The tone of that game was serious and thought provoking, so i'd expect that to be the case.

When they're making a game of Theme Prison, you dont expect the workers to disappear on a cig break, spend half the day in the toilets before heading off home half an hour early. You dont have some clipboard turn up and tell you to knock it all down because you didnt get planning permission. I mean they havent got legs ffs ;) (arent the dogs the only ones with legs? :D)

Having the power of judge & jury to put people to death is neither realistic or in-keeping with the feel of the game IMO.
Creative license is about eliminating elements which arent really fitting with the tone or dont really make much sense to add if they spoil the feel or flow of things. Being able to do something because it make a better game, even if the reality isnt quite like that. I wouldnt say sentencing prisoners to death is suitable for the tone, allowing for creative license or not.
 
With regard to "death row", essentially you are looking after the prisoner until his execution (presumably humanely) and also responsible for ensuring the people appointed to do the job are competent (no dry head sponges etc.). As the prison Governer/Warden you are simply carrying out the wishes of the state.
 
Is this like all the 'theme' games where you play it once and then there is no point? I mean like i loved theme hospital and theme park, when i was making my first one. Then the next level was the same thing again but with more 'disasters' etc.

Does this have a lot of playtime or is one prison play through all you really get?
 
jubei said:
Is this like all the 'theme' games where you play it once and then there is no point? I mean like i loved theme hospital and theme park, when i was making my first one. Then the next level was the same thing again but with more 'disasters' etc.

Does this have a lot of playtime or is one prison play through all you really get?
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It has a lot of playtime.

You build your first prison with some starter funds, plus you can opt to take out some grants for some extra money, then after you have built it up and have some prisoners, and the necessary staff, you can sell it and start again but this time with more money.

As you can see from some of the screenshots in this thread people have sold their prison for well over a million and I can only imagine what size prison they could build with that.

Add to that the fact that it is still in alpha and more features are being with each update.
 
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