Prison Architect Reviews
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.
[T]hose 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.
Prison Architect is one of the more unique game releases in years. What would seem daunting at first, with building and managing a prison, quickly reveals to be both an addictive and entertaining gameplay experience. While minor bugs can still be found from time to time, these don't distract from the overall enjoyment of creating the perfect prison. Entrepreneurial prison designers, this is the game you need to buy.
Great moments emerge naturally from well-made simulations, and Prison Architect has no shortage
Prison Architect is one of the most in-depth, satisfying builder games in ages, if you can get past the initiation.
Every system locks us up. But sims like Prison Architect throw away the keys.
I recommend the game wholeheartedly to that certain brand of gamer that gets satisfaction out of building intricate little machines and watching them go. It's a unique sandbox game that has all the necessary ingredients to hook you, if you let it.
Prison Architect is a mostly-honest and unflinching look at our modern society and its approach towards prisoner rehabilitation...or lack thereof. It's a fascinating game, in no small part because it so expertly casts a real-world debate in video game terms and in doing so forces players to examine their own beliefs. And it's a hell of a lot of fun, besides.
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.
Emerging from Early Access lean and focused, Prison Architect is one of the best management games in a long time.
How difficult could it be to build a jail and keep everyone inside? With this impressively detailed simulation, you're about to find out
Prison Architect takes a while to get the hang of, but once the basics have been mastered, it offers multiple options for experimentation in its impressive sandbox. The Campaign and Escape modes give a good change of pace, while the quirky art-style and dark undertones grab the player's attention.
Prison Architect finally launched a full version with a campaign, but longtime fans will be disappointed.
A deep, absorbing prison sim that won't teach you anything about mass incarceration in America. Enough interlocking systems to keep your mind off the systemic inequities in our actual prison system. The campaign can be boring and the tutorials are inadequate. Escape mode is disappointing.
Tonally schizophrenic, yet still one of the more fascinating game experiences ever made.
Although it is weighed down by some questionable development choices, Prison Architect is a break-out success due to its sandbox alone.
A great simulation game that recalls the glory days of Theme Hospital et al. Although at times it almost feels like a psychology study of the player rather than the inmates.
Prison Architect isn't going to appeal to everyone; the simple graphics and initially overwhelming influence may scare off those hoping for something as immediately accessible and fun as Theme Park. Those who persevere will find an incredibly complex simulation that will gradually reveal more and more layers of strata as the hours invested pile up.
A complex, challenging, and grimly satisfying simulator.
Prison Architect does have a campaign mode (if you can call it that), but it's a bit subsided… where it does shine though is in its storytelling