Prison Architect Reviews

Prison Architect is ranked in the 79th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
87 / 100
Oct 15, 2015

A complex, challenging, and grimly satisfying simulator.

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IGN
Top Critic
8.3 / 10.0
Oct 6, 2015

Prison Architect is one of the most in-depth, satisfying builder games in ages, if you can get past the initiation.

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Eurogamer
Top Critic
Recommended
Oct 7, 2015

Emerging from Early Access lean and focused, Prison Architect is one of the best management games in a long time.

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8 / 10
Oct 14, 2015

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.

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Metro GameCentral
Top Critic
8 / 10
Jul 11, 2016

A great simulation game that works impressively well on consoles. Although at times it almost feels like a psychology study of the player rather than the inmates.

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8 / 10.0
Oct 6, 2015

Great moments emerge naturally from well-made simulations, and Prison Architect has no shortage

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7 / 10
Oct 13, 2015

Tonally schizophrenic, yet still one of the more fascinating game experiences ever made.

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Yes
Oct 12, 2015

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.

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USgamer
Top Critic
Jun 29, 2016

This port of the popular PC prison-building game has been nicely executed to deliver a deep and compelling experience on consoles. Its complex menus and mechanics present a fairly steep learning curve, even with the game's effective tutorials, but once you get over it, Prison Architect is a challenging, entertaining, and surprisingly addictive game that offers plenty of potential for long-term play.

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8.5 / 10.0
Oct 6, 2018

I like computer books. I have a shelf packed with programming textbooks, stories about the industry, and a library of eBooks on various languages I learn and work with. I also have one oddity published by O'Reily called Getting Started With Dwarf Fortress.    Of course Dwarf Fortress is not a programming language, but a game. An infamous game known for an incredible depth of complexity and one of the worst user interfaces ever built. Aside the fact that the game is comprised entirely of ASCII characters, it is difficult enough to parse that it has its own sizeable text box. A shame considering it is one of the most unique and wonderful games around.I never mastered Dwarf Fortress, but it stoked the fires of my interest in the simulation genre and as the years have gone by there have been plenty of interesting clones of the game. Prison Architect is one such game, and while it chooses to ditch the mind boggling scope of Dwarf Fortress and focus the player on a singular task, it is not any worse off or lacking in depth because of this. After hanging around on PC, it has made its way to the Nintendo Switch, making it (for now...Rimworld, anyone?) the only notable title like it on the console.

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8 / 10
Oct 5, 2015

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.

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8 / 10.0
Oct 13, 2015

Although it is weighed down by some questionable development choices, Prison Architect is a break-out success due to its sandbox alone.

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8.5 / 10.0
Jun 28, 2016

Prison Architect is a fantastic strategy sim which highlights both the difficulty of running a prison and keeping a lot of prisoners happy.

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VideoGamer
Top Critic
8 / 10
Jul 5, 2016

Prison Architect is a full-on sim that will eat your time. If you fancy a dark look inside the running of a prison, look no further.

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Unscored
Oct 6, 2015

[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.

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8 / 10.0
Aug 3, 2016

This deep penitentiary construction and simulation game is a lesson why for-profit prisons are destined for corruption and inmate mistreatment

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95 / 100
Oct 6, 2015

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.

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85 / 100
Jul 1, 2016

Great for returning lifers, or first time criminals looking for a great builder experience.

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Guardian
Top Critic
Oct 9, 2015

How difficult could it be to build a jail and keep everyone inside? With this impressively detailed simulation, you're about to find out

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ZTGD
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Jul 14, 2017

Prison Architect allows for freedom and creativity with its deep simulation systems and the multitude of player options. Players may become surprisingly invested in their prison and in their prisoners, something that can only be achieved by letting them mess with every small detail.

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