Prison Architect

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Prison Architect
File:Prison Architect Logo.jpg
Developer(s) Introversion Software
Publisher(s) Introversion Software
Producer(s) Mark Morris
Designer(s) Chris Delay
Platforms Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Release date(s)
  • October 6, 2015
  • Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux
      PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
      • June 28, 2016
      Android, iOS
      • 2016
    Genre(s) Construction and management simulation
    Mode(s) Single-player

    Prison Architect is a private prison construction and management simulation video game developed and published by Introversion Software.[1] It was made available as a crowdfunded paid alpha pre-order on September 25, 2012 with updates scheduled every three to four weeks.[2] With over 1,000,000 copies sold, Prison Architect made over US$10.7 million in pre-order sales for the alpha version.[3] Prison Architect was an entrant in the 2012 Independent Games Festival.[4]

    The game was available on Steam's Early Access program, and was officially released on October 6, 2015.

    Gameplay

    The game is a top-down 2D (with optional 3D mode)[5] construction and management simulation where the player takes control of building and running a prison. The player is responsible for managing various aspects of their prison including building cells and facilities, planning and connecting utilities, hiring and assigning staff, including a warden, guards, workers, and more. The player needs to recruit staff to unlock more aspects of the game. The player is also responsible for the finance, and keeping their inmates content. The player's role is of both architect and governor with sandbox micromanagement themes such as choosing where to put lights, drains and how they connect together. The player is also able to add workshops to the prison as well as reform programs that reduce the specific prisoner's repeat-offender rate. The player tells the prisoners what to do indirectly by setting their schedule.[6] The game takes inspiration from Theme Hospital, Dungeon Keeper, and Dwarf Fortress.[7]

    The first "official" (non-beta) release introduced an expanded story mode as a tutorial and an escape mode which allows the player to take control of a prisoner.[8]

    Development

    Prison Architect was developed by British video game studio Introversion Software. The game was announced in October 2011, shortly after Introversion postponed the development of their bank heist simulator game Subversion.[9] The game was first made available on September 25, 2012 as an Alpha version.[2] The game was then crowdfunded with pre-orders, making over US$270,000 in two weeks with close to 8,000 sales.[10] Developer's co-founder Mark Morris explains that independent crowd-funding has allowed them to have no time limit on the Alpha version, as well as no fees associated with crowd-funding platforms.[10] As of December 2013, the developers have raised over US$9 million.[11] Since then, the game has received 37 major updates, with the latest on April 29, 2016.[12]

    Introversion Software also announced that a mobile version of the game is in development[13] and the PC version of the game officially launched on October 6, 2015.[14][15] In Introversion's alpha 30 video,[16] they confirmed Prison Architect was coming to iOS and Android in October 2015 with the games official release. The developers posted a tweet on March 21, 2013, that "I guess Prison Architect won't be coming to iPad then! YOUR LOSS APPLE", with a link to a PocketGamer article talking about "Apple's war on serious games".[17]

    Introversion announced on January 20, 2016 that it would be bringing the game to Xbox 360, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 platforms in the second quarter of 2016.[18]

    Reception

    Reception
    Aggregate score
    Aggregator Score
    Metacritic 83/100[19]

    Upon the full release, the game has received positive reviews, scoring 83 out of 100 on review aggregator site Metacritic.[19] IGN awarded it a score of 8.3 out of 10, saying "Prison Architect is one of the most in-depth, satisfying builder games in ages, if you can get past the initiation."[20] On April 7, 2016, Prison Architect won the 2016 BAFTA award in the Persistent Game category.[21] Prison Architect was also nominated for the 2016 BAFTA award in the British Game category, which was won by Batman: Arkham Knight.[21]

    Sales

    As of September 26, 2015, the game grossed over $19 million for Introversion Software, and over 1.25 million units of the game were sold.[22]

    See also

    References

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    21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 BAFTA - Games in 2016
    22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

    External links

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