Prison Architect
Overview -
'Prison Architect' was developed by Introversion Software, a British company probably most famous for 'Darwinia'. 'Prison Architect' was released in alpha way back in 2012 and gradually grew in popularity on Steam, assisted by a direct crowdfunding effort. It has been brought to consoles by Double Eleven.
Video Review
'Prison Architect' has a clean, ergonomic interface and has come along tremendously since its early access days. It has been translated to the Xbox One controller about as well as any strategy game could hope to be; getting around in the dozens of menu items is relatively painless. Performance has also been smoothed over, and very large prisons (500+ inmates) don’t break the framerate.
Audio Review
My own prison experience is very limited but the sound effects in 'Prison Architect' are immersive, from the managed chaos of the canteen to the deafening clash of riots, interspersed with the normal sounds of day-to-day jail existence. There is no voice acting, and very little music.
Final Thoughts
'Prison Architect' has grown from a wonky but promising idea into an awesome strategy experience. Except for some persistent pathfinding bugs, the AI and building elements are spot on, and I highly recommend this game even to people who may not normally enjoy the tycoon genre.
