Quick Look: Prison Architect

@johnny5: That's cool.

It's not that I think 30 bucks is too much for a game like this, it's just that in today's industry, and considering what you can get for 5-10, 30 comes off as a little steep.

Entertaining quicklook, this game looks pretty good. $30 seems steep though, I'll wait. Lol at prophet Vinny predicting Clem's future.

@ares42: "Also, Patrick is reaching with the whole social commentary angle."

I'd say that Patrick goes for the cheap grace of a social commentary/cleverly subversive and edgy angle most of the time he posts anything. He's a relevance hound with no time for bubblegum and oh snaps

@mattyftm: You'd think they'd eschew the electric chair/gas chamber imagery since NEARLY ALL executions today are by lethal injection delivered under sedation.

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution

lol dude did you even see where in the video he did it? It was like 40 seconds in when the introduction was just scrolling by. Yea im sure watching the video scroll by takes a ton of concentration, lol. He was not playing, he replied why he liked it then just said that was all we are going to talk about it.

@gaftra: He was 40 seconds into the video and did not even have control over the game, the intro was just scrolling by. He had enough thought to make his point but then just said that is all they are going to talk about it. Vinny then has to pipe up later just to say his thoughts on it.

Next time before you but in and make a general statement like "playing games and talking is hard" maybe check to see if they are even playing the game when they are talking.

This looks like my kind of sim game! I think I'll wait until it's on sale or something though!

I haven't gotten deep into a Tycoon game since Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, but I am all over this once it's in the 15 bucks range.

I didn't do so well.

Patrick, I'd recommend a couple eps of Lockdown on Netflix or something to get an idea of what to plan for, though the bit at the end seemed to address a few things (like double walls, and tables for people to eat at). I'm wondering if race relations might also be a thing they include, where you get more sporadic violence putting people willy nilly. Alternatively, when you concentrate the various gangs you get less daily violence, but when things do go bad, they go full Attica.

Also, the devs hinted at people having backstories not covered in their little blurbs. They are in prison for the stated crimes. That doesn't mean they didn't commit more heinous ones if they happen to have been caught for something minor, and it doesn't mean they are guilty of any crimes even if they were convicted. If they can follow through on that, this game might be amazing.

I want this game so bad... I just dont know if I should get it now or wait till its got a bow on it.

It's actually pretty functional for an Alpha. Some pathfinding issues, but they are easy to figure out what is going wrong and you can adapt yourself. Shouldn't be like that in a finished game of course, but alpha's are often pretty broken and you can play this just fine.

There is only one thing that is too broken yet to do very well and that is laundry. You unlock laundry relatively late and it takes the inmates foreverto collect the dirty clothes and deliver fresh clothes to each cell. I heard you can make it work by placing concrete tile inside the laundry and making it really big so you can have 15-20 inmates working there, but it's very difficult to handle that many inmates immediately.

I start with 16 (two deliveries of 8) and then I stop them. If I assign them all to laundry, then I won't make any money off license plates and I receive income way to slow to enjoy the game. If I allow more than 16 or 24 inmates, I can't handle all their needs.

But it's playable. You'll just have to deal with some inmates freaking out over having dirty clothes every day.

I love this game so much.

Anybody else hoping somebody recreates Superjail in this thing?

Was about to get this until I saw the $30 price tag. Fuck that.

Private prisons, what could POSSIBLY go wrong? Allegory like WHOA.

The only complaint I have about some of Patrick's quick looks is that he sometimes tries to extrapolate things he sees in a game to some overarching theme, or some meta-game idea. Granted, some games exist as social commentaries, but it seems to me that every game Patrick plays comes with some grand proselytizing about what the game is trying to evoke. Patrick is awesome when it comes to most things, but sometimes I just can't stand it when he induces that because of this feature or that, the game is an artistic attempt at something.

@fiberpay: ahhh I see what you're saying. I was thinking of a different part. No need to get harsh on it man.

I agree, that gets to me sometimes too. But thats why I think Vinny and Patrick make a good quicklook team.

Vinny often finds gameplay fun, and finds unique ways to look at game design, I enjoy that, a lot. The ability to make your own fun. I envy it. But I am also very much like Patrick.

Its like if Kirk and Spock did a quicklook, the two points of view are unique, I identify with Spock more. But I want to be more like Kirk.

$30 dollars is too rich for my blood, especially when you know if you are just patient you'll get this for $5bux eventually on steam.

I'm not really a fan of his writing either....so erm......

I was going to make this post, but then I saw it was already made and decided I'd quote it instead.

Patrick is maybe... a little more focused on the overarching themes of the game then I think even the developers might be. The idea that you can make your food better "Just to make you feel better." seems like a stretch. More likely prisoner meal quality effects their mood and now likely they are to cause trouble, just off the top of my head.

This game actually looks awesome. I think I'll wait to check it out until it's done though.

I mean, it is a game about running a prison for money.

meh not really.

I think they're building hamburgers down there, can you zoom in?

Wait, some of the commenters don't understand why a privatized prison simulation could be a social commentary? If you guys haven't noticed, Giant Bomb aren't the only ones saying this. Rock Paper Shotgun, Edge, and just about every other site covering the game have noticed that the game is making a statement of sorts. This is also the same team behind DEFCON: Everybody Dies, fleshing out the anti-war nature of Wargames.

EDIT: Also, as someone in the comments mentioned, the introduction mission is THICK with social commentary.

If I had to play this, I'd play it like Jeff, which would mean locking people in their cells forever and execute them at the slightest misconduct.

EFFICIENCY!!!

Man i really want this, the idea is excellent, its like 23 in euro's based on the exchange rate. Still think that's kinda high for a game that's in alpha :(

People aren't doubting it's part social commentary, just idea are mechanics designed for nothing but to effect how bad you feel about running a prison instead of it being part of the gameplay that affects the prisoners and how often they will be upset/attack, was silly. OBVIOUSLY Meal quality effect how happy prisoners are, ANYONE who's played a building game could have guessed that. Playing the SIMS should have been enough to know that.

awESOMEGame! AlReadY OnE OF mY favORITES!

Need this on the Giant Bomb Quoter

I dont think laying down individual buildings in a huge yard is a very efficienent, smart nor a standard prison design...

Hope they add more stuff to the game to make the it last longer, more assignments or grants to complete and the like. The first 4-6 hours are great though.

This is a great QL. Around 55 minutes when everything starts going to shit, it becomes gold, but really informed and cool look at this game.

I'm a bit late to this thread but I thought some might be interested to watch this.

This is a great developer session video from the RPS Rezzed conference in 2012. The developers discuss the social commentary issue (Jump ahead to 34:30 for that part specifically) and suffice it to say they are aware of how sensitive a subject the game is examining, and that the game is a rhetorical device to actively explore those issues.

I'm surprised so many people would presume that a game developer would be so far removed from the subject matter of their game.

Thank you. I literally just came in here to post that and scream "RIGHT HERE IN HAH-LEH-WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD." I'll show myself out.

@samdrugbringer: The issue with your assessment is that you assume that the game is trying to make you feel bad. This is the same strange belief people had with Spec Ops. There are ways to commentate on things that are obviously broken and bad in real life without trying to make someone feel bad while they step in the shoes of someone who exarcebates the problem. Do you think owners of privatized prisons feel bad about how they're turning human beings into degenerates?

Also, as an aside, I find it deeply ironic that the people who are big proponents of games as art are also the largest part of the opposition towards reviewers becoming what they are in all the other artistic mediums. FUCKING CRITICS.

I don't particularly like Patrick, but seriously, don't crucify him for actually bringing to light certain things that are interesting in videogames. Even if he reaches, he's still putting some emphasis and thought into what he's doing, that's about ten times more than the average gaming "journalist" does. It's pathetic how idiots will support racism and misogynistic bullshit in games, tear apart the people who actually point out how childish, idiotic, and borderline impossible it makes it for games to be taken seriously and even have a place as art, and then turn around and whine about how no one takes the medium seriously.

Maybe you idiots should maybe start thinking about games the same way as Patrick does? I don't know, it might lend some legitimacy to your desires that people shouldn't look at you as some greasy anti-social weirdo who plays games for thirteen year old boys.

This game looks fun. I think I'll wait until it is more done, though. Looks promising! I hope they implement some of the "room composition" stamps Vinny and Patrick were talking about.

Also, lol at people completely overanalyzing and blowing a simple conversation out of proportion. Jesus, guys.

Wow this is fascinating. Totally didn't expect this level of depth. I'll definitely buy the final product, but right now 30 bucks is kinda harsh.

These guys made DEFCON??? Whoa

You dont need to select all doors to be open during construction just build them last and dont have the inmates move into the cells before you have even layed out the walls :D

This is surprisingly similar to Dwarf Fortress. The building and room mechanics seem to work in almost exactly the same way, and you even have a lack of direct control over all your units. And based on the look Patrick gave us at his first failed prison, your fortress/prison might even have insane death-spirals in a similar manner.

$30 seems nuts to me, though, and even $15 for the finished product feels like a bit much. I learned how to use the Dwarf Fortress UI ages ago, so I'm fine sticking with the free experience... Though to be fair, this does look like the most well-made DF-like that I've seen, sans digging and mining.

Is the price still 30 bucks for the alpha?

@the_laughing_man: its on a 24% sale right now

"...Are they moving Energon..?"

Man, did I love that one.

It is extremely worth it. This is up there with Don't Starve as some of the most finished and already good to play for hours on end alpha games out there.

I don't know how much of it was there at release, but I just played the prison stories campaign and there is definitely some social commentary going on there.