When the time comes to launch your first part of Prison Architect, or to watch the game's trailer on the Internet, you can only be surprised by the artistic direction chosen by the developers. Entirely produced in 2D, it offers us a distorted perspective, made up of relatively simple decorations seen from above, on which are superimposed silhouettes of characters seen from the front, with geometric bodies, devoid of limbs, and cartoon design. A confusing choice, which fortunately you get used to very quickly. After a few hours of play we end up frankly appreciating it, and we fully understand the reason for it. The ultra-simplified animations (simple translations) make it possible to calmly display and simultaneously manage hundreds of characters, while their almost iconic design ensures great readability at all times. Privileging the content more than the form, without rushing the latter, is a particularly welcome creed in a management game. In the same vein, the interface may seem a little too sober at first glance but, over time, we will only praise its efficiency and clarity. Particularly rich, the game offers, for example, a large number of objects to place in the sets. You could get lost, but the menu in question combines two good ideas. It is first displayed in a reduced version of about thirty items, which can be enlarged with a click to browse all the objects. And it also offers a search field, which allows you to quickly access the item you want. In general, the game is extremely rich, very complete, but never too complex or tedious. The risk was however real, because the prison subject does not lend frankly to the joy of living. But Prison Architect is very far from being a simple "Machin Simulator" developed in a hurry to satisfy an extremely targeted audience. On the contrary, it has great didactic qualities, capable of seducing everyone.
THE DOORS OF THE PENITENTIARY
Thus, the campaign is a perfect introduction to the sandbox mode, on which we will easily spend tens or even hundreds of hours. Each gameplay mechanic is introduced gradually, through a clever scenario that presents us with different situations (and therefore different prisons) that ultimately turn out to be linked. To enrich the narrative scenes, the game uses a system of flashbacks and polaroids, whose relatively realistic line drawings contrast nicely with the general simplicity of the graphics. The twists and turns are legion, and the thriller atmosphere that emerges from this campaign is far from the expected austerity. It was necessary to be able to easily digest all the management options. Because to build the ideal prison, you will have to manage multiple parameters. To erect a building, it is thus necessary to begin by laying out the foundations, then to determine its function from among thirty (cells, showers, canteen, kitchen, delivery area, office, parlor, chapel, armory, etc.), to tackle the decoration (in particular the type of floor) and the furnishings. It is then necessary to think of connecting certain apparatuses to the electrical network as well as to the water distribution network. Also, don't forget to hire enough staff, be it workers, caretakers, doctors, cooks, gardeners, janitors, dog handlers, managers, chef, foremen, psychologists, accountants or even lawyers. All this will not be too much to prevent violence, riots and other escape attempts by prisoners.
At a time when AAA is preparing to invade the Christmas shelves, give this particularly pleasant indie game a chance!
To limit these incidents, you have two choices. Cover as many as possible of the prisoners' twenty needs (sleep, food, hygiene, drugs, alcohol, spirituality, reading, etc.) or leave them to wallow in misery and rely only on force to contain the various forms of rebellion. In this case you will often have recourse to the various emergency procedures (general search, instantaneous locking of the doors, containment) as well as to emergency calls (fire brigade, anti-riot forces, paramedic teams). This last point introduces a slightly more dynamic gameplay than usual since you manually direct these elite troops. This will make it easier to take the pill out of the most administrative aspects of management (meal times or guard patrols, for example). Finally, note that each of the very many prisoners has their own complete biography, which helps to reinforce the human aspect of the adventure. But let's stop here the inventory of the possibilities offered by the game, because they are still very numerous. Above all, remember that Prison Architect is in every way exciting, well done and even promising, because the game is open to mods. Moreover, the long phase of early access on Steam proved that the developers were particularly inclined to add content and to listen to the opinion of the players. At a time when AAA is preparing to invade the Christmas shelves, give this particularly pleasant indie game a chance!
