We haven’t really had many games solely based on prison life that I can recall. The most notable is Prison Architect which proved a bit of a hit on PC and console. The only other I can recall was an attempt at a Prison Break game based on the TV series which was pretty lacklustre. Prison Tycoon: Under New Management is now available after around 18 months on Windows PC. This game brings a similar level of building and simulation to other successful titles in the genre such as Two Point Hospital/Canvas and Planet Coaster but in the behind-bars environment. Does it stand up to the same quality and addictive nature that those titles provide? Let’s find out!

Gameplay

Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any storyline in Prison Tycoon: Under New Management and just one mode from what I can see. The game will give you some pointers at the very beginning with revenue grants for ticking these bits off. In the introductory stage, you’ll be learning how to place common buildings, cell blocks, and therapy rooms along with how to link utilities such as water and electricity to them. Once you get through the first bits you’ll be housing prisoners and you can pick which troublemakers to bring into your steel bar palace. Each has an indicator of their name, age and the length of their sentence.

As you level up you’ll be awarded new items in your catalogue such as new rooms, decorative items and more. For instance, on ranking up on the first occasion I gained access to a Gym, Library along with a bunch of therapy areas I could play around with. What I did like about this game was how much flexibility you have with product placement and the variance of different areas you can place down. The only downside I found was that most rooms have to be a specific size and shape and this made it sometimes frustrating.

Could Do With More Direction

The lack of a tutorial shows as I was referring to a guide within the games menu to figure out what to do a lot of the time, which again was a minor inconvenience.  What is quite clever is that prisoners respond differently to the range of therapies on offer because of their mindset and history. The game can be sped up and slowed down at any time which is the norm with games of this nature. Ultimately though you’ll need to keep your prisoners happy by ensuring they have the facilities they need to survive.

Graphics & Audio

Visually Prison Tycoon: Under New Management isn’t the prettiest in comparison to other games in the genre but it serves its purpose. The UI is extremely basic and a little dull, to be honest, and that made learning the layout a little difficult to get to grips with. The menus look a little rough around the edges and you can see it hasn’t been optimised overly well for consoles. The top-down view for prison layout works well though and whilst some rooms look better than others, they are well designed. I found the music to be far too repetitive and had to turn it off completely. Whilst I enjoyed the music for the first few minutes, it is the same track on a loop and soon outstays its welcome. A rotation of different tracks would have been appreciated here.

In Conclusion

Prison Tycoon: Under New Management didn’t really scratch an itch for me if I am completely honest. Whilst it borrows the basics from several other games in the genre, the environments and characters within the prison walls lack character and personality. The gameplay loop can get very repetitious and some features don’t work as well as I’d liked them to have. It’s nice that they haven’t cloned the Two Point games like for like, but those games are bursting with humour, quirkiness and a range of characters with emotion. Here there seems to be little to none and it’s a shame because, with a bit of love pumped into the fluidity, creativity and everything surrounding the game, it could have been much better.

That isn’t to say there isn’t fun to be had here, it is genuinely a good crack at a game that hasn’t existed before now. There are some good elements such as the rehabilitation of prisoners and the flexibility to craft the prison environment exactly how you require. If you have played the PC version then they have addressed some niggles from the early access phase through feedback. Two DLC packs cater for higher-risk prisoners, a character creation function and even some Twitch integration features. For its reasonable price point of £20.99, it is worth a punt if you love this type of game.