Introversion's new game: Prison Architect

[Toonces]

Introversion makes some very innovative and interesting games.  Their newest title is Prison Architect.  It doesn't look like my thing, but some of you might enjoy it.

http://www.introversion.co.uk/prisonarchitect/

Woot!  I get to be first to announce a game for a change!   8)

[son_of_montfort]

The alpha is really interesting. I get the picture it will be heavily expanded, but it has a real civilization builder style feel.

[Rekim]

Introversion...sounds like my kind of game company   :D

[Tpek]

So far Introversion has been quite original in its games.
Uplink was the first "hacking game",
Defcon also dealt with a subject not much dealt with before (all out nuclear war. Something that's getting to be the issue these days),
And Darwinia and Multiwinia were pretty cool in their (then-original) retro ways.

But this is quite like those other "Prison Tycoon" games. What makes this one different?

And also, what happened to that game they were working on for quite some time, Subversion (?) ?

[LongBlade]

I love how they're touting access to groundbreaking bugs as a net plus :)

Great find, Toonces. If you could just find something like "Insane Asylum Architect" I think you'd have everyone's futures here fully fleshed out.

[Tpek]

I love how they're touting access to groundbreaking bugs as a net plus :)

Great find, Toonces. If you could just find something like "Insane Asylum Architect" I think you'd have everyone's futures here fully fleshed out.

Thought that was your job... :P

[LongBlade]

I love how they're touting access to groundbreaking bugs as a net plus :)

Great find, Toonces. If you could just find something like "Insane Asylum Architect" I think you'd have everyone's futures here fully fleshed out.

Thought that was your job... :P

There is one thing I've learned - none of us is as smart as all of us.

Of course as our Intelligence stats go up, our Sanity points go down, so the results are a mixed bag.

[Tpek]

I love how they're touting access to groundbreaking bugs as a net plus :)

Great find, Toonces. If you could just find something like "Insane Asylum Architect" I think you'd have everyone's futures here fully fleshed out.

Thought that was your job... :P

There is one thing I've learned - none of us is as smart as all of us.

Of course as our Intelligence stats go up, our Sanity points go down, so the results are a mixed bag.

I think you've played too much Call of Cthulu :D

[LongBlade]

I think you've played too much Call of Cthulu :D

I've only played one game and a bit of the old Xbox game, but I have a great appreciation for how it works.

Life does seem to offer us tradeoffs - you can know more, but the more you know the more you realize you don't know. Not everyone is capable of handling the blast of information or living with the constant uncertainty...

[FarAway Sooner]

On the gaming front, SAN is overrated.

On the personal front, INT is overrated.

Whatcha gonna do?

:)

[Huw the Poo]

And also, what happened to that game they were working on for quite some time, Subversion (?) ?

To cut a long story short, they worked for years on the engine but realised they didn't really have a base game to put in it.  With a lot of regret, they shelved it indefinitely and used some of the tech for Prison Architect.  Apparently they plan to return to Subversion at some point.

[son_of_montfort]

Yeah, the death of Subversion was quite a downer.

Tpek, as far as how this is different from most Prison Tycoon games, there seems to be a certain amount of underlying something that I can't exactly explain in the game that makes it feel a bit more sinister than most. The "cutsey" graphics underly a real feeling of dread and despair. Also, it has an almost Dwarf Fortress level of freedom - you draw the walls, you assign the rooms (and their size), you set up the stuff in the rooms, you hire all the people, you have to deal with the various different types of prisoner personalities. Actually, having played this recently, it feels a lot like a prison version of Startopia.

What is really interesting to me, is that Introversion is well known for being a group of bedroom British programmers, but they are picking a topic and a setting that is distinctly American in nature (no, I'm not claiming prisons are American, but the way this game's prisons are set up is closer to the American model).

There is a bit of a storyline being built for a campaign (and it is really quite something in its execution). But you also have a sandbox to it. Do you want to go Coolhand Luke and build an oubliette designed to break the spirit of those entering (but will likely create riots).

I look forward to see where they go and getting more time with it.

[son_of_montfort]

I think an Asylum Architect game would be excellent also, BTW.

[LongBlade]

I think an Asylum Architect game would be excellent also, BTW.

There may be a game out there kinda like it - GH Moderator rings a bell.

[Tpek]

I think an Asylum Architect game would be excellent also, BTW.

There may be a game out there kinda like it - GH Moderator rings a bell.

I already pointed out that "Insane Asylum Architect" is what you do here :P