Do not buy Prison Architect, or support Paradox Interactive.

I hate that I have to write this review. Prison Architect used to be one of my favorite games on Steam. It was what got me into games like Rimworld and Dwarf Fortress, oddly enough. And I still have fond memories of it. However three major things have changed in the last year that have really killed all enjoyment that I can get from this game; the bugs, the Paradox acquisition, and the new DLC.

A year or two ago, this game was basically 100% stable. In my 200+ hours of playtime during this era, the amount of bugs I encountered could be counted on one hand. Now? Now you can't even count on your hands since you'll be too busy typing, looking up whether something is a glitch or intended. Workers refuse to build water pipes, workers refuse to haul items, canteens glitch out and refuse to be assigned, and workers can't interact with what they need to build. This is all without the DLC, and the DLC adds even more bugs. In fact, unless they've changed it, the psych ward DLC completely breaks female prisons if you have it installed.

A lot of this rests on Paradox, however, not the original devs. For those who don't know, Paradox is a leech of a publisher. Taking mildly competent strategy games (or more recently popular but inactive indie games) and sucking as much money as they can out of the IP. Several of their games cost over $250 to play if you want to grab all the DLC, and even then be prepared to shill out another $10-15 every couple of months. Look at Europa Universalis 4 and Hearts of Iron 4 if you don't understand just how scummy this publisher is. And while it's slow now, they're likely trying to see if they can squeeze as much money out of this game too.

And honestly, the DLC has been added in a way that's utterly terrible. Firstly, the original devs made a free update to the game that added female prisoners and babies a few years ago. Why do I bring that up? Well that DLC is more substantial than anything that Paradox has released for a price. I made the mistake of purchasing Psych Ward, only to discover game breaking bugs that - I believe - have not been addressed or fixed to this day. I can't speak for Island Bound, as it just recently came out, but judging by other reviews it's removed key functions of the game. And if EU4 is any indication, that function is now locked behind a $10 DLC. Which, if that is the case, is a truly despicable move.

This isn't the well designed, simple but fun game that Prison Architect used to be. This is a shambling, bloated, rotting husk of a game reanimated by a parasitic leech of a company, like some sort of Resident Evil monster. Do not give any more money to this terrible publisher, and if you already own the game, I implore you to never give a dime to these worthless, minor DLCs.

(Also, if you ever see a game that has the 'off-topic' review asterisk that artificially raises a games score, make sure you learn why that game has that tag. However it is my opinion that exposing a rotten publisher is very much relevant to a game's worth.)