14 DAY TRIAL // Developer Introversion Software has introduced a couple of new features to their Early Access building and management game Prison Architect.
The newly-released Alpha 18 introduces one of the game's bigger end game features, the prisoner reform system. Players can now run prisoner reform programs aiming to educate and train inmates, resulting in their rehabilitation.
The downside is that reform programs are expensive to run and take a long time to complete, with success rates being usually pretty low unless the prisoners are being well taken care of.
On the upside, prisoner reform programs can bring some substantial benefits to the prison as well as the inmates taking part in them, with some being oriented toward the short term, others being of a more long-term investment nature and offering little in return up front.
Prisoners will now have to undergo workshop safety and kitchen hygiene programs before being permitted to work in workshops or the kitchen, as the devs felt it was unrealistic to deploy any number of new inmates into a dangerous workshop, working with heavy machinery without any prior training.
Additionally, violent prisoners can now be sent to the psychologist for anger management classes, and those that are more academically inclined can work toward bettering their education in the newly introduced classroom.
Teachers are a new type of staff member, one that players will not hire directly, but rather that comes in from the outside to teach a certain course, after which it will leave the premises.
The armory introduced in alpha 17 has now been expanded, allowing players to unlock tazers with which to arm their guards, and eventually make them standard equipment for all guards and dog trainers. Tazers are very useful because they completely incapacitate a prisoner without causing any damage, but they require a full hour to recharge in order to be used again.
As an additional defense measure, guards will now find stab vests in the armory, offering them added protection during fights but also slowing down their movement.
The comprehensive list of changes can be found on the Introversion forums, in the Prison Architect Alpha 18 patch notes.
Prison Architect is currently featured on Steam Early Access, and the developers plan to release alpha 19 sometime next month.