r/prisonarchitect 1d ago

Game News/Reviews Closed Beta Sign up!

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448 Upvotes

Hello Architects! 

We are opening sign-ups for a new Closed Beta for Prison Architect 2, starting September 9th 2026. The signup sheet will remain open through September 2nd. 

🌟 Learn How: https://pdxint.at/pa2forumclosedbetatest


r/prisonarchitect Apr 08 '26

Game News/Reviews New Closed Beta!

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228 Upvotes

Greetings Architects! 🏗️

Today we are once more opening sign-ups for a new Closed Beta for Prison Architect 2, starting April 14, 2026. The signup sheet will remain open through April 12th.

⭐️Learn How: https://pdxint.at/pa2-beta-signup


r/prisonarchitect 1h ago

Console Question Literacy need advice

Upvotes

Currently fresh with a newish prison ive got mentally insane prisoners enabled as I like the challenge further down the line but im less than 10 days in and prisoners are going insane because the literacy demand isn’t being met I’ve got a library but I have no prisoners qualified to work there I have foundation programs but they take a while before someone’s qualified is there another way to decrease the literacy need if I put bookshelves in places will that help ?


r/prisonarchitect 7h ago

PC Question Can guards detect thrown contraband?

3 Upvotes

I was just wondering if putting a patrol by walls in outdoor areas will allow them to spot thrown contraband and reveal it. Otherwise that'd really suck


r/prisonarchitect 1d ago

Image/Album Im going to attempt to make The walking dead comic prison. Has anyone done this before? If not, how would you lay out the rooms based on this picture?

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79 Upvotes

r/prisonarchitect 1d ago

Discussion Would 3 layers of normal fence with sniper towers every 100 metres likely stop all escape attempts?

12 Upvotes

While i can afford perimeter walls, i was hoping to keep the look of the x3 fence.


r/prisonarchitect 1d ago

Discussion why is so many cctv connected to only one monitor when I have other monitors not being used?

9 Upvotes

idk what im doing pls help


r/prisonarchitect 2d ago

Image/Album Wanted to share my prison i made

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64 Upvotes

I tried making a small corridor for my staff so they could move around the prison faster (+ the running track).
I chose women as prisoners that why i have bigger room on the top left (for the babies).


r/prisonarchitect 1d ago

Discussion similar game ideas

8 Upvotes

if I were to create/build a similar style game, would anybody be interested in playing? in what ways should it be similar, what's the theme? lemme know & hearts;


r/prisonarchitect 3d ago

Discussion Why don't families come to the visitation room?

16 Upvotes

I’ve added extra time and opened all the doors, but they still aren't coming.


r/prisonarchitect 4d ago

Discussion What the hell do I do with this guy

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127 Upvotes

r/prisonarchitect 4d ago

Discussion i need some help

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16 Upvotes

I never did any research on this but I assumed that the right side of land could be used for maximum security prisoners or any other prisoners you want to keep away. I found a cool design for maximum security prisoners and used that design.
However when I actually got the prisoners they all went to the left side rather than the right. Using google i was told to add road gates and perimeters, unfortunately on this save the perimeter walls are not here but i added those in and that didn't seem to help the issue. I need a bit of help as my prisoners are starting to die to starvation (due to deployment on the second image) so right now im using an old save. If this is not saveable please let me know so i can remove it, and i do apologise if i missed any info


r/prisonarchitect 5d ago

PC Question No visitors arriving in Supermax

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42 Upvotes

My max inmates get visitors but for some reason nobody shows up to my supermax visitation. Ive tried turning the tables horizontally, using visitor booths vertically/horizontally, checking policy, de-zoning and re-zoning, etc., and still visitors aren't arriving. Feeling super stumped, does anyone have other ideas that could fix this?


r/prisonarchitect 5d ago

Console Question Game crashes on save file launch

4 Upvotes

When i load in my prison the game just freezes and closes after 5 seconds. (The prison isnt even large)

I can provide a video if necessary


r/prisonarchitect 6d ago

Discussion Are You Old Enough?

41 Upvotes

Throwing down a bunch of floor, like watching disk defragmenter and trying to determine any kind of pattern, realizing there is none but watching it anyway cause you can't do anything until it's done.

That is all. Feeling stupid and old.


r/prisonarchitect 6d ago

Discussion Help! Stuck Prisoners

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5 Upvotes

2 alive prisoners are stuck in this room. Doors open, I tried demoing the wall, assigning lockdown, or escort to infirmary. Nothing

the single that's unconscious I can't even click on or do anything with him and doesn't show up in prisoner list.

what can I do


r/prisonarchitect 9d ago

PC Question Why wont any visitors show up for visitation?

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76 Upvotes

I'm not sure what im doing wrong, shouldnt this work? It says theres families waiting to visit but no one ever comes


r/prisonarchitect 9d ago

PC Question What version to play

10 Upvotes

Seen some people suggest playing the 2018 version of the game on steam rather than the current version. I’ve been running into some glitches on the current build with some dlc on, so I’m wondering if that’d be a better experience.

Is there lots missing in the 2018 version?

Also, do you guys find the current base game with no dlc/mods to be glitch free?


r/prisonarchitect 11d ago

Image/Album Prison Architect - The Complete Edition CD Cover (GOG Offline Installer for PC)

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45 Upvotes

Here is my design/interpretation for a "Complete Edition" of Prison Architect on a physical CD for PC, featuring a fully offline installer thanks to Good Old Games (GOG). Even features the top 10 most downloaded workshop mods of all time (& some I personally liked), with paid respects!

Let me know what you think & feel free to use this cover for yourself! Especially if you have the full game, including all the DLCs from GOG! Just burn the offline installer you get from the website version of Good Old Games, including the DLC installers (Preferably in their own folder titled "DLC"), to a CD (700Mb is enough for the base game + DLCs) or a DVD (Allows for modded Steam Workshop content 700Mb+) and you are all set to download Prison Architect whenever you want! No DRM! No online or account activation! & 100% yours to keep! 🥰

If you want the "Bonus Content" mentioned, aka Steam Workshop mods, just use a Steam Workshop downloader site, extract the the .zip file it gives you (If the file doesn't have a .zip in the name/extension, just rename the file to have it then extract it), and place those files into their own folder "Patdown Station Mod Example Folder" then place that into a "Mods" folder onto the disc! Should look like CD > Mods > Patdown Station Mod Example Folder. Once you run the setup installer from the disc, all you have to do is drag the Mods you want from the CD "Mods" folder into the mods directory on your PC, located at the %localappdata% / Introversion / Prison Architect / Mods folder and you are all set! Just activate/disable the mods in-game through the Extras menu. (Check example image for reference on how things should look file wise on the CD).

You may notice an autorun.inf file in the example photo. This is just a simple text file with the name autorun.inf that contains simple information like a game icon, game label, etc... More info about it on Youtube!

There are a lot of videos on Youtube on how to make a physical GOG game on CD, I would start there! It's very simple, I promise! 🙃 I highly recommend Archades Games video titled "How To Make Physical Discs Of Your GoG Games!", great watch!

This cover was specially designed for a Maxwell 10mm CD-360 Jewel Case, and can be found on Amazon, which is admittedly an odd size, with the cover wrapping around the entire case just like a DVD, except it's about the size of a Jewel case. I bought these thinking they were normal Jewel cases but they act more like small DVD cases in that regard. Feel free to reshape/morph/crop up this cover however you see fit, like only using the front section for a regular CD Jewel case, or stretching the whole cover up to fit a regular DVD case, the choice is yours! Use any software you like! (Photoshop, Gimp, etc...)

The CD Disc Cover itself is printed on a Matte-White Full-Face Avery CD/DVD Printable Label (8960), which can be found on Amazon (Glossy options too but I use Matte). My printer is an HP Officejet, so result may vary depending on the printer.

Also, I print the Jewel case game cover on Glossy Inkjet Photo Paper, to give it that official look, which can also be found on Amazon! When printing, since the image itself is about 11 inches (The size of a normal piece of printer paper), printing at about 98% photo size will work, or as big as you can respectfully make it in the printer preview, without it bleeding/cropping over.

Wow, that was quite the word salad! Sorry if I made anyones head spin with all the technicalities! 😅 & Much respect for those of you who actually read this whole thing! You get an Achievement Unlocked: Supermax Sleuth! 🕵️

(Fan-made cover, purely designed for fun & to accompany a fully legally purchased copy/license of Prison Architect from Good Old Games. Plz don't sue me 😭 Hire me! 😅)

[My designs are NOT for resale or redistribution. They will forever be free and available here. 🧡]

Note: This is for a Windows version of the game. Also I made a non-modded version for just the base game with all the DLCs, if modding isn't your cup of tea! (Last Image).

Full Res Links:

https://ibb.co/Kx4YP7JH

https://ibb.co/cStwxfgR

https://ibb.co/xwBKzfB

Happy gaming! 🙃


r/prisonarchitect 12d ago

Game News/Reviews Paradox CEO says Prison Architect 2 is "getting there" and news is coming this fall

196 Upvotes

Not sure if this has already been noticed here, but Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester gave a pretty interesting update on Prison Architect 2 during their Q2 earnings call on August 6.

He said he had played Prison Architect 2 the day before, specifically praised the new planning mode, and said:

“It’s really good. It’s getting there. We’re going to come out with news during fall.”

Considering how little official communication there has been since the indefinite delay, this seems like one of the most concrete updates we've had in a long time.

They've also run closed betas in January and April this year, so development clearly seems to be moving along.

Source: Paradox Q2 2026 earnings call transcript


r/prisonarchitect 12d ago

Discussion Power Export

7 Upvotes

Question regarding maximum power export.

With Green Energy goals completed (5,000 units) and The Ecologist (increased Green Energy output 33.2% and double value of energy exported), how much Green Energy do I need? I am only using Green Energy for export and not using it to power my facility. I currently have 90 Wind/Solar Hybrid for power (9900 units of power), all set up to export meters. Net I am getting $54,945.

How many Wind/Solar Hybrid utilities do I need to maintain maximum export income?
I cannot tell if this is a math question or not with the 33.2% increase before or after the total calculation.


r/prisonarchitect 14d ago

PC Question Insane criminal not moving to padded cell

10 Upvotes

I have insane criminal in my jail and I also have padded cell biilt for them, but they are not moving to the padded cell and waiting for being moved to their cell, what should I do now?


r/prisonarchitect 15d ago

Image/Album Recently downloaded the game, and I had a somewhat unfortunate start of my first playthrough, can I still somehow salvage this in anyway ?

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164 Upvotes

r/prisonarchitect 16d ago

Discussion Working on a prison rehab

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127 Upvotes

I decided to make a campus design with each sector being self sufficient (Each has their own Infirmary [Admin has a Central Hospital for more larger emergencies and staff training], Security [Admin Sector has a Security Center], Canteen, Laundry [Admin does not have these for obviously reasons], Power Generators, and Water pumps) with Rehabilitation in mind. Inspired by University colleges, British design, and Homer Hoyt's Sectoral city design. Expensive? Yes. The Foundations for the Central Administration building alone (Second image) costs 97k, let alone the rest of the prison. But expenses aside, thoughts?


r/prisonarchitect 16d ago

PC Question What is the best setting for sandbox with all dlc?

9 Upvotes

Hi all, I own the game and all dlc quite a while, and played a few times tutorial in the past, now I would like to start a sandbox game which I can play with all DLC, but I wonder how I should set it up to not make the game crazy.