How To Start Your Prison In Prison Architect

Starting a new prison in Prison Architect can feel overwhelming at first, but with the right sequence of steps, you’ll have a functioning facility up and running in no time. This guide walks you through the essential buildings, staff hiring, and utilities setup needed to welcome your first batch of prisoners and begin your management journey.

Building Your First Holding Cells

When you start a new game with default settings, your first task is to prepare holding cells for incoming prisoners. You’ll notice on the left side of the screen that eight prisoners are arriving soon.

To accommodate them, you need to build eight cells. Use the quick build feature and select the basic cell option. Build them one by one until you have all eight cells ready for occupancy.

Constructing Essential Facilities

The Prison Office

After your holding cells are complete, build a prison office. This is essential for your warden to operate from. You can find this in the quick build menu under utilities.

The Kitchen and Canteen

Next, construct a kitchen. These initial facilities represent the bare necessities for your prison—no extras needed at this stage. The kitchen is crucial for feeding your prisoners once they arrive.

Hiring Your Initial Staff

Before your prisoners arrive, you’ll need to hire staff to keep the prison running. Start by hiring a warden for the office, followed by some cooks to manage the kitchen and a few guards for security and prisoner supervision.

Connecting Water and Electricity

Setting Up Electricity

Your next critical step is connecting utilities. Access the utilities menu and select the electric cable option. Connect this cable to all your rooms and facilities to provide power throughout your prison.

Installing Water Systems

After electricity is connected, set up your water system. Use a large pipe to connect the main water supply, then run small pipes to all toilets and sinks in your facilities. This ensures your prisoners have access to sanitation.

Welcoming Your First Prisoners

Once all your buildings are complete and utilities are connected, prisoners will start arriving. When they do, click on the intake button to accept them into your prison.

After your first batch of prisoners arrives, close the intake to prevent additional prisoners from arriving while you stabilize your operation. If you notice any issues like “No access to canteen,” wait for all your buildings to finish construction and connections.

Growing Your Prison

Focus on Bureaucracy

Once your basic prison is established, shift your focus to the bureaucracy section in the top left of your screen. Learning and completing bureaucratic tasks will be essential to advancing your prison and unlocking new features.

Earning Extra Income Through Grants

To boost your finances, navigate to the reports section and click on grants. You’ll see various quests available on the left side. For example, the “Green Machine” grant offers $5,000 upon completion. Completing these grants is an excellent way to earn extra money while you’re starting out.

Expanding Operations

As you become more comfortable with your initial setup, you can begin taking in more prisoners and building additional facilities. Focus on completing bureaucracy tasks and grants to generate revenue that will fund your expansion.

Conclusion

Starting a prison in Prison Architect follows a logical progression: build holding cells, construct essential facilities, hire staff, connect utilities, welcome prisoners, and then focus on bureaucracy and grants for growth. By following these steps, you’ll have a solid foundation to expand into a thriving correctional facility. Good luck with your prison management!

Want to Support?

If you would like to help us continue making these guides – please consider joining our patreon here – https://www.patreon.com/c/JaviHeals

Alternatively – you can join our discord here – https://discord.gg/zD7Gjt6MHF