Prison Tycoon Review | Under New Management
Shaun M Jooste 
Prison Tycoon: Under New Management
Our Prison Tycoon Review takes a look at Under New Management and the gameplay elements included. Read more exciting details right here!
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Product Price: R130
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Prison Tycoon: Under New Management is a fun business simulation game by Abylight Studios with Ziggurat as the publisher. Released on December 10, 2021, it has new elements that make managing the correctional facility more exciting. Welcome to our Prison Tycoon review!
Celenic Earth Publications takes a crack at this game, delivering gameplay information in our Prison Tycoon review below. In the end, we’ll give it a score based on the different elements and how much we enjoyed it.
Read our full Prison Tycoon: Under New Management announcement here.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided by Uber Strategist for the purposes of this review. However, that doesn’t affect our opinions or favour the game in any way. Our reviews are always honest.
Story Elements of our Prison Tycoon review
While Prison Tycoon: Under New Management is a business simulation game at heart, there are still story-like elements you need to manage. You’ll start with a basic area, which you’ll need to develop to ensure the prisoners are secure and happy. If they become dissatisfied, they’ll create havoc in the facility. You’ll notice that there are different areas with various climates, which means you’ll have different approaches for each one.
You’ll have a tutorial to show you the ropes, which was helpful for our Prison Tycoon review. It reveals how to place buildings, care for your employees and prisoners, and everything you need to know to succeed. You’ll even have to place generators and electrical pipes to make sure every building has enough electricity.
There are various objectives you need to meet to successfully pass a level. Completing these tasks will provide rewards, such as gold and food packs. For our Prison Tycoon review, we found this extremely essential in keeping the business flowing without causing too much trouble.
Once you have these elements mastered, you’ll be well on your way to managing your prison correctly. It becomes more challenging later on, while you’ll also receive specific missions from outside authorities. You’ll have to show your ability to manage all the aspects at once without losing your head.
Prison Tycoon Review: gameplay elements
We have many gameplay elements to cover in our Prison Tycoon review. As such, we’ll break them up into different components to ensure we cover them all.
Expanding your prison
Before you start receiving prisoners, it’s a good idea to expand your prison with new buildings to hold jail cells and other rooms. If you don’t have the right facilities yet, the criminals will remain in a holding area until you do. You’ll see the initial quests are designed to show you how to get a good start.
Receiving prisoners
As soon as you’re ready, you can send the prisoners to their cells. A long laundry list of missions will appear as you complete tasks, usually issued by the government. You’ll see that the objectives align either to prisoners, your employees, buildings, or outside decorations.
Here’s a tip for our Prison Tycoon Review: keep an eye on your funding and make sure you keep it high. If you’re building without paying attention to the missions, you’ll end up bankrupt quickly. It’s best to complete the tasks and make as much money as you can before you switch to items you want.
Checking security
Your prison has security cameras all over the place, which will help you keep an eye on various activities. You can see if anyone is catching up to nonsense. It’s an excellent way to make sure that criminals with high psychological issues aren’t planning to break out.
Prison therapy
Speaking of psychological problems brings us to the next section of our Prison Tycoon review. Whenever you receive a new prisoner, you can check the information panel to see what mental issues they have. It helps you determine what type of therapy will help the most, but only if you’ve discovered the remedy.
Prison Tycoon: Under New Management has various rooms for therapy. They can either speak to a psychologist or paint some art on a canvas. There are even physical activities, such as hitting the outdoor gym. It’s all in the name of making them healthier.
Here’s a screenshot we took for our Prison Tycoon review, showcasing some of the therapy facilities.
Caring for your staff
It’s not just the prisoners you need to look after in Prison Tycoon: Under New Management. If you don’t have happy employees, they won’t want to guard the criminals. You’ll need to check what they’re unhappy about and see how to please them. Also, you can promote them so they can have higher salaries, which usually helps. Remember to also build staff rooms so that they can unwind on occasion.
Watching the power
One other gameplay element we want to cover for our Prison Tycoon review is the electricity. You can place generators to increase the supply if you want to add more buildings. However, you need to make sure you connect rooms to the power cables if you want the rooms to have full power. If you have more demand than supply, some rooms will end up in darkness.
Another aspect you need to keep in mind is balancing your finances. The electricity and water supplies will cost maintenance, so you may need to buy packages to keep things running now and again. You can also buy food and medical packs if your kitchen or pharmacy aren’t operational yet.
Visuals and sound in Prison Tycoon: Under New Management
Here’s the final part of our Prison Tycoon review. The graphics are stunning, presenting gorgeous visuals with hilarious animations now and again. You won’t find any performance issues unless your PC doesn’t meet the recommended requirements. Each map has a different climate, which means various scenes to feast your eyes on.
There’s pleasant music in the background, while you can also hear the characters murmur now and again. It’s similar to the experience you’d find in Two Point Hospital and Two Point Campus, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Two Point brand tries its own hand at a prison game in the future.
Final Verdict: Prison Tycoon Review
While I’m writing the sequel to Silent Hill: Betrayal, there’s a part in Act 1 where I’m dealing with a prison as one of the central locations. This Prison Tycoon review was an excellent opportunity to delve into how running a correctional facility works while also providing some entertainment. It’s a fun game that will have you busy for hours on end, and each map has plenty of features to enjoy.
Prison Tycoon: Under New Management is worth buying and playing for any serious business simulation gamer.
