Prison Simulator

Prison Simulator on PC is a first-person prison guard simulation from Baked Games, published by Baked Games and PlayWay S.A. The current storefront still uses the original Prison Simulator name, with no verified rebrand or replacement edition for the standard PC game. Its focus is hands-on prison work: inspect cells, search for contraband, manage inmate routines, respond to disorder, and decide whether to follow the rules or exploit your authority.

What the daily prison routine actually involves

The core loop is built around daily guard duties rather than architectural planning. You move through the facility in first person, complete assigned tasks, interact with prisoners and staff, and deal with incidents that can turn an ordinary shift into a security problem. Searches, confiscations, patrol work, equipment handling, conversations, and recreational activities all contribute to the job-like structure.

Prison Simulator also uses a clear choice and reputation system. You can act as a strict correctional officer, show leniency, or bend the rules for personal advantage. Those decisions shape how you approach conversations and prison events, although this is not a fully open-ended moral simulation. The game combines routine work with scripted story situations and smaller activities intended to break up the shift structure.

The perspective matters. Unlike a top-down management game, you personally perform many of the jobs that would normally be abstracted into menus. That makes cell inspections, inmate interactions, contraband searches, and sudden confrontations feel more immediate, while also making repetitive assignments a central part of the experience.

Story mode, freeplay, and inmate customization

The PC version offers a story mode with guided objectives, prison administration requests, and a sequence of events that introduces the setting and its characters. Progression gives you access to prison improvements, equipment, and additional situations while keeping the narrative structure in view.

Freeplay mode takes a less directed approach. Instead of following a fixed chain of story events, you can work through prison shifts with a more flexible selection of activities and incidents. It is the better fit for players who want to repeat the daily guard routine without treating the campaign as the main objective.

One of the more distinctive systems is the prisoner creator. The game lets you customize inmates using different appearances, personalities, crimes, and motivations before placing them in the facility. This helps give freeplay sessions a more personal setup and supports the game’s emphasis on managing individual prisoners rather than treating the inmate population as a single statistic.

Content model and paid add-ons

Prison Simulator is a paid single-player game rather than a free-to-play service. The current PC storefront lists the base game separately and identifies four associated add-ons: Prison Simulator: Skins Pack 01, Prison Simulator: Skins Pack 02, Prison Simulator: Power Wash, and the Prison Simulator Soundtrack.

The Power Wash add-on changes the rhythm substantially. It adds cleaning-focused activities across prison locations, including areas such as the cafeteria, showers, execution room, and death row. The content is structured around a pressure washer with multiple nozzles, progress tracking, and a relaxed mode that removes the usual prison duties in favor of completing cleaning jobs.

The two skins packs are cosmetic additions, while the soundtrack is separate audio content. The base game contains the guard simulation, story progression, freeplay structure, prisoner creator, and the main prison activities, so the add-ons are not required to understand the core experience.

Who should play Prison Simulator?

This is a good match for players who enjoy first-person job simulations, dark comedy, light role-playing choices, and games built around repeating practical tasks. It is more concerned with the experience of being inside a prison than with designing a complete correctional facility from an overhead view.

Players looking for construction, staffing spreadsheets, complex financial modeling, or deep systemic prison administration may prefer a dedicated management title such as top-down prison management games like Prison Architect. Prison Simulator gives you a guard’s viewpoint instead of a warden’s planning interface, and that distinction should guide expectations.

The game may be less suitable if you want constant action or a highly reactive simulation where every inmate has elaborate long-term behavior. Many duties are deliberately mundane, and the appeal comes from the combination of routine work, scripted incidents, small interactive tasks, and the occasional escalation.

PC features, controls, and localization

The PC edition is distributed through Steam and lists Steam Workshop, Steam Cloud, Steam Achievements, Steam Trading Cards, and Family Sharing. Workshop support gives the PC version a community-content layer beyond the packaged story and freeplay modes, although the store page does not define a specific scope for available workshop creations.

Steam lists partial controller support, specifically identifying Xbox controllers. Keyboard and mouse remain the safer choice for players who want direct access to first-person movement, interaction prompts, inventory actions, and task menus. The store page also marks the game as Steam Deck Verified, which is a useful platform signal for handheld PC players.

The interface and subtitles are available in 18 languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish from Spain, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Turkish, Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Latin American Spanish, European Portuguese, Romanian, Thai, Ukrainian, and Hungarian. Full audio is not listed for these languages, so the localization should be understood primarily as interface and subtitle support.

The storefront flags a third-party EULA. It does not list a separate launcher or a dedicated anti-cheat feature, and the game is presented as a single-player PC title rather than an online service.

Comparable games on PC

Prison Simulator sits between a hands-on work simulation and a light narrative game. Its closest structural comparison is a prison management title, but the first-person presentation creates a different rhythm: you walk the halls, perform tasks, and deal with prisoners directly instead of controlling the facility from above.

For players more interested in stealth, routine, and the risk of being discovered than in prison administration, first-person stealth simulations such as Thief Simulator offer a useful point of comparison. Both games turn ordinary work into a sequence of observations, interactions, and practical decisions, though Prison Simulator replaces burglary planning with guard duties, inmate management, and prison security.

Prison Simulator is also distinct from escape-focused prison games. You are not primarily planning a breakout or controlling an inmate’s schedule. You are the officer responsible for maintaining order, completing assignments, and deciding how much authority you are willing to use.

Prison Simulator FAQ

Is Prison Simulator still the official PC name?

Yes. The current standard PC storefront continues to use Prison Simulator. There is no verified rebrand or replacement name for the original flat-screen PC game. Prison Simulator VR is a separate product and should not be confused with the standard PC edition.

Is Prison Simulator single-player or multiplayer?

The standard PC game is single-player. The current storefront lists no online multiplayer, co-op, split-screen, or competitive mode for the base game.

Does Prison Simulator have story and freeplay modes?

Yes. Story mode provides guided prison duties and narrative events, while freeplay mode offers a less linear way to experience the guard routine and prison incidents.

What DLC is available for the PC version?

The storefront lists Prison Simulator: Power Wash, two skins packs, and the soundtrack as additional content. Power Wash adds cleaning jobs and a separate relaxed cleaning mode, while the skins packs are cosmetic.

Does the game support controllers?

Steam lists partial controller support and specifically identifies Xbox controllers. The game remains suitable for keyboard and mouse, especially for players who prefer direct control over first-person tasks and menus.

What languages does Prison Simulator support?

The PC version lists interface and subtitle support in 18 languages. Full audio is not listed as a supported localization feature.