Prison Architect Review (Blokorz_)
TL;DR: Don't buy this, it's been turned into a hollow shell to funnel micro-transactions and the sequel will go the same way.
If this was say prior to 2018, before this game was sold to Paradox, I would have said yes to recommending this game, it's simple, its fun and incredibly addictive with almost infinite possibilities. These days however, I would not be recommending this to anyone. Paradox have turned what was a simple, easy to understand tycoon game and have turned it into a funnel for shovelling utterly unnecessary DLC that could have either been included in an update such as with the Gangs DLC, or not needed entirely such as Psych Ward. While these concepts are fun, it does take away from what the game originally was and increases the complexity unnecessarily, especially when my options for placing down items or walls or doors or whatever have been filled with stuff that is in the DLC but is of no use to me as I don't have them and don't plan on buying them.
The game is also still riddled with bugs and much needed QOL improvements, I have run into an annoying bug where I can't place a cloned room into a certain area for seemingly no reason whatsoever even when there is nothing blocking it, the prisoners food is a weird staff door texture and some textures are outright missing, the sunset update I feel did not address the many complaints the community has had about this game ESPECIALLY since Paradox bought it.
The sequel I could go on and on about but I'll keep it short. To me, it looks like Cities Skylines but with a prison theme. It oozes complexity and confusion unlike its predecessor and I have no doubt in my mind, it will go the same way as the original game, being nothing but a hollow shell to funnel micro transactions. The original game was fine with it's 2D layout, easy to understand mechanics and overall appeal, it did not need a sequel, it did not need the Cities Skylines treatment, and it did not need to be turned 3d. This game is a husk of it's former self I feel and it's sad to see it turned to this and I am especially disappointed that any reference to Introversion (The original developers) has been removed.
Support indie devs people, make sure they don't sell out to big publishers and studios because this is what happens when they do.