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Dalton.Rees's Prison Architect (XBONE)
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| [March 30, 2018 02:39:09 AM]
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Prison Architect: Session #3, 29 March 2018
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City building and other unit management games like this one reveal the horrible potentialities of perceiving other human beings from a totally detached, mechanical vantage point. As both text on a paper and cartoon representations on the screen, quantifying other agents in this way allows one to systematically do unto others as they would not directly, in the flesh. Both parties lose humanity, and I really dislike being placed in this role in this game.
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| [March 28, 2018 12:51:11 PM]
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Prison Architect — Entry #2, 28 March 2018
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When playing the game correctly (i.e., with finite operating funds and random, unexpected happenings), it becomes apparent that one must constantly deliberate between the health and happiness of those incarcerated and the maintenance and functionality of the prison as a 24/7 penal institution. It is always unsettling when I find myself rationalizing the mistreatment of the prisoners in the interest of my bottom line and ability to expand infrastructure. As the player becomes more proficient and effective at operating and expanding the prison as a whole, the incarcerated become progressively more monetized when managing them feels commonplace. Whether the player is conscious of it or not, the material valuation of these prisoners sets the precedent for their dehumanization. I found myself almost thinking of these prisoners as cattle as I directed them about the facilities and experimented on different approaches without their wellbeing in mind. I sense the same dynamic emerges in American prisons, our long-term incarceration institutions that function far more like industrial facilities than places for social reform and rehabilitation. Are we to blame capitalism or the human capacity for objectification? Both?
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| [March 28, 2018 12:26:29 AM]
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Prison Architect — Entry #1, 27 March 2018
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I've begun my plunge into this novelty prison administration simulator by way of the story mode. Although there is clearly narrative content, it feels fairly superficial; I sense that the polaroid story panes act only as an aesthetic layer over this mode's primary purpose: instructing the player on the game's core mechanics and how to respond to the various disasters that are bound to occur. I ultimately abandoned this mode after a couple of levels for the main sandbox mode, though the pedagogy was much appreciated. Prison Architect's greatest teacher, however, is the cataclysmic fail-states that follow inevitable slips of player error. The moral dimensions of this game are apparent through each moment of gameplay. I plan to discuss this more extensively in the coming entries, though I've noticed at this point that once one is able to see past the cartoony presentation and perceive the tiny prisoners as human beings, a sinister element emerges in the player's role as overseer, and the mechanical brutality of invisible bureaucracy is revealed.....
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Dalton.Rees's Prison Architect (XBONE)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Tuesday 27 March, 2018
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