Thursday 18 January, 2018

For my final log on Prison Architect, I'll give more in-depth detail on the moral dilemma's the game throws at you. In chapter 4 the game opens you with pure chaos, the prisoners are rioting, no one is in control and all the information you are given is that you are in charge of cleaning up the mess. Backup is on the way, so you send in the riot police to recapture the wings that held back the once passive prisoners. All is going well and it seems that you're gaining back control over the facilities, that is until a hostage situation arises involving five former staff members and even the Director of the prison. The game forces you into a predicament, heavy backup involving riot police armed with guns come along finally, but should you use them? Time is a constraint and the situation is pure chaos at the moment, but should you pull the trigger on the violent prisoners? Arresting them and putting them on trial is one thing, but sending in armed guards to stop a riot is tantamount to executing them on the spot.

For my playthrough, with a guilty conscience, I chose to send in the armed guards in order to rescue the hostages in a timely manner, the result was a pure bloodbath. The prisoner's who refused to lay down their weapons were cut down immediately with a hail of gunfire. Afterwards, the Mayor reconciles with you, "They deserved it", he said as well as "it was a matter of self-defense". But was it really? I had ample time to send the other riot police with batons to de-escalate the situation, maybe I pulled the trigger too early with the armed guards, maybe I didn't pull it early enough.

Prison Architect, while it forces you into these situations in the campaign, these situations could easily just as happen in the sandbox mode. They give you the entire free choice whether to rehabilitate the inmates towards redemption, or whether we treat them like cattle for the crimes they've done. The game isn't elegant in its moral dilemma's but it does get the message through, while at the same time offering the player the freedom to make design his prison as he sees fit.

Great analysis Colton. The great thing about Prison Architect is that is gives you a ethical dilemma and then actually let you go about implementing your solution. I do think you bring up an interesting point in how prisons, and perhaps how we interact with each other in general, should work. There may be valid reasons for choosing punishment or rehabilitation, and it may also be worth analyzing when you choose to do either. Consider if your decision in chapter four would have changed if the hostages were other prisoners, a film crew attempting to capture the action, or family/friends coming to visit someone in the prison. Would you have choose a less violent approach and if so, why?