With Prison Architect leaving Steam early access in October, developer Introversion is adding a new mode where you have to escape from prison.
Appropriately titled Escape mode, you’ll take control of a prisoner no different from those located in the prisons you’d ordinarily be designing. Introversion says it’s not greatly expanding on what those prisoners are able to do; you’ll essentially have the same tools and abilities at your disposal, though there are some new systems in place; you can earn experience by shanking a prison guard, for instance.
You can also form a gang while still in prison, but your ultimate goal is to get out. You can do this through direct means, like getting your hands on guns and shooting your way out, or you can choose to get tools to dig a tunnel to freedom.
Escape mode is compatible with all of the prisons that players have uploaded to the Steam Workshop, of which there are more than 11,000. You can see a demonstration of this in the video above (starting around 19:24).
Also coming for the game’s proper launch is a new story for the standard mode. Four new chapters will tell the stories of characters like mobsters and politicians, with comic writer Christopher Hastings contributing to the story.
Both the new story and Escape mode will be available when Prison Architect officially launches on PC on October 6.