Devlog · 3 October 2026

The City Prison: regime, parole and the cell shuffle

The City Prison is the third walk-in venue, and the one with the hardest choices. It completes the justice system that the Police HQ began: detectives close cases, the courts convict, and the people they convict end up here. What happens to them inside, and after they leave, feeds back into crime, jobs and public confidence across the city.

Where inmates come from

The City Prison unlocks with A skyline of our own, sits next to the courthouse in the build menu, and holds 48 inmates in its cell block. You do not choose who is sent there. Cases solved at the Police HQ send their convicts, and the courts add an ordinary daily list that depends on the city's crime and size. A courthouse adds to that list; without a Police HQ it is shorter. When the prison is full, new convicts go to the regional prison instead.

Each inmate is an individual with a name, an offence, a sentence, a programme they need, and a conduct record that changes from day to day. Each also has a hidden risk of reoffending that the game never shows you directly.

The regime

You assign 10 staff teams across five regimes:

• Security is the strongest brake on tension and escapes, but too much of it feels oppressive and runs no programmes.
• Education and counselling complete programmes that cut reoffending; counselling also takes the heat out of the wings.
• Workshops teach a trade, which means a job offer on release, and earn income from prison industries.
• Kitchen and upkeep keeps everyone fed. Leave it unstaffed and tension rises fast.

Tension builds with crowding, poor food and understaffing. Above a certain level incidents start: scuffles, contraband, hunger strikes and protests. A serious incident triggers a lockdown, which calms things down but stops programmes and workshops. Escapes are rare in a calm, well-guarded prison and become likely in a dark, tense and unguarded one. An escape starts a manhunt, and an operating Police HQ makes recapture much more likely.

The parole board

The centrepiece is the parole board, which you sit on. Each day a few inmates come up for a hearing, and you read their file: their record, an assessed risk band, their conduct, the programmes they have completed, their release plan and a statement in their own words. The tone of that statement hints at their hidden risk, but only loosely. Then you grant parole, deny it or defer the decision.

The consequences play out over the following weeks. People who completed the programme they needed are much less likely to reoffend. People who settle find work if the city has vacancies, and anyone who learnt a trade finds work regardless. People who reoffend are recalled, and that knocks public confidence. The board keeps a record of everyone you have released and how they got on, so you can see whether your judgement is any good.

The cell shuffle

The second mini-game is lighter. Each day you pair the newest arrivals into cells. Every inmate has a couple of habits, such as snoring, being a light sleeper, getting up at five or playing the guitar, and some combinations clash while others get on. A good set of pairings takes a little tension off the wing.

Inside the walls

On the map the prison is a walled compound with watchtowers, a cell block, workshops and an exercise yard; at night searchlights sweep the grounds, and the tower lamps pulse red during a lockdown. Walk in and you get a 3D compound with its own computer, Warden OS, with apps for the regime, industries, the roster, the parole board, the cell shuffle and reports.

Nobody wants to live beside a prison, so plan its neighbours; parks nearby help. The venues guide and the desirability guide have more on the venues and on what makes a street a good place to live.