Prison Tycoon


 * For the series, see Prison Tycoon (series).

Prison Tycoon is a business simulation computer game developed by Virtual Playground and published by ValuSoft in July 2005 that puts the user in charge of a prison. Objectives are to keep the prison running, keep the staff happy, keep the prisoners in line, all while trying to make money.

Users are allowed to choose between a New England prison, a modern U.S. Southwestern-style prison, and a West Coast-style prison modelled after San Quentin.

A sequel, Prison Tycoon 2: Maximum Security, was released on September 8, 2006, followed by Prison Tycoon 3: Lockdown in 2007 and Prison Tycoon 4: Supermax in 2008.

Reception
Prison Tycoon has generally received poor grades from critics. X-Play's Time Stevens gave the game only one star out of five, concluding his review by writing that "Prisons aren't supposed to be fun, so maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that a game about prisons isn't either". GameZone gives the game a score of 5/10, praising the idea and concept but complaining about clunky graphics, dysfunctional camera angles and lack of instructions.