When comparing Prison Architect vs BattleBlock Theater, the Slant community recommends Prison Architect for most people. In the question“What are the best singleplayer games on Steam?” Prison Architect is ranked 21st while BattleBlock Theater is ranked 31st. The most important reason people chose Prison Architect is:
The game consists of a wide variety of overlapping systems that work together to create excellent depth. You have to figure out the layout of your prison, how to manage the needs of your inmates, how to earn enough money to expand and hire new staff, what to do in the case of a natural disaster, a riot or attempted escape and so on. Every decision you make will impact all other elements of the game. For example, instituting regular shakedowns will help prevent prisoners from carrying banned items like forks taken from cafeterias that can be used to dig tunnels, but will also make the inmates more angry and thus more likely to riot. You can decide to instead use tunnel-sniffing dogs set to patrol around the perimeter, but that will cost more money and if the inmates pick up on the patrolling patterns they will tunnel around them. Or you may decide to check each inmate individually to see who's tired from staying up late to dig while everyone else has been sleeping though that approach may not scale.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Amazing depth
The game consists of a wide variety of overlapping systems that work together to create excellent depth. You have to figure out the layout of your prison, how to manage the needs of your inmates, how to earn enough money to expand and hire new staff, what to do in the case of a natural disaster, a riot or attempted escape and so on.
Every decision you make will impact all other elements of the game. For example, instituting regular shakedowns will help prevent prisoners from carrying banned items like forks taken from cafeterias that can be used to dig tunnels, but will also make the inmates more angry and thus more likely to riot. You can decide to instead use tunnel-sniffing dogs set to patrol around the perimeter, but that will cost more money and if the inmates pick up on the patrolling patterns they will tunnel around them. Or you may decide to check each inmate individually to see who's tired from staying up late to dig while everyone else has been sleeping though that approach may not scale.
Pro Works great for both long and short play sessions
The gameplay lends itself well to both doing a couple of things around the prison every once in a while or setting up elaborate systems that can take hours upon hours of time. The game can be saved at any time so you don't have to make commitments in one way or another.
Pro Great freedom of playstyle
You can run the prison in the way that you see fit. You can put the wellbeing of prisoners at the top of the priority list by making sure their living spaces are comfortable, that they're well-fed, have the opportunity to educate themselves and often get to go outside in the yard to socialize and exercise or you can run the prison with an iron fist by instituting regular shakedowns, putting CCTVs, metal detectors, K-9 units and armed guards in every corner. Whichever play-style you choose, the game will offer challenges that will keep the game interesting.
Pro Developers are releasing free updates and additions to the game
Developers have been updating the game almost every month with new content, improvements and tweaks to the game.
Pro Relaxing to play
Building your prison is almost zen like. There are periods of stress when there are riots or things going wrong, but you can always pause to take your time and figure out a good solution.
Pro Lots of mods available
A wide variety of user-created modifications to the game are available including mods that change the theme of the game, look of the game, add new objects, grants, programs, scenarios and new mechanics. They're listed in the game's wiki, here.
Pro Co-op adds a completely new element of coordination to the gameplay
There is a modified co-op campaign that requires players to coordinate their actions to succeed. This makes it a fun couch co-op game due to the importance of communication (as well as how fun it is to grief your teammate in person).
Pro Thought-out presentation that balances style and humor well
The witty humor, enjoyable songs and cutscenes all demonstrate the high level of care and consideration that went into BattleBlock’s design. These things all add up to a game with polish that still stays unique enough to stand out.
Pro Good mix of co-op and PvP multiplayer modes keeps the game enticing
The 2-player co-op campaign is very similar to the single-player one, except that it requires cooperation between the two players. It can be played online or with 2 local players. There is also an arena mode with competitive levels that supports up to 4 players (local, online, or mixed). This gives a good variety of online and local play modes, which should keep the game fresh.
Pro No difficulty spikes, the game is very well balanced
The difficulty curve for Battle Block Theater is so evenly programmed that the player will barely notice things are getting harder. It really does an impressive job of training the player to handle any challenge the game throws at them.
Pro Endless replayability through the level editor and its easily sharable creations
The game has a built-in level editor, and levels (or level packs) can be shared through the Steam Workshop. This makes for a situation where there is an inordinate amount of content for the player to try out, or even create themselves.
Pro Sort of funny but not too much
Light hearted gaming that you can play with your significant other.
Cons
Con Gameplay is poorly explained
The game does a poor job of explaining all the mechanics to the player when they begin the main game which leaves the player guessing as to what they need to do in order to be successful.
Con Competitive play feels lackluster
Competitive play is not as enjoyable as the co-op modes due to stiff combat. The mechanics of this wear out pretty quickly.