Prison Architect screenshot of a rather well designed prison system

Despite Prison Architect receiving its "final update" a little while ago, it appears that Introversion Software simply couldn't stop themselves from adding a couple of bonus features for the holidays. And since Christmas is all about giving, Update 11 will make it so your guards no longer operate as "robot gaolers", but rather as actual people. In other words you will need to give them their own toilets and canteens, staff and recreation areas, and everything else a hardworking guard might need in order to not cause unfortunate... accidents on the job.

If you're interested in seeing what this looks like in terms of gameplay, you'll find the developer preview down below. The video's rather lengthy, totaling at around 40 minutes, but its surprisingly compelling given the chemistry between the developers. So if you don't mind the length, give it a look:

Since there aren't that many changes coming in with Update 11, allow me to share with you the most important features. If you're interested in the full patch notes, however, you can find them by heading over here. Anyway, here's the list:

Staff Needs

Your security staff now have needs, in much the same way as prisoners.

This is optional, and can be enabled when creating a new prison, or enabled from Extras -> Map Settings.

You must take care of your staff needs, or else your staff will begin to perform their duties badly. 

The staff members affected in this update are:

- Guards

- Armed Guards

- Dog Handlers

- Snipers

These staff will have a semi random mixture of the following needs. Each need is similar to its prisoner counterpart, but also slightly different:

- BLADDER - Staff will only make use of toilets in staff designated zones or staff rooms

- BOWELS 

- FOOD - Staff will eat in the Staff Room if you add a Serving Table.

-- Or you can designate a canteen as "Staff Only" and they will eat there instead.

-- Staff meals are more expensive than prisoner meals and are automatically delivered. 

- SAFETY - Staff hate to feel they are in danger. You can help with this need by equipping your staff with Tazers, body armour etc, as well as ensuring strength in numbers.

- RECREATION - Staff get bored too. They can now make use of any entertainment so long as it exists within a staff room. Eg Pool tables, radios, TVs, etc. 

- COMFORT - Put some sofas in the staff room for this. 

- ENVIRONMENT - Same as prisoners, this is entirely based on the cleanliness of the surroundings. 

- REST - This replaces the "tiredness" mechanic. Be sure to give your staff enough down time. 

If staff are happy, this contributes in a positive way towards the temperature of your prison. Likewise if they are unhappy, this will make the prison "hotter" and lead to more trouble later. 

If you do not take care of your staff they will become "pissed off", and begin to perform their jobs badly:

- Sauntering around slowly when doing jobs

- Less effective at searching for contraband

- Less likely to actively look for trouble, more likely to turn a blind eye

- Unwilling to put themselves in danger eg confronting gang members

- In extreme cases, staff will take bribes in order to look the other way when searching for contraband

Staff break times:

- You can now specify how much break time to grant your staff. Go to Reports -> Policy.

- You can choose how long each break is, and how many breaks per day are taken.

- Staff on break will immediately begin attending to their needs.

- Nb. Staff will always finish their current job before starting their break.

Update 11 isn't currently live, but if you're up for helping the developers test it out beforehand you can do so on Steam. Simply head over to Prison Architect in your Library, click Properties, then Betas, and then select 'beta' from the list. After that the game will automatically start an update (and if it doesn't you'll have to restart Steam), after which you'll be able to neglect your guards as much as you neglect your poor prisoners! Hoorah?