Prison Architect is now multiplayer!

On the 4th September, rather quietly, Introversion Software launched the multiplayer version of their game. Its currently in beta so there are still some bugs and its available to Steam and non steam users. For non steam users, you can download the build from the builds page within your account on the Prison Architect site but within Steam you can just change the beta drop down to opt in.

So what do you get?

Multiplayer is currently in a state of shared play only. This means you can join your friends prison and help build it up (or break it) and up to 8 players can be assisting at any one time.

Is it really buggy?

Yes and no. Its very polished for a beta release with only a handful of issues I have found so far. For example, ONLY the host can do connections for cameras and phones and if the secondary players open the connect menu, it opens it on the host. At time of writing there was a minor update and I haven't checked to see if this was fixed. I will comment if it has been. The only other bug I have found is that the host can launch into prison escape mode on ANY of their prisons and the session will stay up on the original prison, HOWEVER, you cannot get back to the multiplayer prison session from the menu. You would need to complete the escape mode first. I didn't have time to complete the mode to see if it would drop me back on the multiplayer session though so its possible that you can go back.

Can you save someone elses prison?

Apparently not.

Are the servers publicly open?

Yes they can be but you can also set a password.

How do I launch a multiplayer session as the (How can I host a prison) host?

Glad you asked.

Load the game

Click on create new prison or load prison

Pause the game if you value time

Go to the escape menu and choose go online

Type in a server name (game name) and tick the box for passwords if you only want friends to join, then click create game

You will now be back in game and you will see yourself as a host on the right hand side

How do I join the game then as the friend(s) of the host? 

Find the game in the list on the left from the Join Online Game menu

Double click to bring it across to the right, type in a password if necessary and then click join game!

Wow, that's it!