When playing video games, people can take on many roles and live in the skin of several different characters, which is very interesting and entertaining. Whether players want to be a revolution leader, a survivor in a zombie apocalypse, or a futuristic warrior fighting against murderous robots, there are always options for those willing to seek them.
That said, not every occupation gets the credit it deserves. Some of them are rarely ever depicted in the video game world, not even in side characters. Prison guards, for example, are underrepresented in this regard, so it's hard to find a game where players can take on this role and explore it to any depth. Luckily, there are a few titles which, while not primarily focused on this job, do include some aspects of it here and there. These are the best games in which the player takes on the role of a prison guard.
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5 Postal 4 - No Regerts
A Quick Mission With Too Many Liberties
Postal 4
- Released
- April 20, 2022
- Developer(s)
- Running with Scissors
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, FPS, Shooter, Adventure, Fighting
- The Postal Dude gets to be a prison guard for a day.
- A comical, exaggerated take on the job description.
To kick things off, there's Postal 4: No Regerts, a game with a ton of controversy that has had players arguing for more than half a decade. While some gamers loved the game and its dry sense of humor, several others have given it terrible reviews online, even getting to the point of complaining that the game has no soul.
Whatever the case, it's undeniable that Postal 4 has some solid moments, including the mission in which players can play as a prison guard, controlling a riot that erupts in the prison they've entered. After a quick talk with the warden, the Postal Dude gets the job as a guard, and is tasked with several responsibilities, including keeping things in control and ensuring violence remains to a minimum.
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All in all, while Postal 4's prison guard mission isn't the longest, nor the most entertaining of the game, it still gives players a chance to wear the shoes of a correctional employee. It gives players a comical, exaggerated, yet sometimes insightful look into what the job might entail.
4 Prison Simulator
Live The Daily Life Of A Prison Guard
- Released: March 2012
- Developers: Baked Games, Console Labs
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Windows, PS4, Xbox 1
- Voice acting is a bit dull.
- Overall, the game offers a realistic insight into a prison guard's day-to-day activities.
Players curious about the daily life of a prison guard will likely find the answers they're looking for in Prison Simulator, as this game is likely the most accurate depiction of what working inside the penitentiary system looks like. With long corridors, passive-aggressive coworkers, a demanding warden, and furious inmates, players will get hours of fun from this title.
It's worth nothing that the dialogue options are a little bland, and the voice-acting has room for improvement. However, this can be forgiven considering that it was developed by an indie studio with a small budget, and it doesn't take away much from the overall experience. There's a free demo on Steam for players interested in trying this game out and feeling like they're in charge of keeping order within four gray walls and dozens of angry prisoners.
3 Police Stories
From Police Officer To Prison Guard
Police Stories
- Strategic gameplay relies on resource planning.
- Occasional prison guard duties.
Police games are always fun to play, and the genre has been around in pop culture for several decades. Think Lethal Weapon, Beverly Hills Cop, Rush Hour, etc. While Police Stories isn't a comedy, it still has an interesting take on the daily life of a police officer and the hardships that the profession entails. This top-down shooter action game has tactical shooter elements, an interesting story, and likable characters: John Rimes and Rick Jones.
Police Stories offers both single player and Co-op mode. In single player, players can control John Rimes, while in co-op, the second player can take control of Rick Jones. At the beginning of every mission, players can prepare their characters by giving them tools and equipment, including a lockpick, a med kit, flashbang grenades, ballistic shields, handguns, long guns, and more. While the game isn't specifically focused around prison guard duties, there are a few missions where players will have to enter a prison and take on some responsibilities pertaining to the job.
2 The Escapists 2
Wearing Guard Clothes Can Go A Long Way
The Escapists 2
- Players can wear a guard outfit to blend in and make detection more difficult.
- Strategic planning is key.
Excelling as a top-down video game, The Escapists 2 is the sequel to the original Escapists. The game has players figure out clever and strategic ways to navigate around the prison where their character is trapped to escape. This involves managing resources intelligently, avoiding guards, populated areas, and anything else that might cause suspicion and trigger the prison's alarm. Players will also get to control many aspects of prison life, such as how meals are distributed, shower times, and even riots — all to achieve their goal of being free.
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While this game doesn't involve playing as an actual prison guard, there's a particular piece of clothing known as The Guard Outfit, which allows the main character to blend in without being detected by other guards. This outfit also decreases the rate at which Guard Heat rises, slowing detection times considerably. To make the Guard Outfit, players will need one set of infirmary overalls and a jar of ink to dye them.
1 GTA Online: The Diamond Casino Heist
Franklin Gets To See The Other Side
GTA Online
- Franklin gets to be a prison guard for a day.
- Stealth is key.
GTA Online is really fun, and it broke the mold when it first came out. However, many players have been complaining about the occasional toxic environment inside the game's sessions for a while now. Whether it is players using illegal hacks, or people looking to ruin other's scores and heists, the fun is sometimes outmatched by frustration.
Regardless, there are several interesting missions in GTA Online to keep players hooked for hours on end. One of the best missions in the game is the Diamond Casino Heist, where Franklin will have to enter a prison to kill a guard in order to steal the Diamond Casino vault keycards. Players will then have to hijack a prison bus disguised as the prison guard they just disposed of to gain entry to the casino without raising suspicion. While the mission is a bit short, it still provides a curious glimpse into what Franklin's life might have been had he chosen a career in security enforcement rather than one in crime and grand theft auto.