Rimworld: 10 Steps To Build A Prison And Recruit Prisoners (2024)

The colony management sim from Ludeon Studios Rimworld was the number one player-reviewed game on Steam in 2018 and was recently made available on console. Billed as a "Story Creator" it certainly provides players with their own unique narrative of triumph and despair as they struggle to maintain an efficient Utopia of hardened survivors but invariably end up with a gaggle of unpredictable and needy troublemakers, living in a burning ruin where everybody hates each other.

That's when it's time to lay down the law and start making arrests like a renegade Clint Eastwood character. Who can be arrested? Attacking raiders who haven't already been turned into mincemeat or set upon by trained monkeys, visiting NPC's poking their nose in where it's not wanted, even the player's dear colonists themselves can be arrested and imprisoned in Rimworld. They knew what they were signing up for!

Updated on May 24, 2024 by Ritwik Mitra: Rimworld is one of the most immersive colony simulators players can check out, with players controlling a group of stragglers who have crash-landed on an unknown planet and need to survive by any means necessary until they can build a ship and leave. This is a grueling endeavor, with most people not even reaching the endgame because of how tough it is to even survive, let alone build a thriving colony that lets players build a spaceship in the first place. Players who want to ensure that their colony gets bigger and stronger would want to recruit as many members as possible, with a surprisingly effective way of achieving the same being that players imprison any raiders with good stats who've attacked their camp, rehabilitating them before finally letting them serve as a member of the colony. It's not exactly the simplest process, as one would expect from Rimworld, but this learning curve is well worth engaging with for players to enjoy a surprisingly fleshed-out mechanic in the game.

1 Build An Enclosed Area

Impossible To Assign A Prison Area Otherwise

Firstly the player needs to create an enclosed space that will house the prisoners and become the layout for the prison itself. Select Architect, then Structure; this will give the player the option to create the walls and doors needed.

Using the wall tool draw out the room size that is required (at least enough space to place one bed or sleeping spot). Once you have drawn the walls, select the door and place that somewhere along that line to provide access. Colonists will automatically take to this task provided they are assigned to construction, however, it is possible to prioritize this task if there is a pressing need for prisoner accommodation.

2 Provide Beds Or Sleeping Spots

Prisoners Need A Place To Rest In The Night, After All

In order to be classed as a prison and provide the option for arrests, the room needs at least one bed. If resources are scarce and the player does not have the required wood to make one, a standard sleeping spot marked on the ground will be enough to class the room as a prison.

Having the best conditions will improve the time it takes to win the prisoner over to the benefit of one's colony. However, in some situations, time may be of the essence, and it's only possible to build the bare minimum required - walls, a door, and a sleeping spot.

3 Designate Beds For Prisoner Use

An Easy Task To Miss

To stop colonists from camping out in the prison and to tell the prisoners which bed belongs to them, it is necessary to allow the bed to be used for prisoners. Simply select the bed in question once it has been built, this will provide a drop-down menu from which players can choose the option "Allow for prisoners."

This will stop the player's own team from assigning the bed to themselves and means the prison is now up and running and ready for visitors. To arrest anyone there will need to be a free, unassigned bed/sleeping spot for each prisoner. It may seem like a simple thing to do, but players tend to forget this at times, which can make it rather irritating as to why players can't imprison someone despite almost everything being set in place.

4 Appoint Someone To Be A Warden

Helps Rehabilitate Prisoners And Ensures That They Don't Escape

There are many tasks that colonists can carry out in Rimworld. It's important to micro-manage this part of the game so that colonists are playing to their strengths and no task is being neglected because everyone in the colony is mediocre. Players don't have the luxury of having the best person for every task in Rimworld, so it becomes important to divide tasks in the most efficient manner that adheres to everyone's interests.

The act of being the warden is tough since they have to manage prisoners and ensure that no one attempts an escape. The good part about assigning someone as a warden is that this task is only carried out when there's a prisoner in the colony, which means that these colonists can be freed up to do something else if they wish.

5 Drafting A Rimworld Colonist

Choose Someone With Appropriate Skills

Select the colonist that will be laying down the law and making the arrest, ensuring they have the best traits for the task. To take direct control of them and issue the order to arrest they need to be drafted.

With the colonist selected, to draft them simply press Y on Xbox (Triangle on PS/ R key on PC). This will allow the player to issue direct orders to their colonist such as melee attack, shoot enemies, move to a specific spot, tend wounded, rescue colonists, and, in this case, attempt to arrest a pawn or NPC.

6 Attempt To Arrest The Criminal

Downed Enemies Can Be Carried Off To A Prison

With the colonist drafted, hover over the enemy NPC with the cursor and select interact (X on Xbox / Square on PS). This will provide a further menu from which Try to Arrest [Name] 100% Chance will hopefully appear. If the chance is less than 100% this represents the risk that the arrest process might not go as swimmingly as a player may have envisioned.

If the chance is below 50% it is recommended to abort that attempt, with that particular colonist acting as a police officer at least. Try using a different colonist and see if the chance of success can be improved. If it's a risky arrest and the suspect in question looks quite handy, potential injuries can be mitigated by sending a colonist with the best armor who is reasonably tooled up and with good stats.

If the arrest is successful and the drafted colonist manages to overpower the criminal, they will handcuff them immediately and drag the enemy to their rightful place in the clink. If, however, a low chance arrest is attempted and failed, then a melee fight will ensue and the colonist could be injured or killed during the process so keep an eye on the arrest to make sure everything is going to plan. If things get out of hand it may be necessary to draft further backup colonists and send them into the fray.

7 Select Reduce Resistance In The Prison Menu

Make Sure That Prisoners Eventually Become Compliant

To successfully recruit a prisoner it is easier and faster to reduce their resistance to any charming attempts first. Otherwise, it could take much longer if the player tries to recruit them straight away, maybe several more months in-game time. The best method seems to be to reduce resistance first to zero, then the recruiting attempt will be a dead cert at 100% chance.

If for whatever reason, a player's own colonist has been imprisoned they can simply be released when deemed to be no longer a threat to the colony, without needing to go through the whole process of reducing resistance and recruiting them. Hopefully, players will be able to manage the needs of their colonists to avoid this becoming necessary.

From the character information screen open up the "Prisoner" tab. This will open a drop-down menu from which fans can select "Reduce Resistance." This will start the long-term process of wearing the NPC down and making them more inclined to be recruited. Alternatively, captured prisoners can be traded with other factions or even harvested for their body parts. It's a cruel world on Rimworld!

8 Heal Prisoners Up Whenever Required

No Point Keeping A Person On The Brink Of Death In A Prison

More often than not, players will imprison raiders who tried to take them out but failed spectacularly. As a result, the attackers who do survive will most probably be bleeding out and require medicine to heal up. This is a huge investment of resources, so players should only treat those prisoners who will be of use.

Players can decide the quality of the treatment that prisoners can enjoy, which can help them manage their medicine somewhat. Ultimately, as long as players have surplus healing items in the colony, keeping a prisoner in tip-top shape won't be too hard. That being said, the best healing items should always be reserved for the colonists, and players shouldn't waste the same if they're in limited supply. Opting for cheaper medication is the better course of action here any day.

9 Treat Inmates Nicely

Important If Players Wish To Recruit Them

Perhaps the best way to recruit a prisoner is to treat them with respect during their stay in the colony's jail cell. Nothing good is going to come out of reducing their trust by beating them or not providing them any food when they need it.

With enough care, prisoners will slowly see the light and find it possible to join the colony they were terrorizing, which can be a boon for players who need more manpower to make their base bigger and better.

10 Recruiting Prisoners In Rimworld

The Final Step To Enhance A Colony

When the resistance of the prisoner reaches zero, it is time to attempt to recruit them. Select the character in question and from their character info screen open up the "Prisoner" tab. This will open a drop-down menu from which players can select "Recruit."

A colonist assigned to Warden will eventually give the prisoner the hard sell on their fabulous and well-run colony and be able to recruit them directly into one's team where players can control them and have all the options of a normal Rimworld colonist.

RimWorld

Platform(s)

PC , PS4 , Xbox One

Released

October 17, 2018

Developer(s)

Ludeon Studios

Genre(s)

Simulation