Introversion's 'Prison Architect' lands on the Mac App Store, Feral ships 'XCOM 2: War of the Chosen' expansion on macOS

"Prison Architect" has finally made its way to the Mac App Store, long after being available to buy on Steam. Initially developed by Introversion Software, the prison construction and management simulator is being published to the Mac App Store by MacPlay, giving macOS users an alternative to buying it through Steam or from the developers directly.

Appearing on Steam's early access program in 2013 before officially launching in October 2015, Prison Architect is a top-down simulator where players must plan out and build a prison. Areas including cells, solitary confinement, and other facilities and utilities must be set up, with player-governors required to recruit staff and keep the prison running while expanding and improving the compound.

The governors also have to keep the prisoners they are holding content, or risk escapes, fights, or even full-scale riots. Recreational facilities and reform programs can be implemented, to calm and educate the prisoners, though while there are opportunities to use felons for certain tasks, such as working in a workshop or the kitchen, items from these areas could end up being used by those same prisoners to hurt others or to aid in their escape.

So far, the game has amassed over a million sales in its lifetime, and has been brought to a number of platforms alongside macOS, Windows, and Linux. Double Eleven handled the process of porting the game to major consoles in 2016, with an official iPad version launched in May this year with assistance from Tag Games and using Paradox Interactive as the publisher.

The Mac App Store release of "Prison Architect" is priced at $29.99, and weighs in at 353 megabytes. The minimum requirements are listed as a Mac using a 64-bit processor and running OS X 10.6 or later, but the Steam sales page advises it requires a 2009-era MacBook Pro with a Core2 Duo processor and 4GB of RAM at a minimum.

Feral Interactive has announced it has ported an expansion pack for strategy game "XCOM 2" to macOS. The "XCOM 2: War of the Chosen" add-on introduces new material to the award-winning title, extending the story with a new enemy known as the "Chosen" trying to recapture the Commander of XCOM.

Three new factions are in the expansion, with the Reapers, Skirmishers, and Templars offering unique abilities and hero-class soldiers that can help strengthen Earth's resistance. On the opposing side, new threats from the Advent Purifier and Priest can use explosive and psionic attacks against team members, while the new alien Spectre is capable of creating dark copies of XCOM soldiers on the battlefield.

More environments and missions are included, setting battles within alien bioweapon-ravaged cities, underground tunnels, and in xenoformed wilderness regions. More customization is also offered, with solders able to develop new abilities and perks when teamed up with certain other members, and the SITREP system dynamically adds new modifiers to the tactical layer to create unique challenges to every mission.

Available through the Feral Store and Steam, the "XCOM 2: War of the Chosen" expansion is priced at $39.99 and requires the base game to play. As with the main game, the expansion requires a minimum of macOS 10.12.5 or later, a 2.5GHz Intel Core i3 or greater, 8 gigabytes of memory, 78 gigabytes of storage, and either a 1GB AMD 5750, Nvidia 650M, or 1.5GB Intel Iris Pro 5200 graphics.

The original "XCOM 2" is also available via the Mac App Store for $49.99.