Cities Skylines or Prison Architect?

[Shadelight]

Hey I was looking for a good building genre/sandbox type game and can't quite decide which one to go for... P.A. or C.S.?

I like the look of both management systems in the games; yet I also know the games are quite different from each other in their own right.
For example aside from the graphic styles the biggest difference seems to be the scale...
Both games are arguably huge sandbox builders but P.A. seems to be more focused on the individual prisoners and guards, while C.S. is more focused on districts and transportation management...
So if you would be so kind I would like some Pros and Cons mentioned on both games, people's overall estimated joy and longevity found in whichever game they perver, etc.
This means I'm looking for the opinion of people who own both games. Still if you only own one feel free to throw your two cents my way aswell!

Thanks

EDIT:
Ok so I've looked over all the comments and have been silently taking note of each point made... I've have two discussions posted. One on the CS board and the other on the PA board. Hands down the community of PA has given more feedback and therefore I got more predicted recommendations for PA.

The main differences between the two seems to be-
1- Difficulty
2- Scale
3- Aesthetic
4- Management
5- Preference

1- PA has been reported more difficult with a possibly harsh learning curve. But CS has been complained as being too easy by some and too hard by others.

2- The scale is obvious, SC you see to the wellbeing of thousands possibly millions.
Meanwhile PA has you dictate hundreds (only later game).
Due to this PA has a more one on one charm while CS has a more utopia feel going for it.

3- In aesthetic SC wins hands down. PA isn't ugly per say but has a cartoonish or minimalist look to it.

4- Management - PA seems to win this one, you seem to be able to micromanage the crap out of everything from guard patrolling, to the routine of your prisoners. CS mostly seems to have hardcore traffic management.

5- But putting all the above aside. The biggest factor to determine if any game is "for you" is simply the consumers outright preference and taste.
This is where I feel conflicted... PA seems to be the winner, but I'm more of a fan of the idea of running a city/utopia.. In other words I kinda wish there was more management play in CS like in PA.

I made this discussion trying to find out what I would like... But in between PA & CS.
Another game has come in my radar... Banished.
Without going into detail Banished seems to be the best of both worlds. (Just because I said Banished is "the best of both worlds" still does not answer the original question of CS vs PA.)

Something more I'd like to point out is all (now 3) games are at the top of my wishlist... I just want to get recommendations from veterans which one to get FIRST.

Also something I left out but may be worth mentioning is I'm completely new to the whole city builder/management sim... If the games good I don't mind learning curve but also want a good introduction into the whole concept of city building/management games.

UPDATE: I have chosen to go with C.S.!
My reasoning behind this is that being new to the genre C.S. will be more merciful if you will. Also after a quick study of comparison on the reviews of the two games both had a great recommendation score yet C.S. had like thousands of more players making it come off as a safer bet!

All in all like I said I plan on buying both in time I just wanted to see which one suits my fancy if I had to choose only one!

The community has been very helpful... Thank you my friends

[Kevster]

I personally like P.A better, but thats because i find C.S too hard. When i think about it, they are VERY similar games. The main difference i can think of is riots and stuff in P.A, when you're not doing too good.

[jasonharris2]

prison is lot more fun

[Dr. Fao Xi, DO/MD [31 CHN]]

If you have the money, both... they are both awesome.

[Trixi]

thats a very difficult question. but as i have played so much city simulators earlier (sim city in main), i spend much more hours with prison architect than city skylines. but not to mention, city skyline is better than every city simulation game before. the most impressive thing at C.S. i felt was just the water. i really just created some maps, just to observe the water. Yes, i know this is stupid.

[mofocheeto]

I have both games. Skylines hands down. PA is half finished, and will stall on the most powerful computer when you get above 500 prisoners or so. Definitely suggest you hold off buying until Dev fix this.

[cowswithpuns]

My library tells me I've played C:S for 52 hours, and PA for 133 hours. I'm still playing PA, but seem to've stalled with Cities: Skylines.

They are both good games, and good value in my eyes (with the exception of the C:S Snowfall DLC). Possibly PA suits my playstyle better (micromanagement, optimisation, etc.), meaning I'm still infatuated by it. It's somewhat similar in this respect to Banished, which I also recommend very strongly (190 hours)!

In theory the replayability of C:S should be much higher (due to the fantastic modding community); however, for me, I prefer PA.

My recommendation, based on my level of enjoyment:

1. Banished (it has a steep learning curve but it is seriously a fantastic, beautiful and addictive game, and it's cheaper. It's quite gentle though, so if you want more action go PA first!)
2. Prison Architect (I love the management side, money-making, and light-hearted fun; also easy to get into, and fun even when you are doing poorly!)
3. Cities: Skylines (almost endless replayability if you're creative and prefer the aesthetics side of the game, but I prefer the management side- once I felt like I mastered it, I got bored quickly).

I would get all three :P And as for what to buy first, I would wait for the Easter sale (hopefully they have one!) and go for PA (and Banished!).

I'd be happy to give more info if you think I can help :)

[The Tickler]

PA is the type of game that's just going to go up in price, and for good reason. It's one of those games you will always go back to after going off it. CS is sort of.. not. Played it on my friends PC for a while and had no desire to go back to it once I put it down.

[SchessiLP]

gg

[Kunovega]

Originally posted by mofocheeto:

I have both games. Skylines hands down. PA is half finished, and will stall on the most powerful computer when you get above 500 prisoners or so. Definitely suggest you hold off buying until Dev fix this.

The game isn't half finished, it's been released. And there's not much going to be done about 500+ prisons, the games not really designed for more than 200 or 300. Each AI thread is very CPU intensive, it's going to bottle neck any CPU eventually because of this.

Most games do not run individual AI threads for 100s of autonomous things at once, most do dozens at a time, not hundreds (games that simulate doing 100s like RTS are doing them in batches where all of a unit type thread together)

[Trixi]

well, with the last update they releasy a performancetest betaversion that improves gamespeed about factor 2. (depending at your prison)

[Shadelight]

Ok so from what I've heard on the PA discussion PA has better reliability. That's good and to be honest I had PA on my wishlist before CS, and knew about it when it was in early access. But the biggest thing I hear that keeps me on guard is this whole "500+ issue"
So tell me... Firstly is it common to keep growing in-game until you get 500+? And will / has it been fixed?

[jasonharris2]

Originally posted by Shadelight:

Ok so from what I've heard on the PA discussion PA has better reliability. That's good and to be honest I had PA on my wishlist before CS, and knew about it when it was in early access. But the biggest thing I hear that keeps me on guard is this whole "500+ issue"
So tell me... Firstly is it common to keep growing in-game until you get 500+? And will / has it been fixed?

a beta was made at the begianing of the month that x2 the fps

[Trixi]

Well as the perfomancr is improved by faxtor 2 the limit is now around 500 to 1500 prisoners instead 250 to 750 (depending on your expectations and machine)

[pavig]

Failure in prison architect is potentially more amusing. ;)

[avantech]

Originally posted by Shadelight:

The biggest thing I hear that keeps me on guard is this whole "500+ issue". So tell me... Firstly is it common to keep growing in-game until you get 500+? And will / has it been fixed?

Most casual players don't reach 500, otherwise there would be a lot more complaints. But if you enjoy building and expanding you'll certainly get there, and the game did have a severe limitation around that number.

Now the new beta patch doubles your FPS, so 500 is quite achievable with an average computer. Getting to 1000, that's another story.

Originally posted by Trixi:

The limit is now around 500 to 1500 prisoners

1500 with what computer? On large map with no expansions, 850 prisoners, I get below 30 FPS... my laptop: 5700HQ + 16Gb RAM + GTX 970M.