Hard Time

Hard Time (the 2D Steam release) launched on August 16, 2017 as a desktop revival of the classic prison sim. The developer, MDickie, issued a couple of feature patches in late 2022 and early 2023, primarily optimizing the game for Steam Deck — improving resolution support, controller compatibility, and adding a small multiplayer twist. On September 10, 2024, MDickie posted a farewell of sorts for this entry in the series, announcing Hard Time III as the next installment and explicitly framing this 2D release as a completed chapter ("Thanks to everybody who supported this little 2D revival, Hard Time is back to serve its 3rd consecutive sentence!"). That announcement links directly to a separate Steam listing for Hard Time III. This signals that development attention has moved on to the sequel, and this game's run is effectively done. There are no unreleased DLC listings, no roadmaps, no announcements of further content for this specific title, and no post from the developer suggesting additional updates are coming. The store description describes a self-contained experience with no mention of ongoing content plans. The game can be considered complete as of the Hard Time III announcement in September 2024, which marked the end of this entry's lifecycle.