title image

Hard Time

The toughest sim in the yard!

Ratings

Age

18+

Category

Adventure

Languages

English

Hard Time is the ultimate prison simulator where every action has a consequence. Create your own inmate from scratch and attempt to survive a sentence in a facility filled with over 100 other prisoners. Manage your health, reputation, and mental state in real-time. Engage in a deep social system, start riots, join gangs, or try to be a model citizen to earn an early release. With a massive world and a unique physics-based combat system, Hard Time offers a raw and unfiltered look at life behind bars.

Dinsun Expert Review

Our Expert Score

78/100

Hard Time is a gritty, unconventional prison simulator that prioritizes emergent gameplay and chaos over polished mechanics. Created by Mat Dickie, it carries his signature low-fi aesthetic and 'ragdoll' physics that make every interaction unpredictable and often hilarious. You aren't just serving a sentence; you're navigating a dangerous social ecosystem where every choice—from who you talk to, to how you exercise—can lead to a riot or a friendship.

The game is unique because it tracks your mental health alongside your physical stats. Spend too much time in solitary or get into too many fights, and your character might lose control. This creates a fascinating role-playing experience where the goal isn't just to 'win,' but to survive the daily grind of incarceration. It’s rough around the edges, but that's part of its charm. It’s a deep, living simulation that offers a level of freedom rarely seen in mobile games. It’s dark, weird, and surprisingly compelling.

Dinsun reviewed on: Fri Feb 27 2026

Features

1

Deep character customization and RPG stats

2

Real-time social interaction with 100+ NPCs

3

Dynamic physics and combat system

4

Interactive world with various prison locations

Tips & Walkthrough

Gameplays

Screenshot

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Q&A

Yes, you can work in the kitchen, the workshop, or as a cleaner to earn money for commissary items and improve your standing.

Ratings & Reviews

Great game - a few suggestions...
Mon May 04 2020 GameReview263

This developer is amazing and his/her games are fun and probably my favorites in the App Store. It kind of gives a arcade Mortal Kombat/Mavel vs Capcom feel with the button layout. There are somethings to be said though. Sometimes after watching a ad, you get stuck on the MDickie logo and are forced to restart the game. Usually it’s fine but sometimes it will actually send me back to before stages of the game which is a little annoying. Two suggestions I have for the dev. One, bots should have the laws enforced on them too, cause it’s a little angering watching a npc walk around with a gun and the cops don’t care, but when you pick one up they go insane and arrest you. Last suggestion is, updates! Updates keep the game new and fun to play! I haven’t played the game long enough to be bored of it, and it’s certainly not the most new looking game out there. These are just suggestions, you don’t have to listen, but it would be great if you would!

Gangs
Thu Nov 21 2024 nensnsns. wnwjenanss

The gang situation makes no sense. It says on the wiki if you refuse too many people you can be taken out of then gang but then it says if you add people who don’t have the right requirements you can be kicked out. On 2d u can’t see anyone’s stats so it’s kinda unfair to be taken out of a gang everytime you accept someone or if you don’t accept someone u can be taken out of your reputation will continue to go down the then you won’t have enough reputation to be in the gang. Its happened everytime im in a gang it’s like it’s unavoidable and there’s no way to stay in a gang. Hopefully this gets fixed because its really annoying. My other complaint is task. I’m so hard to do some task because the items aren’t there. I’ve searched the whole entire prison and even escaped and seat had outside. I think items just need to spawn more.

smh
Mon Aug 19 2019 👨🏻‍🦲👨🏻‍🦲👨🏻‍🦲👨🏻‍🦲

They have an ad at the top left of the screen taking up 1/4 of the screen. The mental health system is so horrible for example if u get in a “gunfight” with anyone u have to keep going to sleep through out the fight to keep ur “mental health” up or your character will straight up do what ever it wants leaving u powerless and ready to be killed by whoever ur fighting, and when u sleep it shows an ad that may or may not crash the game, 90% of the time the ad crashes the game for me. the gun play is the worst in history, Don’t ever count on ur shots hitting because they almost never do. The announcements drive you crazy, You’ll be trying to walk to another block to do a objective and their will be an announcement for something you do not care about, whenever somebody is let out from jail it will tell u and it’s sooooo annoying. In conclusion, I’ll enjoy the game a little bit if u don’t have as many ads and just completely dump the mental health system. but that’s just my opinion, A GAME OPINION

Super great! Just a few things though.
Sun May 12 2019 IIGrahamCrackers

This is one of, if not my favorite ios game! It’s super addicting and fun! I could play it for hours, and i do. There’s not really anything bad about it, but you guys should update it more often. Suggestions: Maybe add a few more parts of the map outside of the prison. And you should be able to go in the stores just like in School Days! When i read books to get my intelligence up, i lose reputation SOO fast and it’s really annoying. Please make it so you don’t lose SOO much reputations from just reading a book. Or maybe add more things to help you get your intelligence up. This is a big one but it would be cool to be able to play with other players. Maybe add a online mode? That would be really cool. Also, you guys should make it easier to get out of someone’s hold on you. I gets really annoying, sometimes people are holding me for minutes and it’s really annoying because you can’t do ANYTHING. You should make it so if you press A (attack) fast enough, you can get out of their grab. Also, you should make less announcements, it gets pretty annoying lol. Or you should be able to skip peoples so each bubbles faster because if you have been playing this game for a while it does get super annoying because you know what people are saying already.

Fun but needs work
Wed Nov 20 2019 XxPlussySlayerxX

Becoming a cop has done nothing I literally can do nothing as a cop a civilian and a cop are the same thing in this game my other problem is the fighting cops can arrest you too easily with little effort Guns do little damage and How can the AI just pop up after I smack them with a pole/knife 15 times? But for me it takes about 10 seconds to get up I Feel like as a cop you should be able to arrest people or more people will respect you Also the ability to fire other cops because cops can arrest you for doing almost nothing the announcements need a rework because in the middle of a fight one of them will pop up and you’ll loose progress and The Ai will get back up or regain health it’s Extremely annoying I have no control over my character as that happens In conclusion 1.) Being a cop needs to be more copish like arresting It just needs a rework 2.) Guns Need a rework The bullets won’t hit and they do little damage 3.) Ais get back up after 20+ Stab wounds and punch me and I’m instantly knocked over and my weapon is stolen 4.) Ais get back up almost instantly while I have to wait 10+ Seconds 5.) There needs to be an Ability to Skip an announcement all Together because they are annoying in fights because the Ai gets up steals my weapon or Regains health when I’m trying to fight them Otherwise it’s a really fun game it just needs tweaking

Make an editor for the free version of the game
Sat Feb 27 2021 Jdkdmsksk

I like the game a lot but this game is lagging now without us being able to customize our character without having to upgrade to the VIP version of the game I would like to edit my character so I can become a warden of the US Department of Homeland Security which is what the wardens of this game are I would like to be able to have the opportunity to arrest other inmates as an inmate or a warden or a civilian I would like this game to also have security guards that would be part of the Transportation Security Administration part of the US Department of Homeland Security and I would like to be able to have no ads the wardens should have super hero restraints like in the heros game and be able to have a leg gun holster along with a bulletproof vest or reflective vest a helmet either bulletproof or European or even a police uniform cap etc

It’s a great game, but I have one piece of advice.
Tue Jul 23 2024 Anthonyissad

Hello, Just one piece of advice I have is, that I feel like the development crew of Hard time should add updates to this game, even if it’s once a year. These updates should specifically include new voice lines for the non playable characters. The Same voice lines again and again can be repetitive. I feel like this game is Great. Im 17 years old, and this is a game I loved in my childhood and that I just came back to recently. I just hope you guys can take my suggestion, because although this is an old game and you guys may not do this, I feel like new voice lines for different situations would really make the game more fresh, unpredictable, slightly more funny, and surprising. And this would make the game better. Good day to you all.

amazing childhood experience 5+ years ago
Tue Feb 27 2024 Slug stocks are expected

i wish i wrote a review about it 5 years ago this game is a childhood classic for me i love it. I remeber i used to play it all the time go fight people in the cafe maybe pick up a propane tank take it outside to the yard then blow it up honestly this game was one of the best if not the best for my memories also i like how you can actually get out of prison if your good wish the developers could come back give us a tiny update and say how they are doing we need them for new videos on consoles because the new ones are not too good so thank you for making this game and a good childhood memory I will now wait for it to reinstall so i can use the last of my senior moments happy.

Some Youtube Videos found!

News found!

The rise, fall, and rise of MDickie—or, how to be the best worst game developerThe rise, fall, and rise of MDickie—or, how to be the best worst game developer

When he wasn't making wrestling video games, MDickie was repurposing parts of his wrestling engine for more topical, message-driven titles...

Ars Technica Thu Aug 01 2019

Hard Time by MDickie LimitedHard Time by MDickie Limited

Create your own inmate and attempt to survive in a prison where every sentence is a "death" sentence.

AppAdvice Wed Jun 01 2022

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Mat Dickie is an Indie Self-Developing Game Maker, he is widely know for his games such as Wrestling Revolution, and Hard Time.

Know Your Meme Sat Feb 01 2020

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Get a better view of the school sim with this dedicated high-resolution version for tablets! The prison from Hard Time has closed down and...

AppAdvice Wed Jun 01 2022

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