Last Call BBS

Last Call BBS is Zachtronics' final game from the studio behind SpaceChem, Opus Magnum, and EXAPUNKS. The framing is a retro PC dialled into a bulletin board system run by The Barkeep, with eight full puzzle games cracked and ready to download.

The games span the studio's range. 20th Century Food Court is a factory-design game for 700-years-ago food production. STEED FORCE Hobby Studio is robot-model assembly without sandpaper. X'BPGH: The Forbidden Path is bizarre flesh sculpture in exchange for eternal life. Sawayama Solitaire is a fresh take on Klondike. Dungeons & Diagrams is tile-based logic mapping. ChipWizard Professional is integrated circuit design with transistors and capacitors. HACK*MATCH is the EXAPUNKS minigame fully remastered with campaign and head-to-head multiplayer. Kabufuda Solitaire is a Japanese card variant from Eliza.

The BBS framing isn't just decoration. High-resolution pixel art, an FM-synth soundtrack, and the slow texture of dial-up bulletin boards give the entire experience the feel of a specific lost era of PC gaming. The Barkeep's backstory and the histories of each game's developers — plus the legendary 90s manufacturer Sawayama Corporation — surface gradually as you play.

Zachtronics announced their wind-down with this release. A fitting capstone for one of the most consistently inventive puzzle-game studios in the medium's history.