Like many a Zachtronics game before, Last Call BBS has that secret ingredient to create a great puzzle format: arbitrary limitation.
Perhaps intentionally, the computer you are using only has enough disk space to download 7 programs, most of which have their own limitation. For ChipWizard and Food Court, the limit was simply workspace, a pretty common trope for Zachtronics, although for Food Court there are two ways space is restricted. For X'BPGH, interestingly, it was time (as displayed through stages of growth). There was also an instruction limit, but I don't think I ever ran out of space for instructions.
For the others, there might not be any clear limitation. Kabufuda cards existed before Last Call BBS, but I don't know if Kabufuda Solitaire existed. The free spaces certainly had increasing limits with higher difficulty. Dungeons & Diagrams had restrictions for block placement, but that's not really unusual for a logic puzzle (in fact a lot of the rules carry over from a logic puzzle known as Tapa). Steed Force could be considered to have a quite limited variety of tools for painting Gundam-like figures. HACKMATCH might not even qualify.
I'd be remiss not to mention some of these games had their first appearance in a previous Zachtronics game. A nearly identical version of Kabufuda Solitaire was present in Eliza. A fairly similar version of HACKMATCH in EXAPUNKS. ChipWizard's first incarnation was KOHCTPYKTOP, released all the way back in 2009 as a flash game. There may be others that I don't know about.
And I think the narrative that played out through memos from the relative who had donated the Z5 Powerlance to the player hints towards a past where arbitrary restrictions were not an option, they were reality. Graphics were limited to smaller resolutions, smaller budgets, smaller memory allocation, and smaller, closer-knit (more closely knit?) communities who came together to play these games and just chat.
The world's a lot bigger than it was when Zachtronics began. Things move faster. LC makes you wait when downloading a game, although the files of the game were all loaded up upon booting up Last Call BBS on Steam. It might've taken you less time to download LC than it took to download any game within it.
I don't think Zach Barth was trying to communicate there is no place for Zachtronics anymore, or that he was out of ideas. I think he just had a good idea of where he wanted to stop.
Perhaps intentionally, the computer you are using only has enough disk space to download 7 programs, most of which have their own limitation. For ChipWizard and Food Court, the limit was simply workspace, a pretty common trope for Zachtronics, although for Food Court there are two ways space is restricted. For X'BPGH, interestingly, it was time (as displayed through stages of growth). There was also an instruction limit, but I don't think I ever ran out of space for instructions.
For the others, there might not be any clear limitation. Kabufuda cards existed before Last Call BBS, but I don't know if Kabufuda Solitaire existed. The free spaces certainly had increasing limits with higher difficulty. Dungeons & Diagrams had restrictions for block placement, but that's not really unusual for a logic puzzle (in fact a lot of the rules carry over from a logic puzzle known as Tapa). Steed Force could be considered to have a quite limited variety of tools for painting Gundam-like figures. HACKMATCH might not even qualify.
I'd be remiss not to mention some of these games had their first appearance in a previous Zachtronics game. A nearly identical version of Kabufuda Solitaire was present in Eliza. A fairly similar version of HACKMATCH in EXAPUNKS. ChipWizard's first incarnation was KOHCTPYKTOP, released all the way back in 2009 as a flash game. There may be others that I don't know about.
And I think the narrative that played out through memos from the relative who had donated the Z5 Powerlance to the player hints towards a past where arbitrary restrictions were not an option, they were reality. Graphics were limited to smaller resolutions, smaller budgets, smaller memory allocation, and smaller, closer-knit (more closely knit?) communities who came together to play these games and just chat.
The world's a lot bigger than it was when Zachtronics began. Things move faster. LC makes you wait when downloading a game, although the files of the game were all loaded up upon booting up Last Call BBS on Steam. It might've taken you less time to download LC than it took to download any game within it.
I don't think Zach Barth was trying to communicate there is no place for Zachtronics anymore, or that he was out of ideas. I think he just had a good idea of where he wanted to stop.
So long, and thanks for all the puzzles.
A fun collection of different kinds of puzzle games, each one having their own feel and mood to it done in the old computer ascetic. As you progressed though one of the 7 game you start to get background story about the creators witch was a nice touch and added more incentive to finish them.
The games throw you into the deep end in terms with how to play them, where you have to either go though the instruction manual or just have to figure it out on your own. Which kind of added to the charm of the whole thing.
Out of the 7 games I would say that dungeons and diagrams, and 20th century food court where the best ones. I'm blanking on the name at the moment, but the only game I did not complete was the Japanese arcade style game as the later levels in that got too frustrating.
Would recommend for anyone who likes challenging puzzle games.
The games throw you into the deep end in terms with how to play them, where you have to either go though the instruction manual or just have to figure it out on your own. Which kind of added to the charm of the whole thing.
Out of the 7 games I would say that dungeons and diagrams, and 20th century food court where the best ones. I'm blanking on the name at the moment, but the only game I did not complete was the Japanese arcade style game as the later levels in that got too frustrating.
Would recommend for anyone who likes challenging puzzle games.
I've given up for now because my save doesn't seem to be taking, I can only assume this is my sponging ass using gamepass to play this, me and gamepass? We don't get along so good sometimes.
Putting that aside what a game! looks and acts like an older PC model when things weren't yet set in stone, reminding me a lot of hypnospace outlaw, hearkening back to the early internet era but without trying to perfectly replicate it.
Theres something about nostalgia when it's....not trying to be perfect....for some reason thats better? I'm not sure why.
The game selection available here is fantastic, I've discovered I'm bad at (both) types of solitare, I can't build food assembly factories to save my life and my brain melted trying to map out dungeons, the gunpla game was the icing on the cake, I've had a fun time with this one, highly recommend it.
Putting that aside what a game! looks and acts like an older PC model when things weren't yet set in stone, reminding me a lot of hypnospace outlaw, hearkening back to the early internet era but without trying to perfectly replicate it.
Theres something about nostalgia when it's....not trying to be perfect....for some reason thats better? I'm not sure why.
The game selection available here is fantastic, I've discovered I'm bad at (both) types of solitare, I can't build food assembly factories to save my life and my brain melted trying to map out dungeons, the gunpla game was the icing on the cake, I've had a fun time with this one, highly recommend it.
Como cada juego de Zachtronics, me siento idiota jugándolo.
learning that this is Zachtronics last game and yet it's the very first game I played by them is very sad. don't know why but looking at their old stuff seems neat hope to play them
Being Zachtronics' last (and final) game I was expecting some great or very complicated puzzle adventure but thankfully that wasn't it. Why do I say thankfully? Because what they've left is really neat and that is exactly what you should expect when playing a game of theirs.
It's a collection of games so not all of them might be to your liking but they're there for you and you can play them to your heart's desire, or not. One game in particular became really addictive and kept me stuck to the screen for the whole game but apart from that they're all solid puzzles. Definitely a great goodbye
It's a collection of games so not all of them might be to your liking but they're there for you and you can play them to your heart's desire, or not. One game in particular became really addictive and kept me stuck to the screen for the whole game but apart from that they're all solid puzzles. Definitely a great goodbye
The end of Zachtronics. I’m going to need a moment.
I love Zachtronics games. Everything from Spacechem to Exopunks, so it’s no surprise I’m very happy with Last Call BBS, even if it’s different. Instead of a standard game with a primary focus, Last Call BBS has the player dialing into a BBS and downloading various games. There’s everything from the squelch of the modem, to waiting for files to download, and a timer before players can download the next file.
Last Call BBS has nine apps that players can try out, one of them is an entertaining model builder, but the other 8 are puzzle games in style fans of Zachtronics might recognize, there are two games of solitaire, of course, but there are a solid logic puzzle game, an automation builder, and a circuit diagram game. These are extremely nerdy games, but each of the modules here brought me some joy.
The truth is Last Call BBS is probably what’s left over from Zachtronics, this is going to be the studio’s final new game, they’ll be releasing all their solitaire variants in one more title at the end of the year and the studio is closing and going their own way. But each of the 8 mini-games here feels substantial enough that it’ll give fans of Zachtronics enough for one last hurrah and I bought this on day one on Steam because I’m a die-hard fan of the studio and I wanted to complete my collection, and I don’t regret it at all.
Pick this up if you like logic games, or enjoyed Zachtronics titles before. I’ve always thought of Zachtronics as a studio that makes games for programmers. The games here are puzzle games with a lot of clever bells and whistles, and they also will push the player to try to optimize their solutions, but ultimately, it’s a great experience. As I said, It’s a very nerdy game, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
If you want to see more from me: Check out my video on this month of Game Pass games: https://youtu.be/2fKlHHe39kE
I love Zachtronics games. Everything from Spacechem to Exopunks, so it’s no surprise I’m very happy with Last Call BBS, even if it’s different. Instead of a standard game with a primary focus, Last Call BBS has the player dialing into a BBS and downloading various games. There’s everything from the squelch of the modem, to waiting for files to download, and a timer before players can download the next file.
Last Call BBS has nine apps that players can try out, one of them is an entertaining model builder, but the other 8 are puzzle games in style fans of Zachtronics might recognize, there are two games of solitaire, of course, but there are a solid logic puzzle game, an automation builder, and a circuit diagram game. These are extremely nerdy games, but each of the modules here brought me some joy.
The truth is Last Call BBS is probably what’s left over from Zachtronics, this is going to be the studio’s final new game, they’ll be releasing all their solitaire variants in one more title at the end of the year and the studio is closing and going their own way. But each of the 8 mini-games here feels substantial enough that it’ll give fans of Zachtronics enough for one last hurrah and I bought this on day one on Steam because I’m a die-hard fan of the studio and I wanted to complete my collection, and I don’t regret it at all.
Pick this up if you like logic games, or enjoyed Zachtronics titles before. I’ve always thought of Zachtronics as a studio that makes games for programmers. The games here are puzzle games with a lot of clever bells and whistles, and they also will push the player to try to optimize their solutions, but ultimately, it’s a great experience. As I said, It’s a very nerdy game, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
If you want to see more from me: Check out my video on this month of Game Pass games: https://youtu.be/2fKlHHe39kE
Every element of this is so clearly crafted with ingenious care and charm: the “dumped on an old desktop” opening that left me to poke around and find the games on the BBS, the diegetic hardware noises lightly grinding and humming away as I interact with the desktop, the quiet drama and characterization of each minigame’s creator spooled out in the notes app as I advance through their respective levels, the subtle autobiographic reflection of Zachtronics themselves seen in the notes, the impeccable visual design of everything. The presentation of all of it adds up to something incredible, even if the puzzles themselves were just okay.
And then the puzzle minigames are a joy to play. Each one is inventively high-concept and poses its own distinct challenge, usually around some sort of programming concept. I’ve finished half of the minigames and look forward to chipping away at the remaining puzzles in the other games as I’m able. Their diversity is a pleasure to bounce between when one has me stumped, and when I’m totally frazzled there’s always the oddly tactile satisfaction of the Steed Force model building app.
Chip Wizard in particular blew my mind. It’s essentially a streamlined CAD program for low-level IC design that strips away the inhibitory math of an upper-level engineering course to reveal the more broadly approachable design puzzles contained within. At the same time, it does a way better job of casually but clearly showing functional IC design concepts (like the difference between NPN and PNP transistors) than a semester or two of most related college courses.
And then the puzzle minigames are a joy to play. Each one is inventively high-concept and poses its own distinct challenge, usually around some sort of programming concept. I’ve finished half of the minigames and look forward to chipping away at the remaining puzzles in the other games as I’m able. Their diversity is a pleasure to bounce between when one has me stumped, and when I’m totally frazzled there’s always the oddly tactile satisfaction of the Steed Force model building app.
Chip Wizard in particular blew my mind. It’s essentially a streamlined CAD program for low-level IC design that strips away the inhibitory math of an upper-level engineering course to reveal the more broadly approachable design puzzles contained within. At the same time, it does a way better job of casually but clearly showing functional IC design concepts (like the difference between NPN and PNP transistors) than a semester or two of most related college courses.
Jogado no Xbox Game Pass. Last Call BBS foi definitivamente uma surpresa: uma coletânea de puzzles com temática de computação retrô sempre me pega e vai chamar minha atenção.
Você tem um trabalho bem incrível aqui em cada um dos minigames (e até nas historinhas que você vai desbloqueando conforme vai alcançando coisas nelas). Por mais que nem todos chamaram minha atenção, vale a pena citar alguns:
- Steed Force Hobby Studio, o simulador de montar Gumpla, é definitivamente divertido e eu jogaria um jogo só disso
- Kabufuda Solitaire é uma versão muito legal de Paciência mais simples de jogar e formar estratégias
- 20th Century Food Court é um jogo bizarro em temática e execução, mas um dia eu ainda vou ter força de vontade e terminar mais puzzles
- Dungeons & Diagrams é uma ideia bem legal, mas achei a curva de dificuldade complicada demais...
- ChipWizard Professional é só aula de eletrônica da faculdade e eu me recuso
Você tem um trabalho bem incrível aqui em cada um dos minigames (e até nas historinhas que você vai desbloqueando conforme vai alcançando coisas nelas). Por mais que nem todos chamaram minha atenção, vale a pena citar alguns:
- Steed Force Hobby Studio, o simulador de montar Gumpla, é definitivamente divertido e eu jogaria um jogo só disso
- Kabufuda Solitaire é uma versão muito legal de Paciência mais simples de jogar e formar estratégias
- 20th Century Food Court é um jogo bizarro em temática e execução, mas um dia eu ainda vou ter força de vontade e terminar mais puzzles
- Dungeons & Diagrams é uma ideia bem legal, mas achei a curva de dificuldade complicada demais...
- ChipWizard Professional é só aula de eletrônica da faculdade e eu me recuso