The Last Express
The Last Express is an adventure video game designed by Jordan Mechner and published by Broderbund in 1997 for PC. Players take on the role of an American who accepts an invite by a friend to join them on the Orient Express, days before the start of World War I, only to become involved in a maelstrom of treachery, lies, political conspiracies, personal interests, romance and murder, upon boarding the train. The game is unique in how it was created, its non-linear story, and in how events in the game are conducted within real-time.
| The Last Express | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Smoking Car Productions |
| Publisher(s) | Broderbund Interplay DotEmu |
| Director(s) | Jordan Mechner |
| Designer(s) | Jordan Mechner |
| Writer(s) | Jordan Mechner Tomi Pierce |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Mac OS, MS-DOS, iOS, Android |
| Release | Windows, Mac OS, MS-DOS April 16, 1997 Windows (Collector's Edition) January 14, 2011 iOS September 27, 2012 Android August 28, 2013 Windows (Gold Edition) November 21, 2013 macOS (Gold Edition) March 17, 2015 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
The game was a commercial disappointment following its release, but received highly positive reviews and a positive post-release response. A Sony PlayStation port was in development, but was cancelled before it was finished. The game was later reacquired by Mechner, who worked with DotEmu to make portable versions of the game for iOS and Android, and later released a remade version for Steam, entitled The Last Express – Gold Edition.