In release testing
The Last Encore
Nothing here fires by itself.
A wave-based arena shooter set in a marionette theatre: you aim with the mouse, you count every round, and the whole cast — wooden soldiers, brass automata, wind-up toys — has taken the stage to find you. Twenty acts, one screen, and the Thunderbird waiting at the end of the last one.
About the game
A boulevard theatre at midnight, and twenty acts to get through
You are the last puppet in the gunsmith's workshop, and the acts come one after another: the cast walks in from the wings and you hold a stage you can see all of — move, roll, double jump, climb the ladder, keep shooting. Every third act the show stops long enough for you to take an upgrade, and then it starts again harder.
Five weapons with counted ammo and a backup pistol that never runs dry. You are never left with nothing, but what you have left is what decides how you fight the next act — and the set is part of the arsenal: barrels chain their blasts, a sandbag cut down with one shot becomes cover where there was none, and the gas chandelier comes down on whoever is under it.
What it does not have is as deliberate as what it does. Nothing auto-fires, nothing shoots you from off-screen, and the camera never scrolls away from the fight. And the sound effects are made with a mouth — that is not a placeholder, it is the identity.
What is in it
- Nothing auto-firesYou aim with the mouse, a full 360 degrees, and every shot goes off because you pulled the trigger.
- Ammo you countFive weapons with counted rounds and a pistol that never empties, so running low changes the plan instead of ending it.
- A decision every third actUpgrade cards that stack over a run — including the deal that lets you hit like a truck and die in three.
- Sound made with a mouthEvery shot, blast and scream was recorded by a person, and it is the reason the theatre sounds the way it does.
How it plays
Three things the trailer has no time to explain
You aim, always
A giant wooden hand lowers a puppet from the flies on a string, and you shoot it out of the air while it falls. The arm follows your mouse the whole way down. There is no auto-attack underneath any of this: if it goes down, you hit it.
One screen, nothing off-camera
The stage never scrolls, so every threat is on screen the whole time and nothing shoots you from somewhere you cannot look. The puppets walk in from the wings, and you decide when to leave cover for the crate that just landed.
The set fights on your side too
Raise the arm to the flies, cut the chain with one shot, and the gas chandelier drops on the wave below and goes up in a white flash. It is not a trap to dodge: it is a weapon you choose to use, and it only pays if you set it up first.
Media
Screenshots
Devlog
Latest news
Short notes on what changed, newest first.
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The game has a name, and a page
The trailer, the screenshots and the store text are finished and the build is in release testing, so the game comes out of hiding here first. What is left is paperwork: once the Steam page exists this one gets its wishlist button, and the demo goes up behind it.
Where to get it
Get the game
The Last Encore is heading to Steam for Windows and the store page is on its way. A demo goes up behind it, so you can find out whether this theatre is for you before paying for a ticket.
Want to know when it is out? Write to us and we will tell you the day it happens.
Contact
Press and support
Press kit, review keys or a bug you ran into — the same address covers all of it, and a person reads it.