Sinking ship game: could you get off in time?

Three in the morning on the Halcyon Bay

Last Ferry Out is a short sinking ship game told in eight decisions. You are on the MV Halcyon Bay, an overnight car ferry on a fictional crossing from Port Ardell to Kessick, taking your sister's fifteen-year-old son home. At 3:04 a.m. something scrapes along the hull in the fog, the engines stop, and the floor of your cabin tilts and stays tilted. Owen texted you at two from the arcade on deck 5. He is not answering now.

From there the ship only leans further. The PA gives one instruction and then another. Half the lifeboats hang uselessly against the high side of the hull, and the ones on the low side will not wait for anyone. The question is the one in the title: can you find Owen, get to a boat, and get off before she goes over? Every run ends with a result page that names the decision that decided it.

How this episode plays

Two meters sit above the scene. Last boat counts the minutes until the final lifeboat leaves, and it only goes down. List shows how far the ship is leaning, in three bands: Level, Leaning and Going over. The sea pushes the list up at fixed points no matter what you do. Your choices can push it up faster, by leaving doors open behind you or by moving a crowd to the low side, and one choice can hold it back. Careful choices usually cost minutes, fast ones usually cost list, and most of the game is deciding which you can afford.

Reading never costs time. There are no timers, and nothing happens while you think. The line under each choice tells you what it costs before you pick it.

You start in your cabin with time to grab one thing: the two life jackets, or the flashlight, or nothing at all. Later you may be handed a crew master key. Each one opens a different way through the night. At the last decision you choose between a lifeboat, a raft and the water. The boat needs time on the clock and a ship that has not gone over. A raft does not care about the clock, but you need some way to open its cage. The water is always there, and what you are wearing when you go in matters.

Who you meet

Owen is fifteen and somewhere behind a fire shutter on deck 5. You can go and get him, or ask the crew to collect him and trust that they will. Later, when there is one seat in a boat and he is the one the crew want, you decide whether he goes without you.

Rui is a steward sitting on the outside deck, dazed, who can give you his keys. Officer Hale runs muster station B and is sure the PA is wrong; following her is slow and orderly. Mr. Vass is an old man on the stairs with a terrier under one arm, who cannot climb and hold the dog at the same time. Helping him costs minutes. He has also spent thirty years on ferries like this one.

The five endings

Both of You, Dry. The Raft. Separated. The Jump. Left on the Hull. Two of them end with you and Owen together, one ends with you finding him on a dock in the morning, one ends in the water, and one ends on the side of the ship after the last boat has gone.

Every ending names your one right choice on a win, or your one wrong choice otherwise. From the result page you can rewind to a turning point instead of starting over, and the endings you have found are saved on this device.

A note on tone

This is a serious story told plainly. The Halcyon Bay, its crossing and its crew are invented, and the episode is not based on any real ship or disaster. The danger is real inside the story, and the worst ending is a bad one, but nothing in it is graphic: nobody is shown hurt, and the hardest moments are told in a sentence and left there.

It is not safety advice. The ship, its boats, its rafts and its doors work the way this story needs them to, not the way any real vessel does, and the choices are about pressure, time and the people with you rather than procedure. It is written for adults who want a short game with a real decision on every screen.

Who you meet

• You. An adult taking your nephew home on the overnight ferry. You promised your sister you would keep an eye on him.
• Owen. Your sister's son, fifteen. Couldn't sleep, went to the arcade on deck 5, and has a phone that is nearly dead.
• Rui. A young steward sitting against a locker on the outside deck, dazed, with a ring of crew keys he can't use himself.
• Officer Hale. The officer running muster station B. Calm, short with people, and sure the PA is wrong.
• Mr. Vass. An old man with a wire-haired terrier. He worked on ferries like this one for thirty years and can't climb the stairs holding the dog.

Questions

How long does Last Ferry Out take?

About five minutes for one run. There are eight decisions, and most people play it a few times to find more of the five endings.

Can you lose before the last decision?

No. Every run reaches the last minute on the boat deck. Earlier choices decide how much time is left, how far the ship is leaning, and who is with you, and those decide which ways off still work.

Is it based on a real shipwreck?

No. The ship, the ferry line, the crossing and everyone on board are fictional, and nothing in the game is meant as real-world safety advice.

Is it free, and does it save?

It is free, with no sign-up. Your current run and the endings you have found are saved in this browser. Nothing is sent to a server.