Leisure Suit Larry

1987 · Adventure · PC/DOS

Overview

Leisure Suit Larry (1987) is Al Lowe's comedy adventure for Sierra: hapless Larry Laffer tries to find love in Lost Wages in one night.

Deep Dive

Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards follows 40-year-old Larry Laffer, in his white polyester suit, as he tries to find romance in the city of Lost Wages before the night is over. Players type commands to explore bars, a casino and a hotel, with plenty of embarrassment along the way. Al Lowe reworked it from the text game Softporn Adventure, and a quiz of trivia questions at the start was meant to keep children out. It became one of Sierra's most notorious and successful series.

Developer Story

Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards was designed by Al Lowe at Sierra On-Line in 1987, based on an earlier text adventure called Softporn Adventure. Lowe updated the game with graphics and expanded the humour. An age verification quiz (questions about 1980s pop culture) was included to deter minors. The game became Sierra's most controversial and, for a period, best-selling title.

Did You Know?

Larry Laffer was deliberately designed as pathetic and endearing rather than suave — a loser in a white leisure suit was funnier than a genuine lothario.
The age verification quiz asked questions like "In what year was the Korean War?" — questions many adults couldn't answer either.
Al Lowe was in his 40s when he designed the game, older than almost any other game designer working at the time.
The series ran to eight official games, with Larry's romantic failures in increasingly exotic locations.

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