Against all odds, a middle-aged virgin in a leisure suit became one of the most well-known characters in PC gaming history.
Before he created "Leisure Suit Larry", Al Lowe was a music teacher turned programmer at Sierra On-Line, known for designing children’s software like "Bop-a-bet" and playing a support role in some of the earliest graphic adventure successes. But when "Softp*rn Adventure" - an adult comedy text game from the early '80s - fell into Sierra's lap, Lowe was asked to adapt it for the new graphic era.
Al's response was "That game is so out of touch, it should be wearing a leisure suit." And a new gaming franchise was born.
The result was "Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards", released in 1987. The game followed the misadventures of Larry Laffer, a hopelessly-outdated wannabe ladies' man stumbling through a seedy city in search of love. It was raunchy, absurd, deeply self-aware, and it struck a chord. Despite coming with a multiple-choice quiz to prove you were 18, and many retailers refusing to advertise it, the game became a surprise best-seller.
Initial sales were so bad Sierra nearly pulled it, but word of mouth spread and it exploded. Al went on to make six more Larry games and became one of the funniest, most distinct voices in gaming. He didn’t just write jokes; he re-wrote the rules of what games could get away with.
I had the great pleasure of interviewing Al at length for our Sierra On-Line documentary "Legends of Adventure". Read more production updates on our BackerKit community page!
DAVE HODGSON
