The Year of the Adventure Game

Something miraculous happened last year. Tim Schafer of Double Fine Productions asked for $400,000 on crowd funding site, Kickstarter, to make an old school point and click adventure game, and the world gave him $3.3 million. In doing so, he and his company bypassed the usual publisher route needed to secure funding for a game, and maintained full creative control of their project. People just about everywhere took notice. Among them, a number of past and present game developers from such origins as Access Software, LucasArts, Revolution Software and Sierra On-Line. They all wanted a chance to take another stab at the adventure game genre, which until then, had been regarded by publishers as a genre that did not typically generate a significant amount of revenue. Translation: It did not make as much money as Call of Duty. Could lightning possibly strike twice? Not only did it strike twice. It struck again and again and again. It was a bit like the end of It's a Wonderful Life, with an angry CEO at Activision, Electronic Arts or some other such place playing the part of Mr. Potter. And as a teacher once said, every time a bell rings, an adventure game developer gets his paycheck.

With that said, Happy New Year! This year is going to be very special because all those adventure games that we Kickstarted last year are going to be released this year. To celebrate, I decided to put together a list of adventure games being released in 2013, including a few that were funded beyond Kickstarter.

The Treasure of the Sierra On-Line (LSL) *ADULT THEMES*

Inspired by Al Lowe and Jane Jensen's recent Kickstarters, I have decided to write a blog about Sierra On-Line memories. Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe have also returned!

Warning, if you are easily offended, you may prefer to read something else, like Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat or Martin Handford's Where's Waldo. Now, before we begin, I just have to put something on. It will only take a moment.


Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards

Always practice safe blogging! My experience with Sierra On-Line continues in late 1997 when, for the first time, I logged onto the World Wide Web, or the Internet as it is more commonly referred to today. My parents signed us up with America Online. I quickly became amazed by the amount of information available at my fingertips. It was not long before I also discovered that the Internet was full of filth, and that is where Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards comes in. The FBI is going to bust down my door for saying this, but I downloaded it from one of those illegal warez sharing sites. Sorry, Al! Hilariously, the tricky part was not in downloading the game itself, but in getting past that silly age verification screen. Who the hell is Pia Zadora, anyway? I eventually managed to pass the test, and for anyone looking to play the game now, you can simply press Ctrl-Alt-X to bypass it altogether! Leisure Suit Larry has a fairly simple premise. You are a 39 year old software salesman. You are also a virgin. You have one night to get laid. If this sounds familiar, you may have seen 2005's The 40-Year-Old Virgin. The game uses a text parser interface for inputting commands (as depicted in the image above). I thought that it was great because I could be as vulgar as I wanted with my commands. e.g. fu**, sh**, eat-out. Wait, that last one is not vulgar... or is it? After the initial excitement of the text parser interface wore off, I began to explore Lost Wages. Think Las Vegas, but somehow sleazier. Larry's travels would take him to a seedy bar, a liquor store, a disco, a casino, and a 24-hour wedding chapel, all in pursuit of love! Surprisingly, I did not have a whole lot of trouble finishing the game. Perhaps my mind was filthy to begin with.

Leisure Suit Larry Kickstarter

Al Lowe, Josh Mandel, and the team at Replay Games have started a Kickstarter campaign for Leisure Suit Larry. Al Lowe, in case anyone does not know, is the original designer of the Leisure Suit Larry series. He worked on 1987's Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards through 1996's Love for Sail. He was excluded from the development of the cosmic flops known as Magna Cum Laude (2004) and Box Office Bust (2009), and has been eager for many years to restore the series to its former glory. Well, now is his chance, but he needs your support. Al Lowe and Replay Games need to raise $500,000 to bring back Larry. You can pledge whatever amount you like, and there are special perks, too. $15 gets you a downloadable copy of the forthcoming game, DRM-free, as well as a Steam key. Whereas, $100 gets you a collector's box containing a hard copy of the game, soundtrack CD, and a very special gift.



Kickstarter Page (Pledge, Share)
Kickstarter Steam Group (Comment, Play)
Al Lowe's Humor Site (Laugh)
Replay Games