Softporn Adventure

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs

GAME DESIGNER:Chuck Benson & Gary Thompson
GAME DEVELOPER:Sierra On-Line
GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware
Copyright 1984, Chuck Benson & Gary Thompson

A true precursor to Sierra’s blockbuster hit Leisure Suit Larry series, Softporn Adventure was designed in 1983 for the Apple II computer by Chuck Benson, a database programmer who wrote the game as a “test” of computer databases. Ken Williams saw the game, liked it, bought rights to the game from Benson and gave the game to Al Lowe, who was then an independent programmer. The rest, as they say, is history 😉

For obvious reasons, the plot of Softporn Adventure is nearly identical to the first Leisure Suit Larry game. While mildly entertaining because of its theme (probably one of the first adult games ever made), the game suffers from a very limiting VERB-NOUN parser that doesn’t understand many obvious synonyms. The limited parser seems especially bad when considering that Infocom was using a much more powerful parser for their games during the same period. Recommended for the novelty value only – and of course for all Larry fans 😉

Note: This PC version was converted by Gary Thompson, who released the game as freeware on CompuServe. This version is included in Sierra’s Larry’s Greatest Hits and Misses compilation, which you can still purchase from their on-line store.