Technical Information

Developer: Sierra On-Line
Publisher: Sierra On-Line
Release Date: July 5, 1987

The Steam version includes both the original 1987 game and the 2013 remake.

Step into the shoes of Larry Laffer, a nearly quarter-millionaire software salesman who decides to travel to Lost Wages (a parody of Las Vegas) to lose his virginity and find the love of his life.

A text-based game with very slapstick humor, filled with bad jokes and comedic situations.

Final Thoughts – Analyzing the Game as a Whole

Graphics and UI

Since it’s a 1987 game, you can’t expect incredible or highly detailed graphics.
For its time, everything turned out quite nice, with a cartoonish style. It’s noticeable that the environments are well detailed, even with the limited color palette.

Animations are scarce and simple.

Overall, the interface is straightforward.
The text input area remains active throughout the game and understands partial commands, which saves time since you don’t need to type full sentences.

Soundtrack and Sound Effects

You’ll spend most of the game in complete silence.
There are very few moments when music actually plays.

Gameplay

Although it’s text-based, you can interact using the mouse. However, it’s not a point-and-click game, since you still need to type Larry’s actions.

This is a comedy game, keep that in mind. There are many jokes (most of them quite bad… and that’s exactly what gives the game its slapstick charm), along with plenty of nonsense.
But honestly, you’ll need a guide to finish the game. Within the game, you can visit certain locations by taxi, but at no point does the game tell you which places are available. As a result, you’ll spend hours typing place names, trying and failing.
Use a guide, or your experience will be extremely frustrating. Taking that into account (which I already consider a huge negative), the game’s story takes a wild and unpredictable turn.

In some sections, you need to gamble at the casino to earn money, which becomes tiring since it relies heavily on luck. On the bright side, you can save and reload the game, which is a lifesaver during these moments.

Dying or getting hurt in this game is very easy. Be prepared! hahaha

Honestly, I just wanted to know how everything ended. I had zero patience, I found the game too difficult. You need to be extremely persistent to finish it without a walkthrough… or be clairvoyant.

Replayability and Game Retention

Maybe in the future I’ll want to play it again, since there are some moments I remember enjoying as I played through it.