Larry Laffer liebt die Gamecity

Key insights

6 takeaways

01
The development of Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don't Dry was led by the Hamburg-based studio Crazybunch, showcasing the city's capacity to facilitate high-profile game production.
02
The project utilized a collaborative local network including narrative designer Falko Löffler and Maurice Hagelstein of the studio Tiny Roar.
03
The game modernizes the legacy point-and-click franchise by integrating 21st-century themes such as social media and dating applications.
04
The title was scheduled for a Q4 2018 release on Windows and Mac OS, utilizing a promotional pricing strategy on Steam to drive pre-orders.
05
The project serves as a case study for the influence of Gamecity Hamburg, which provides the funding, networking, and infrastructure necessary to support regional industry growth.
06
The development demonstrates the strategy of leveraging historical intellectual property to engage both long-term fans and new audiences within the German games sector.

Summary

Hamburg's Gamecity initiative announced on May 23, 2018 that the legendary adventure series Leisure Suit Larry is returning with a new entry, "Leisure Suit Larry – Wet Dreams Don't Dry." Event organizer and Assemble Entertainment founder Stefan Marcinek revealed the comeback at the GermanDevDays in Frankfurt, and the news is framed as a local success story for Hamburg's games ecosystem.

The classic 2D point-and-click adventure is being developed and produced by the Hamburg studio Crazybunch. Maurice Hagelstein, founder of Hamburg mobile developer Tiny Roar, serves as game designer and writer, while narrative designer and author Falko Löffler leads the story as head writer. Release is planned for Q4 2018 on Windows and Mac OS. Steam pre-orders were offered at 25.49 euros instead of 29.99 euros until October 23.

The story bridges Larry's late-1980s origins and the digital present. Larry lands in the 21st century and falls for Faith, assistant to the boss of the tech company Prune. To win her over, he must raise his score on the dating app Timber by dating women, with parodies of modern social media such as Instacrap appearing along the way. The premise highlights how dating has changed since the pre-internet computer era.

Series background is also provided: the first game, "Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards," was released in 1987 by US publisher Sierra On-Line, created by designer Al Lowe. Over three decades, 13 titles featuring the protagonist have appeared. The surrounding page also lists recent Gamecity Hamburg news on funding programs, events and local releases, though these are unrelated to the 2018 announcement.