Leather Goddesses of Phobos
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''Leather Goddesses of Phobos'' is an
interactive fiction '' Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
written by
Steve Meretzky Steven Eric Meretzky (born May 1, 1957)
''Infocom''. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
is an American
and published by
Infocom Infocom was an American software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced a business application, a relational database called ''Cornerstone (software), Cornerstone''. ...
in 1986. It was released for the
Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...
,
Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sin ...
,
Amstrad PCW The Amstrad PCW series is a range of personal computers produced by British company Amstrad from 1985 to 1998, and also sold under licence in Europe as the "Joyce" by the German electronics company Schneider in the early years of the series' life. ...
,
Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...
,
Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...
,
Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...
,
Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...
,
Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...
,
TI-99/4A The TI-99/4 and TI-99/4A are home computers released by Texas Instruments in 1979 and 1981, respectively. Based on the Texas Instruments TMS9900 microprocessor originally used in minicomputers, the TI-99/4 was the first 16-bit home computer. ...
and
MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...
. The game was Infocom's first "sex farce", including selectable gender and "naughtiness"—the latter ranging from "tame" to "lewd". It was one of five top-selling Infocom titles to be re-released in Solid Gold versions. It was Infocom's twenty-first game.


Gameplay

To start the game a gender must be chosen and the player will get a sidekick character. If the player's character is male, he will meet a burly but dim-witted man named Trent; if the player's character is female, she will find an attractive but somewhat ditzy woman named Tiffany. There are differences in game-play between the two sexes. ''Leather Goddesses of Phobos'' bore a difficulty rating of "Standard". The game has 75 locations, including the maze known as the catacombs, the planets Mars and Venus (which must be explored extensively), outer space, and the city of Cleveland, which is a single location with one building and two exits.


Plot

The game begins in
Upper Sandusky, Ohio Upper Sandusky is a city and the county seat of Wyandot County, Ohio, Wyandot County, Ohio, United States, along the upper Sandusky River, which flows north to Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie. The city is approximately 59 mi (96 km) south of ...
, in 1936 and is presented in the manner of a
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
serial of that time. In the story, the Leather Goddesses of Phobos are just finalizing their plans for the invasion of Earth. The player's character had been abducted by the Leather Goddesses for the final testing of the plan which would enslave all of humanity. Unless this nefarious plan is stopped, the Earth is turned into a twisted sexual pleasure dome.


Development

A few months after Infocom moved into its
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
offices, Meretzky jokingly wrote the words "Leather Goddesses of Phobos" on a large chalkboard that listed all of the Infocom games that were in release at that point. Meretzky described the title as "something that would be a little embarrassing, but not awful."
Joel Berez Infocom was an American software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced a business application, a relational database called ''Cornerstone''. Infocom was founded o ...
spotted the added line before anyone else arrived and erased it quickly, but the name stuck and was jokingly brought up whenever a non-existent game title needed to be worked into a sentence. Eventually, in 1985, Meretzky came around to the idea of actually creating a game under this title, and started its development as a 1930s
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
pulp story – the idea was instantly accepted by
Marc Blank Marc Blank is an American game developer and software engineer. He is best known as part of the team that created one of the first commercially successful text adventure computer games, ''Zork''. Career Blank first encountered Don Woods and Will ...
and the other Infocom staff. Upper management was more difficult to convince, and then-CEO Al Vezza (who was more interested in the business side of the company) was not enthused with the idea. However, when Infocom was acquired by
Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
in 1986 due to the bankrupted business products effort, Activision president
Jim Levy Jim Levy was a music industry executive before he became the founding chief executive officer for Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing busin ...
was much more excited: when told that "Leather Goddesses of Phobos" was not its definitive title, he allegedly responded with "I wouldn't call it anything else!" Infocom marketing director Mike Dornbrook referred to ''Leather Goddesses of Phobos'' as "''
Hitchhiker's Guide ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comic science fiction, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally The Hitchhiker's Guide to th ...
'' with sex." In The Status Line (formerly The New Zork Times), Infocom's official newsletter,
Steve Meretzky Steven Eric Meretzky (born May 1, 1957)
''Infocom''. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
is an American
stated that the title ''Leather Goddesses of Phobos'' was conceived more than four years before the game was released. He also cites "pulpy
space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and soci ...
" as an inspiration for ''Leather Goddesses'', and expresses that a lack of controversial response to ''
A Mind Forever Voyaging ''A Mind Forever Voyaging'' (''AMFV'') is a 1985 interactive fiction game designed and implemented by Steve Meretzky and published by Infocom. It is Infocom's seventeenth game. The game was intended as a Polemic, polemical critique of Ronald Reag ...
'' was another reason for ''Leather Goddess conception, stating that "I was hoping that 'A Mind Forever Voyaging''would stir up a lot of controversy. It didnt ... So I decided to write something with a little bit of sex in it, because ''nothing'' generates controversy like sex. I'm hoping to get the game banned from Seven-Eleven stores." Meretzky states that the "naughtiness" levels were based on the film rating system, with tame, suggestive, and lewd corresponding to G, PG, and R respectively.


Release

The game was not
copy protected Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention and copy restriction, describes measures to enforce copyright by preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media. Copy protection is most commonly found on ...
, but included puzzles that relied on the accompanying documentation and physical items in the package: #A small
scratch and sniff Scratch and sniff technology generally refers to stickers or paperboard items that have been treated with a fragrant coating. When scratched, the coating releases an odor that is normally related to the image displayed under the coating. The tec ...
card which bore seven numbered areas (at certain points in the game, the player would be instructed to scratch a certain number and then whiff the resulting odor. Given the possibilities for a game featuring a "lewd mode", the scents were relatively innocuous, such as pizza and chocolate). #''The Adventures of Lane Mastodon'', a 3-D
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
containing vital hints to the game. #3D glasses for the comic book. #A double-sided map of the catacombs. This take on copy protection earned ''Leather Goddesses'' a Codie award for ''Best Software Packaging'' in 1987.


Reception

''Leather Goddesses of Phobos'' was Infocom's best-selling game in 1986 with 53,543 copies sold, more than 50% greater than that of ''
Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
'', which also debuted that year. The company sold a total of about 130,000 copies, three times as many as any other game after
Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
bought them. The game was Infocom's last to sell more than 100,000 copies, and its sixth best-selling game overall. ''
Macworld ''Macworld'' is a website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG Inc. It started life as a print magazine in 1984 and had the largest audited circulation (both total and newsstand) of Macint ...
'' reviewed the Macintosh version of ''Leather Goddesses of Phobos'', calling it "an excellent
xample Gavin Harris, better known as Xample, is a British drum and bass producer and DJ, who originates from Bristol, England. He has been releasing records since 2003. In June 2007, he scored a number 1 on the UK Dance Chart with his track " Lowdown ...
of text-only interactive fiction." ''Macworld'' expresses that ''Leather Goddesses'' has "respect for female players ... ''Leather Goddesses'' is neither sexist nor truly offensive. Its humor punctures the pretensions of the fantasy adventure genre." ''Macworld'' praises the gameplay, stating that it has "inventive plots and puzzles" and "consistency of mood and attitude". ''Macworld'' criticizes the inability to scroll back to previously seen text. ''
.Info The domain name info is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. The name is derived from ''information'', although registration requirements do not prescribe any particular purpose. The TLD ''info'' wa ...
'' in 1987 gave the Commodore 64 version four stars out of five, describing it as "fun to play, though Infocom has produced more challenging standard-level text adventures ... a lot of giggles in this one". The magazine assured readers they would not be offended by the game, as even its lewdest "naughtiness" level is relatively tame. In 1988,
Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...
named ''Leather Goddesses of Phobos'' one of his favorite computer games, stating "I'd like to meet whoever wrote that. I just don't know what asylum to go to".


Legacy

A sequel to ''Leather Goddesses of Phobos'', subtitled '' Gas Pump Girls Meet the Pulsating Inconvenience from Planet X!'', was published by
Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
in 1992. In the 2015 film '' The Martian'' starring
Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Americ ...
, ''Leather Goddesses of Phobos'' was referenced as being loaded on fellow astronaut Beth Johanssen's laptop alongside ''
Zork II ''Zork'' is a text-based adventure game first released in 1977 by developers Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling for the PDP-10 mainframe computer. The original developers and others, as the company Infocom, expanded an ...
''.
Sierra Online Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game genre ...
parodied the game as ''Space Quest X: Latex Babes of Estros'' in their graphical adventure ''
Space Quest IV ''Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers'' is a 1991 graphic adventure game by Sierra On-Line. It was released on floppy disks on March 4, 1991, and released on CD-ROM in December 1992 with full speech support and featuring ''Laugh-In'' ...
''.


References


External links


Invisiclues



Computer Chronicles: games



Infocom Cabinet
* {{Infocom games 1980s interactive fiction 1986 video games Adventure games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Amstrad PCW games Apple II games Atari 8-bit family games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games DOS games Erotic video games Infocom games Classic Mac OS games Fiction set on Phobos (moon) Science fiction video games Steve Meretzky games TI-99/4A games Video games adapted into comics Video games developed in the United States Video games featuring protagonists of selectable gender Video games set in Ohio