Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 (1992): The Sequel That Undercut Its Own Pedigree
Legacy titleYear: 1992 · Developer/Publisher: Infocom · Designer: Steve Meretzsky · Platform: DOS · Theme: Science Fiction, Humorous
It’s a strange thing when a game’s rarity and its reputation point in opposite directions. Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 counts among the more sought-after Infocom-era releases, purely because it’s scarce — and yet its reception, going back to its own era, treats it as one of the weaker entries the label ever shipped. That contrast is worth sitting with, because the designer’s credentials aren’t in question. Steve Meretzsky built A Mind Forever Voyaging and the original Leather Goddesses of Phobos, two games with real staying power in Infocom’s catalog. This sequel doesn’t carry that weight.
Part of the disconnect comes down to what the game asks of you. You choose between three characters at the start: Zeke, Lydia, or Barth, an alien who’s crash-landed on Earth, and each path can be cleared in a matter of hours rather than the days a strong Infocom adventure usually demanded. Lydia’s route runs largely parallel to Zeke’s, just with the gender of on-screen encounters swapped, and Barth’s path is shorter still. There isn’t much illusion of replayability once you understand that the three paths are variations on a theme rather than genuinely distinct adventures.
The interface compounds the problem. Rather than the parser-driven puzzle-solving Infocom built its name on, Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 leans on a one-click-does-everything scheme, and it’s loose enough that a fair amount of the game can be cleared by clicking around the screen rather than actually reasoning through puzzles. That’s a real departure from the interactive-fiction tradition the Infocom name represented, and it’s arguably the biggest reason the game’s reputation never recovered: a puzzle game that can be brute-forced isn’t really a puzzle game anymore. The graphics, for what it’s worth, are genuinely good for the era and eat up a substantial chunk of disk space doing it; that part of the ambition wasn’t misplaced.
Where the game draws the sharpest criticism is its humor, which leans hard into adult content aimed at a narrower slice of the audience than Meretzsky’s other comedic work. His own Spellcasting series covered similarly juvenile ground around the same period and is generally remembered as more successful at it, sophomoric on purpose but still built around puzzles that required real thought to solve. Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 doesn’t clear that bar as consistently. Whether that’s a case of a designer chasing a specific audience too narrowly, or a sequel rushed out to capitalize on a beloved original’s name, isn’t something the surviving record settles one way or the other.
It’s worth being fair about what the game gets right even inside that criticism. The three-character structure was a reasonable idea on paper, offering players a genuine choice of perspective rather than a single fixed protagonist, and the underlying tone, broad and unsubtle as it is, stays consistent with the original Leather Goddesses of Phobos rather than pretending to be something more serious. The failure is one of execution and depth, not of the basic premise being a mistake from the start.
How to run it today
The DOS release runs without complications in DOSBox on any current Windows, macOS, or Linux system. Mount the game directory and run it directly. The one-click interface and period graphics behave as originally designed, with no source port required.
Compatibility: DOS (via DOSBox) · Controls: Mouse-driven, one-click interface · Setup difficulty: Low
Legal status
Infocom’s brand has had a real commercial afterlife: several of its classic titles are currently sold together on modern digital storefronts. Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 has never been part of that lineup, though, and no confirmed current channel sells this specific release, which is why it’s marked legacy rather than currently available.
If you liked this, try
Superhero League of Hoboken, also documented in this collection, is a far better showcase of Steve Meretzsky’s comedic writing, built by Legend Entertainment with sharper puzzles behind the jokes. Spellcasting 301, from the same designer, is worth seeking out too if you want more of his humor done well.
Frequently asked questions
Who designed Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2?
Steve Meretzky, the same designer behind Infocom's A Mind Forever Voyaging and the original Leather Goddesses of Phobos.
Is Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 as good as the original?
By most accounts, no. Its reputation is closer to a cautionary tale — a much shorter, shallower game that traded the first title's clever puzzles for a simplified interface and narrower humor.
How many playable characters does the game have?
Three: Zeke, Lydia, or Barth, an alien who crash-landed on Earth. Each path can be finished in a few hours, and Barth's route is the shortest of the three.
How does the game's interface work?
It uses a simplified one-click system rather than a traditional text parser, which some players found made the game too easy to brute-force by clicking around the screen.
Is Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 currently sold anywhere?
No. Infocom's brand has continued through other titles on modern storefronts, but this specific 1992 release has never been part of that lineup.