Sierra On-Line was the video game company that taught an entire generation two valuable lessons: 1) save early, and 2) save often, because you were probably about to die from looking at a squirrel the wrong way.

This was the house that built adventure gaming — a magical kingdom of pixelated peril where typing “open door” could lead to either a romantic subplot or instant death by snake. Sierra games didn’t just test your puzzle-solving skills; they tested your patience, your spelling, and your ability to recover emotionally from being eaten by a troll again.

The company’s founders, Ken and Roberta Williams, basically invented “clicking things until something happens” — a noble art form that would later become the backbone of modern productivity software. Their titles like King’s Quest, Space Quest, and Leisure Suit Larry gave players everything from fairy-tale heroism to intergalactic janitorial work to… whatever Larry was doing.

Sierra On-Line wasn’t just a game publisher — it was a digital boot camp that toughened gamers for life. You didn’t just play Sierra games. You survived them.