31 years later, famously awful FMV game returns to PC

Back in the early 1990s, the world wide web and the CD ROM opened up home computing to people around the globe. These technologies brought greater connection between cultures, encouraged the free spread of information, and represented a new possibility space for artistic expression. They also gave us Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties, one of the worst games ever made and a dismal example of the live video focused FMV genre made famous by Ripper, the Tex Murphy series, The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery, Phantasmagoria, and more. Now, 31 years after it stumbled onto the 3DO and Windows for the first time, Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties is back, launching today on GOG in its Definitive Edition.

Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties is technically an FMV game, but it’s notable in part for playing out more like a slideshow visual novel than an interactive movie. It’s also notable for its clumsy attempt at offering up a playable romantic comedy, instead creating a tonally bizarre B-movie that has to be seen to be believed.

The new Definitive Edition from GOG and Limited Run Games not only makes an infamous game accessible on modern hardware—its original PC version was never widely distributed—but also offers up extra features. The new version allows players to swap between restored 4K images and their original form, save their progress throughout the game, peruse an asset gallery, watch a documentary, and even play a specially made dungeon crawler.

If you want to pick up a copy of Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties: Definitive Edition, it’s available with a 15% discount ($16.99 USD / £13.39) until Monday July 22 on GOG. Grab a copy right here.

Or, if you’d prefer to spend your time differently, take a look at our top adventure games and old games on PC instead.

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