Description of Borrowed Time
One of the earliest and still the best murder mysteries ever made, Borrowed Time is a gripping story set in 1939. You play Sam Barlow, Private Eye, who must save his life from a death threat while investigating a case that has many twists and turns. Good writing, interface, and on-screen tutorial feature round off this forgotten classic in which you can die in many creative ways.
The puzzles are not hard, but the fact that you'll be shot dead for no apparent reason whatsover (until you restore numerous times to find out) really bog down what is otherwise a good gumshoe game.
Review By HOTUD
External links
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
Mika 2023-10-22 1 point DOS version
The Museum of Computer Adventure Game History has a pdf of the manual as well as the hintbook at https://mocagh.org/
Steve Hoyland 2021-08-16 2 points
I was always pretty good at text-based adventures - In fact I wrote a couple of my own In BASIC/Machine Code In the 1980's for AMSTRAD CPC 464/6128 and SPECTRUM 128/+2......but I've given up on this one after just half-an-hour of frustration! The keywords are rather unusual as well, with many of the more regular commands found In such games unavailable. Can anyone help this old guy get through the opener? I'd be very grateful, thanks!
TheSlimeGod 2016-01-26 4 points
I had this on either c64 or Apple IIe way back when .. and it seemed like a really great game that I desperately wanted to get into but yes, the constant death was tedious and I gave up. Plan on giving it another shot now to see if I can get through it 25 years later!
Mika 2014-07-09 2 points DOS version
Yeah I remember how the surprise death would always piss me off. It actually made me stop playing and trying to figure out the game. Although I suppose it _is_ called Borrowed Time hehe.
I also remember I had this game on a bootable floppy. It was such a mission to copy for my friends :-D
Justyn 2009-09-29 5 points DOS version
This game is basically a text adventure with graphics to look at as well. You can hide graphics too by pressing Enter. I didn't like how the game made you make correct decisions all the time. There is constantly bad guys chasing you where if you make a wrong move they catch you and you die, and you have to start over.
I like being able to explore in a game and look at every item and investigate as much as I can. This game will not let you do that too much. If you make just a few wrong moves, they catch you, and its game over..
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DOS Version
377 KBAmiga ROM
- Year: 1986
- Publisher: Activision, Inc.
- Developer: Interplay Productions, Inc.
Apple II Version
- Year: 1985
- Publisher: Activision, Inc.
- Developer: Interplay Productions, Inc.
Atari ST ROM
- Year: 1986
- Publisher: Activision, Inc.
- Developer: Interplay Productions, Inc.
Commodore 64 Version
- Year: 1985
- Publisher: Activision, Inc., Virgin Mastertronic Ltd.
- Developer: Interplay Productions, Inc.
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