Borrowed Time — somebody has put a contract on you Runs here
1985 · Interplay / Activision · System 6 · Mini vMac (Mac Plus) · 512×342 black and white
Guide updated September 2026
You are a private detective and somebody has decided you should stop being one. Borrowed Time opens with that already true — within a few moves of the start there are people in your office who mean it, and standing still is how you die.
That is the thing that separated it from other 1985 adventures. Most of them let you think as long as you liked. This one has hitmen who move while you are reading the room description, and the early game is largely about not being where they expect.
Opens on Interplay's splash: press 1 for the game, or 2 for the tutorial. The tutorial is worth five minutes.
Controls
| Type + Return | Commands, in the usual VERB NOUN form |
| ASK <person> ABOUT <thing> | Conversation, of which there is a lot |
| SAVE / RESTORE | Save inside the emulated Mac. You will need it. |
Activision published it and Interplay developed it; both still exist, neither has sold it in decades, and it is in no current product from either.
Archives
- Internet Archive — the Macintosh floppy this copy was made from.
How it works & what to expect
| Machine | Macintosh Plus, 512×342, black and white |
|---|---|
| System | The floppy's own — this disk carries the System it shipped with |
| Emulator | Mini vMac, compiled to WebAssembly |
| Saves | Inside the emulated Mac, in your browser |
It is a parser adventure with illustrations, and the parser is a good one for its year — it handles multiple objects and reasonably complex sentences, which Interplay had already got right in Mindshadow.
The pressure is real and so is the death. Save before you go anywhere new, because the game's idea of a consequence is frequently immediate.
Why it is remembered
It put a clock on an adventure game. Not a countdown — pursuers, who move on their own and catch up if you dawdle. That was close to unheard of in 1985 and it changes how the whole game feels.
The tone is committed. Interplay wrote it straight, in proper noir register, with none of the winking that most computer detective games of the period could not resist.
Interplay were learning in public. Mindshadow, Borrowed Time and Tass Times in Tonetown came out within about eighteen months of each other, and you can watch the studio get better across the three. This is the middle one and the most atmospheric.
Getting started
Run the tutorial first. It is short and it teaches the parser's habits, which is time you will otherwise lose to guessing verbs while someone shoots at you.
Leave the office early. Staying put is how the first several playthroughs end.
Talk to everyone you survive meeting. Borrowed Time is more conversation than object puzzle, and most of what you need comes out of asking the right person about the right name.
Questions people ask
Is there a time limit?
Not a countdown, but there are people actively hunting you who move whether or not you do. Standing still is fatal.
Is there a tutorial?
Yes — press 2 at the opening screen. It is short and worth running.
Can I save?
Yes, and you should, constantly. Saves live inside the emulated Macintosh in your browser.
Does it have graphics?
Yes, illustrations alongside the text, in black and white.
Who made it?
Interplay, published by Activision. It was one of Interplay's first games.
Is it related to Mindshadow?
Same studio, same engine lineage, different story. Mindshadow is also on this site.
Put Borrowed Time on your own site
Free, no permission needed and no account. Paste this where you want the machine to appear; it brings its own emulator and asks nothing of your page.
<iframe src="https://macemu.com/embed/borrowed-time/"
width="512" height="342"
style="border:0;max-width:100%"
allowfullscreen
title="Borrowed Time"></iframe>Sized to this title's real screen. How embedding works.
