Borrowed Time (video game)

Subway Software

Industry	Video game development
Founder	Bill Kunkel
Parent	Interplay (development for Activision)

Borrowed Time is an interactive fiction title focused on a detective's mission to save his abducted former spouse. Created by Interplay and released by Activision in 1985, it was subsequently reissued as a budget release titled Time to Die by Mastertronic.

Plot

Penned by Arnie Katz and Bill Kunkel, this noir crime narrative unfolds in 1930s America. Players take on the role of private investigator Sam Harlow, who navigates the criminal underworld while striving to rescue his ex-wife, Rita Sweeney.

Gameplay

Borrowed Time merges text-based adventure elements with graphical components. Users interact through keyboard inputs or choose commands via joystick or mouse-driven menus, including navigation using cardinal directions. The gameplay centers on questioning suspects and gathering clues across various settings, with certain tasks limited by time constraints.

Development

Developed by Interplay for Activision under a $100,000 agreement encompassing three adventure games, Borrowed Time benefited from Interplay founder Brian Fargo’s expertise in the genre. Fargo co-created the parser engine featuring a vocabulary of 250 nouns and 200 verbs, enabling sophisticated command interpretation. This engine had been implemented in previous titles such as Mindshadow and The Tracer Sanction. The game's narrative and design were commissioned to Subway Software, established by game journalist Bill Kunkel, as Fargo aimed for superior writing quality beyond Interplay’s internal capabilities.

Reception

Info awarded Borrowed Time four stars out of five, describing it as "a significant advancement in 'interactive entertainment'" and commending its visuals, parser system, and wit. Ahoy! praised the complex storyline and "exceptionally well-crafted" writing, noting the graphics contained numerous charming details and recommending more comprehensive word menus for improvement. Compute! lauded Activision for producing a game that effectively embodied the spirit of classic hardboiled detective fiction. Charles Ardai of Computer Gaming World called it "an excellently cinematic graphic adventure," brief yet worthy of a follow-up installment. A German critic rated the game 82 out of 100, acknowledging its demanding plot, detailed artwork, and user-friendly gameplay.