Suspect — you did not do it and everyone thinks you did Runs here
1984 · Infocom · System 6 · Mini vMac (Mac Plus) · 512×342 black and white
Guide updated September 2026
It is Halloween night at a Maryland horse farm, you are a journalist in a ridiculous cowboy costume, and within the hour you will be the prime suspect in a murder you did not commit. The police arrive on a timer and the only way out is to hand them someone else, with evidence.
Suspect is the third and best-structured of Infocom's mysteries. Deadline gave you a police badge and Duffy to run errands; here you have no authority at all, and everything you do looks worse the longer you are at large.
Boots straight into the game. You start near the bar at 9:00 pm, before anything has happened.
Controls
| Type + Return | Everything. This is a parser game. |
| ASK <person> ABOUT <thing> | The interrogation verb — you have no authority, so ask nicely |
| FOLLOW <person> | Shadow someone through the house |
| SAVE / RESTORE | Save inside the emulated Mac. Essential. |
Activision owns Infocom's catalogue and still exists. Suspect has not been sold since Classic Text Adventure Masterpieces went out of print in the late 1990s and is part of no current product.
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 |
| Release | 14 / serial 841005 |
| Saves | SAVE writes inside the emulated Mac, in your browser |
The guests move on their own schedules through a large house, whether or not you are watching. Following someone is a legitimate and often necessary tactic, and so is waiting in a room to see who arrives.
The clock is tight and the police do not negotiate. Expect to lose several times while you learn where everybody goes.
Why it is remembered
You are the suspect, not the detective. Inverting the role changes everything: you cannot demand answers, you cannot order a lab test, and being found somewhere you should not be actively harms you. It is a much better use of the mystery format than the two games before it.
The cast has its own evening. Everyone is going somewhere and doing something on a schedule. The mystery is assembled from what you happen to witness, and two playthroughs can look quite different.
Dave Lebling wrote it. Co-author of Zork, and the person who also wrote Suspended and Spellbreaker; Suspect is his tightest piece of construction.
Getting started
Spend the first few minutes meeting people and learning the house before anything happens. When the clock starts mattering you will not have time to explore.
Follow people. Much of the evidence is something you see someone do rather than something you find lying about.
Save constantly and in several slots. The police arriving is a hard ending, and the run you want to keep is usually the one two moves before you realised what was going on.
Questions people ask
Do I need to play Deadline or The Witness first?
No. All three are standalone. Suspect is the most tightly designed of them.
Is there a time limit?
Yes, and it is strict. The police arrive whether or not you have a case.
Are the feelies included?
No. The invitation and newspaper clippings were physical items in the box.
Can I save?
Yes. Type SAVE. Saves live inside the emulated Macintosh in your browser, and you will want several.
Can I be arrested?
Yes, and that is a real ending rather than an error. It is also the most common first result.
Who wrote it?
Dave Lebling, co-author of the original Zork.
