External Links


Story File
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.

Have you played this game?

You can rate this game, record that you've played it, or put it on your wish list after you log in.

Playlists and Wishlists

RSS Feeds

New member reviews
Updates to external links
All updates to this page

Make It Good

by Jon Ingold

Mystery
2009

Web Site

About the Story

The call comes through. Of all the dicks; you get the call, sitting in the front seat of your car, hands shaking on the steering wheel. An urgent call; but all you were thinking of was the bottle in the liquor store and so that's where you went first.

Now you're pulled up outside the house. The rear mirror's showing two steely eyes. You adjust your hat, stiffen up your collar and grab your badge off the dash. Here goes. You've one last chance so...

MAKE IT GOOD
An Interactive Detective Story, by Jon Ingold


Game Details

Off-Site Reviews

Play This Thing!
Darkest Noir
Make It Good is a dark detective mystery from Jon Ingold: there's been a murder, and everyone who was in the house at the time is a suspect. The protagonist is a cop whose drinking career has all but eclipsed his career on the force. His sidekick doesn't bother to conceal his contempt at having to serve such a useless master.

On this description, Make It Good looks like a classic style of interactive fiction, in the tradition of Infocom's Deadline and Witness. Those early commercial mysteries involved some of Infocom's most innovative character work: the non-player characters in Deadline give a strong impression of independent purpose as they move about on their own schedules.

Make It Good improves on this tradition.
See the full review

SPAG
Make it Good is a game whose red herrings are more fascinating than many other games’ primary plotlines. The reward is high for persistence and attention to detail so long as one enters with the necessary experimental spirit, per a scientist with a labful of mice and an evolving hypothesis... or a troopful of lemmings and a malleable landscape.

Mr. Ingold has created a well-written, cleverly designed, technically proficient, devilishly hard work which, by dint of sheer over-arching competence, participates in the ever-rising standard of expectations for top-tier IF. Yes, he’s gone and made it harder for everyone else.
See the full review

Jay Is Games

Make It Good is a superb piece of interactive fiction on many levels. It manages to create a world that seems so alive, so independent of you, the player, that if you never bothered to play, no one would seem to mind. Each non-player character moves about the house on their own, has their own motives, their own knowledge of the situation.
See the full review

Gaming Enthusiast
I’ve always had a soft spot for a noir detective stories but even if you don’t, Make It Good by Jon Ingold from 2009 may perhaps change your attitude.
See the full review

Page Update History

  v.18: 10-Jul-2023 19:13 - Jonathan Van Matre (Current Version) - Edit Page - Normal View
Changed IFIDs
v.17: 18-Jul-2022 07:03 - Fredrik Ramsberg
Changed download links
v.16: 12-Jul-2022 17:59 - David Kinder
Changed download links
v.15: 12-Apr-2022 17:00 - Anthony Hope
Changed external review links
v.14: 10-Dec-2020 12:21 - Lance Campbell
Changed download links
v.13: 07-Dec-2019 11:33 - cas
Changed IFIDs
v.12: 22-Nov-2015 05:35 - Leaden
Changed IFIDs
v.11: 21-Sep-2013 05:49 - Edward Lacey
Changed external review links
v.10: 20-Jun-2010 05:40 - Carlo
Changed version number
v.9: 26-Sep-2009 12:31 - Carlo
Changed version number
v.8: 16-Sep-2009 17:38 - Emily Short
Changed external review links
v.7: 06-Aug-2009 07:24 - jingold
Changed download links, external review links
v.6: 06-Aug-2009 07:22 - jingold
Changed download links, external review links
v.5: 01-Jun-2009 16:01 - Dave Chapeskie
Changed download links
v.4: 22-May-2009 15:38 - jingold
Changed version number
v.3: 11-May-2009 12:38 - Michael R. Bacon
Changed version number, external review links
v.2: 13-Apr-2009 15:56 - jingold
Changed cover art
v.1: 13-Apr-2009 09:35 - jingold
Created page