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Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (1988)

Lucasfilm Games

Amiga · Atari ST/STE · Commodore C64/128/MAX · DOS · FM Towns · Linux · Mac · PC (Microsoft Windows)

3.54 from 69 ratings

321 members have it in their collection · 6 playing now · 135 backlogged · 30 wish listed

How long? Main story 5h · 100% 5h (from 2 logged playthroughs)

Zak McKracken is a tabloid reporter (and not a very good one at that). After having a psychedelic dream one day, Zak realizes that something is wrong -- space aliens are dumbifying the general public through the telephone system. Zak must stop this, but he can't do it alone. After finding a strange crystal, Zak manages to get the help … Read more
Zak McKracken is a tabloid reporter (and not a very good one at that). After having a psychedelic dream one day, Zak realizes that something is wrong -- space aliens are dumbifying the general public through the telephone system. Zak must stop this, but he can't do it alone. After finding a strange crystal, Zak manages to get the help of the anthropologist Annie and her friends, Melissa and Leslie. The four unlikely heroes must now figure out a way to destroy the dumbifying devices and save the Earth. Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders is a third-person puzzle-solving adventure similar in gameplay to Lucasfilm's breakthrough title Maniac Mansion. The player chooses verb commands (Open, Pick Up, Give, etc.; there are no Look or Talk commands) to interact with the game world. The game features up to four controllable protagonists; it is possible to switch between them at any time after they have been introduced, and also exchange inventory items if the characters are in the same location. The game can be described as a "globe-trotting" adventure, since the heroes are required to travel to different exotic countries and even leave the Earth for a while in order to complete it. Some of the puzzles are optional or can be solved in different ways. The FM Towns version has VGA graphics with 256 colors and higher-quality music and sound effects. Read less
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Details

Developers
Lucasfilm Games
Publishers
Fujitsu Interactive, Lucasfilm Games
Genres
Adventure, Point-and-click
Themes
Comedy, Science fiction
Steam
View on Steam

Release dates

  • Oct 1988 (North_America) Commodore C64/128/MAX
  • 1988 (North_America) Amiga, Atari ST/STE, DOS
  • Feb 01, 1991 (Japan) FM Towns
  • Mar 19, 2015 (Digital Compatibility Release) (Worldwide) Linux
  • Nov 16, 2018 (Worldwide) Mac, PC (Microsoft Windows)

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Featured in lists

LucasArts Point & Click Adventures by Sepix · 16 games · 3

Rating distribution

5 stars
11
4 stars
21
3 stars
32
2 stars
4
1 star
1
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Community All Reviews Statuses

Hazel_da_Basil

Status Hazel_da_Basil Aug 22, 2021

I consider myself to be pretty good at adventure games, but this one is hard.

The money Element is what really makes it difficult. It's hard to explore and make mistakes and come back because exploring costs money. So I find myself reloading old saves and doing things over and over again. SO I have enough money and don't get …

Read more

I consider myself to be pretty good at adventure games, but this one is hard.

The money Element is what really makes it difficult. It's hard to explore and make mistakes and come back because exploring costs money. So I find myself reloading old saves and doing things over and over again. SO I have enough money and don't get stuck in Cairo again. It's an interesting game, but with the money mechanic, and the game becoming unbeatable if say you stuff an egg into an artifact slot. The game can be quite punishing.

Read less
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