Zak McKracken Goes Looking for Hot Coffee (in Several Wrong Places) is a free, fan-made adventure that sits between two other Zak games. It’s a sequel to LucasArts’ 1988 cult classic Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, and a prequel to the fan sequel Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space. You tag along with Zak, the tabloid reporter who has a habit of stumbling into the strangest stories, and the game opens with a nod to the original’s famous dream sequence.
It’s the work of one person, Ingo Eisenhard, who goes by Ogni-XR21 online. He was part of the team behind Between Time and Space and worked on its animations from 2005 to 2008. Years later, he started a small test project in the Visionaire engine using assets from that game’s upcoming Director’s Cut. One screen grew into several scenes, then a scripted intro, then a prequel story. He posted a work-in-progress thread asking for help, and eventually finished the job himself after about eight years.
The game appeared on itch.io in December 2019, with version 1.1 on December 25 fixing bugs and adding an alternative puzzle. Visionaire’s own news page announced it in January 2020.
Wondering how a one-person Zak project compares with the rest? See where it fits in our best free point-and-click adventure games list.
Is Zak McKracken Goes Looking for Hot Coffee Free?
Yes. It’s a free download, with no price and no microtransactions. It’s also an unofficial fan project based on LucasArts’ Zak McKracken, so it has never been sold and isn’t an official release.
Gameplay & Features
It’s a classic 2D point-and-click adventure played entirely with the mouse. It remixes locations from Between Time and Space and adds several new ones made just for this game, plus new animations and puzzles. Plan on a few hours of play. As a one-person labor of love, it doesn’t aim for the scale of the team-built sequel.
- Hand-drawn 2D scenes in the style of the LucasArts adventures that inspired it.
- New puzzles and animations, with an alternative puzzle added in version 1.1.
- English and German language options.
- A sticky “Stuck in the game?” thread on the itch.io community page, where players swap hints.
Start with Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space if you haven’t played it, since this game remixes its locations. Maniac Mansion Deluxe and Flight of the Amazon Queen carry the same LucasArts-style humor, and Space Quest: Vohaul Strikes Back is another substantial fan sequel.
PC System Requirements
There are no official system requirements. This is a 2D Visionaire game, and the main thing to plan for is disk space, because the download is nearly a gigabyte.
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows | Windows 10 or 11 |
| Processor | Not published | Any modern CPU |
| Memory | Not published | Any modern PC |
| Graphics | Not published | Any modern GPU |
| Storage | About 1 GB | About 1 GB |
The download is a Windows executable. Mac players have asked about a Mac version in the itch.io community, but no Mac download is listed.
How to Download & Play Zak McKracken Goes Looking for Hot Coffee for Free
The game isn’t on Steam, GOG or Epic. The developer’s itch.io page is the official source, and it’s free to download. If you want to double-check other sources, our guide to safe free PC game download sites explains what to look for.
- Go to the official page and download Zak McKracken Goes Looking for Hot Coffee free from itch.io.
- Download the 7z file, which is about 960 MB. Check your free space first.
- Extract it with a tool such as 7-Zip, a free download from 7-zip.org, as the developer recommends.
- Run the EXE file. You can switch between windowed and fullscreen in the config.ini file.
Want to play the game that started it all? The 1988 original, Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, is a paid, DRM-free download on GOG.
FAQ
Is Zak McKracken Goes Looking for Hot Coffee official?
No. It’s an unofficial fan project based on LucasArts’ Zak McKracken, and it’s given away free.
Do I need to play the other Zak games first?
No. It stands on its own, but it’s a prequel to Between Time and Space and remixes its locations, so that game makes a good companion.
Will my saved games survive an update?
Not necessarily. The developer warns that new versions may cause problems with old save files.
I can’t install it through the itch.io app. What now?
At least one player reported that installing through the itch.io app failed. Download the 7z file directly from the game’s page instead.
