Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders/Dead ends

There are a few mistakes the player can do, which will render him unable to possess a crucial item and/or completing the game. Such mistakes are:

Death of a character

Annie tells Zak that if any of them dies they will be unable to succeed. Not only each one can do stuff the other can't, but also cooperation is crucial, especially in the end. The only characters "allowed" to die are Melissa and Leslie, and only after Zak has acquired the White Crystal.

Depositing the yellow crayon in the 14th Avenue artifact slot before acquiring the Blue Crystal

If you go to the Society Of Ancient Wisdom and deposit the yellow crayon in the artifact slot there before Zak acquires the Blue Crystal, the game will be unwinnable. You cannot acquire the Blue Crystal without the yellow crayon, and you cannot meet Annie without acquiring and depositing the Blue Crystal, therefore preventing you from getting the yellow crayon back from her.

Losing the bread crumbs

You get bread crumbs when you shred the bread in your sink, but if you turn on the faucet right after, they will be washed away, and when you take the pipe they won't show up. Without them you won't be able to lure the bird and consequently get the scroll.

Burning the torn wallpaper and paying the phone bill

You need a piece of paper to draw the map in the sphinx, both the phone bill and or the torn wallpaper will work. The phone bill will disappear after you paid it. And the torn wallpaper can be burned in Seattle fire pit.

Burning away the nests in the Seattle cave

If both nests burn away before you have the time to draw the ankh and open the alien door to the Blue Crystal, the cave will fall again in darkness and Zak won't be able to draw the symbol, even by using the lighter. The game can't progress without the Blue Crystal.

Running out of money

Money is necessary to buy some crucial items and more importantly, move between locations. Running out causes Zak (or Annie) to be stuck in an airport unable to move on. If only one of the characters runs out of money, the other one can reach him/her, buy another ticket at that airport, give it to the broke character, who can then refund the ticket.

Running out of tokens

Melissa and/or Leslie can buy each one a token and travel to the Martian pyramid. The token dispenser of that side is out of order and they can't get back to the Face. The game will be brought to a dead end if they haven't finished all necessary tasks there.

Take off Mars too soon

There is an option to close the space-van and take it off. It will fly away towards Earth and there will be no way to turn around back to Mars (the van won't ever arrive to Earth during the game's time). The player can optionally attempt to take off only after the girls' mission has ended.

Ways to die are the following:

• Get caught twice trying to steal the flagpole. Life sentence in Nepal and game over.
• Fall from the Caponian spaceship in the ocean without opening the parachute.
• Bob too long in the sea (for about 3 minutes after falling)
• Asphyxiate yourself. There are several ways: take off your helmet on Mars, stay on Mars too long without refilling your helmet, wear the taped fishbowl without attaching the tank etc.
• Zak can die on Mars by not wearing his wet suit.
• Harass the Sphinx Guardian three times by entering his lair