ZAK MCKRACKEN AND THE ALIEN MINDBENDERS
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                                  Part 1
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                  STARTING OUT TIPS, AND GOING TO SEATTLE
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  Once again, it's up to you to save the world from a terrible fate -- rampant
stupidity! You, in this case, are Zak McKracken, ace reporter for the National
Inquisitor, the kind of tabloid you see around 7-11 check-out counters.
Eventually, you will gain allies in your quest, but for now I'm afraid that you
are on your own!
  First, a few basic hints. Whenever you enter a new room, click on the command
"WHAT IS" and sweep over the objects in the room with your cursor. Anything
that does not register cannot be manipulated by you. Now, just because it
registers doesn't mean it's important, but nine times out of ten it's there for
a reason. Second, I cannot overemphasize the importance of reading the articles
in the newspaper that comes with the game. It is chock full of clues, and
should be consulted regularly. Remember that there is a twisted logic at work
here, and there is often more than one way of solving a problem. And save
often, of course!
  When the game starts, you have just awakened from a strange dream in which
you saw a map. It occurs to you that you should make a copy of that map, so
that's one of your first priorities.
  You awake in your bedroom, so check that out first. There's a dresser, a
desk, a lamp, a telephone, and an answering machine. OPEN the dresser, then
PICK UP the phone bill. READ the phone bill. Then cross to the desk, and open
it. PICK UP the kazoo. Next to the desk there's a piece of the wall that looks
different from the rest. PICK UP the loose piece of wallpaper. Now, if you look
under the desk, you will notice an object resting there. When you try to PICK
UP your CashCard, however, you push it further under the desk. No problem. USE
the phone bill with the CashCard and it's yours. READ the CashCard. Seems like
a lot of money? It won't last. The only other thing in your bedroom of
importance is the fishbowl, but you don't need that yet, so let's move into the
living room. (If you want to, you can TURN ON your answering machine. It is not
necessary to the solution, but otherwise you won't get messages from your
mother. The phone works, by the way, but I never found any numbers to call.)
WALK to the door and you'll be in the living room.

  When you try to TURN ON the TV, you can't. There are two reasons why: First,
PICK UP the loose cushion. Aha! USE the plug with the power outlet on the wall.
But you still can't TURN ON the TV. If you do a "WHAT IS" on the TV, you will
notice an infrared sensor, so obviously you have to find the remote control. I
don't know about you, but whenever I can't find my remote control, I always
know where to look first. WALK to the couch and PICK UP the other cushion. Then
PICK UP the remote control you find underneath, WALK TO the TV, and USE the
remote control. Watch the TV to get more of an idea as to what's going on in
the world.
  You might as well TURN OFF the TV and WALK TO the kitchen. Under the sink
you'll find a cabinet. OPEN the cabinet and PICK UP the box of crayons. USE the
yellow crayon with the piece of wallpaper, and you'll have a map! Then OPEN the
refrigerator and PICK UP the egg. PICK UP the small key by the side of your
door, OPEN the door, and go out.
  When you get to the street level, go left to the French bakery. PUSH the
doorbell. When the man leaves, PUSH it again. Then, once again. PICK UP the
stale bread and WALK TO the door to the right of your stairs. OPEN the door and
go inside to TPC -- The Phone Company. Check out the representative and your
surroundings. They will become important later. For now, GIVE the phone bill to
the representative. Then PICK UP the application next to the counter (on the
far left), and USE the yellow crayon with the application. You can then go back
to your entryway, USE the small key with the mailbox, then USE the application
with the mailbox. CLOSE the mailbox. It's time to take a trip to Seattle to
cover a story about a two-headed squirrel!
  Continue to your right to the corner, where you'll find a bus and a sleeping
driver. USE the kazoo, which will wake him. WALK to the CashCard reader, and
USE the CashCard in the reader. And it's off to the airport!

  Oh no, one of those obnoxious shaven-headed devotees of some far-out Eastern
religion is trying to sell you a book! For once, give in. GIVE your CashCard to
the devotee. He will give you a book on enlightenment. Since you already have
your ticket, you can just WALK to the gate and the planes.
  Now there are three things you need on the plane, and the stewardess will
stop you from getting them, so you have to distract her for a sufficiently long
period of time to allow you to do what you need to do. This section should
delight the practical joker in all of us!
  WALK to the back of the plane, OPEN the door, and go into the toilet. CLOSE
the door. PICK UP the toilet paper, then USE the toilet paper with the sink.
TURN ON the faucet and PUSH the call button. OPEN the door and walk forward to
the front of the plane. (Ain't I a stinker?) On your way to the galley, PICK UP
the seat cushion from the seat in front of yours. You will notice something
fall out onto the floor when you do so. PICK UP the lighter. Then WALK to the
microwave oven in the galley. OPEN the microwave, USE the egg with the
microwave, CLOSE the microwave, and, finally, TURN ON the microwave. (This all
must be accomplished before the stewardess finishes cleaning up the head, so
you might want to save before you try it.) The resultant mess will gain the
stewardess's undivided attention for a while. As she is cleaning up after you,
OPEN all the overhead bins. In one, you will find an oxygen tank, which you can
PICK UP. While you're waiting to land, you can READ the book and the oxygen
tank for future reference.

  When you land in Seattle, WALK to the outside door and into the woods. PICK
UP the tree branch overhead. GIVE the peanuts you received as a "meal" on the
plane to the two-headed squirrel, then USE the tree branch on the loose dirt.
(Alternately, you can USE the butter knife from your apartment on the squirrel
but this will haunt you later in the game.) WALK to the cave entrance.
  Who turned out the lights? Well, TURN ON the lighter and use its glow to
check out the cave. Up and to your right is an abandoned bird's nest, and on
the floor is a fire pit. You can't reach the bird's nest yourself, so USE the
tree branch with the nest, USE the nest with the fire pit, then USE the branch
with the nest in the firepit, and USE the lighter on everything. And Lucasfilm
said "Let there be light!"
  On the far right wall of the cave is a door with some strange markings (and
they won't be the last!) READ the strange markings, then USE your yellow crayon
on the markings. This one time, the game will complete the picture for you, and
the door will open. Go inside.
  There is a machine holding a blue crystal, which you saw in your dream at the
beginning of the game. You need it, but it's locked in place. Fortunately, you
notice an infrared sensor on the machine that looks just like the one you've
got on your TV back home. Could it...nah! Well, might as well give it a shot.
USE the remote control. Presto!

  Now, take the blue crystal. The lights will go out, but you should be able to
find your way back to the cave with no problems. From there, return to the
airport, and USE the reservation machine to buy a ticket back to San Francisco.
It's time to get some help in your quest!