In order to earn votes, you can't just get your partygoers a drink and expect everything to work out. You need to really satisfy these people, and usually that means listening to them and getting them what they want. You're probably going to need to get a little creative on your end. Control Zee with your mouse, and click an item to pick it up. If you need to use that item, click on it in your inventory and move it to what you want to use it on. Need to combine two items? Drag the items to the two slots in the upper right corner and hit the "+" button. That's all you need to know to have a successful party. Well, that, and figure out whatever is going on with that machine... you don't suppose... aliens are actually... ?... Naaaaaaah! That's crazy talk.
Analysis: Just as we've come to expect from Jay Ziebarth ("Zeebarf") and Steve Castro, Zee and the Alien Machine looks and plays great. Zeebarf has mastered his distinctive artistic style; you can always look at a game and tell when it's his, but you can also notice the slight differences that compliment the tone and setting of each game. This is a comparatively mundane scenario from a guy who has made games about a bounty hunter in a society that relies heavily on favors and another that features an exterminator in a fantasy setting, but while you won't be seeing a lot of strange things, the art still draws you in. The ordinary setting and situation works, and Zeebarf is good about sprinkling in the more fantastic elements while you're trying to host a successful party.
There aren't a lot of what you might think of as traditional point-and-click puzzles. The game isn't very challenging, but you won't be able to breeze through it without putting some thought into it. Zee and the Alien Machine also feels shorter than Zeebarf's other offerings, but he experiments with some gimmicks to make up for it, like some randomized elements and multiple endings to give you some replay value. If you just want to see the different endings you can restart from the moment you made a particular decision, and the brevity makes it easier to replay.
Zee and the Alien Machine is fun and looks great. It won't take you long to complete, but it's very enjoyable while it lasts. It's imaginative, funny and effective, and is definitely going on my short list of the types of parties I love. (Somewhere between "Beach Blanket Bingo Party" and "Pajama Party".) If you're a fan of Clickshake's work, this is one party you'll definitely want to attend. Just remember to keep your eye on the sky while you do it. Do-DO-do-do-DO-doooooooooo....
Walkthrough Guide
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Zee and the Alien Machine Walkthrough
General Information
Your goal is to make sure your guests have a good time and to keep your roommate's alien machine in good working order. To do so, point and click to gather items. Items can be given to party guests or used on objects in the room by dragging them from the inventory.
Your inventory is infinitely large. Use the triangle buttons on either side of the inventory to scroll.
At the top of the screen to the right of the inventory is a workspace for combining items. Drag each item into one of the circles and click the plus sign to combine them.
Each party guest requires a particular drink and a particular action or item in order to be happy and vote for you. After you've made each guest happy, you must click on them again and talk to them to confirm you have their vote.
Main Walkthrough
Any of the actions to do with giving drinks or food to guests can be done in any order. The actions to make each guest happy, therefore, are given in their own section. Occasionally Alex's machine will make noise, and you will be unable to do anything else until you quiet the machine. All actions having to do with Alex's machine or Alex himself are in their own section of the walkthrough.
Alex's Machine
Unlocking Alex's room
Twice during the game, Alex's machine will start ringing an alarm. You need to find a way into Alex's room to quiet the machine.
In the upper right cabinet above the sink in the kitchen, there are several items you can pick up, including a paper clip. The paperclip is hard to see, but keep taking items from the cabinet until you have it in your inventory.
Walk to Alex's door and drag the paperclip to the door to open it. Once the room is unlocked, you won't have to unlock it again.
Click on Alex's computer to make the noise stop.
Replacement Hot Dog
Take the Raw Ground Pork from the refrigerator.
Take the Deflated Balloon off the wilted plant in Zee's room.
Combine the balloon and pork. Place the fake hotdog on the antenna on the machine in Alex's room.
Refueling Alex's Machine
Take the Towel from the bottom drawer in the kitchen.
Make sure Richard is happy and dancing. Then use the towel on him to absorb his patchouli scented sweat.
Use the soaked towel on the machine to refuel it.
Making Guests Happy
Jim
Jim wants a ginger ale with rye to drink.
Jim wants to be able to stay awake to have a good time. Mix him an energy drink with rye to get his vote.
Cindy
Cindy wants an energy drink with your strongest shot. No matter whether you give her rum, rye, or vodka, she will think it is not strong enough.
In the cabinet under the stereo is a bottle of Larberkliester. Mix it with an energy drink and give it to Cindy.
Cindy also wants dance music.
Take the mp3 player from next to the computer in Zee's room. It has rock music, not dance music.
Connect it to Alex's computer -- drag the mp3 player to the USB cable on Alex's desk -- and it will download dance music. Now put the mp3 player on the stereo. Talk to Cindy to get her vote.
Barb
Barb initially wants to drink orange juice.
Barb says she's not having a good time. Give her an orange juice and vodka to make her happy.
Lenny
Lenny asks for a beer but then says he won't get drunk unless he has a beer cocktail. Mix beer with vodka to get him drunk.
Lenny wants to listen to heavy metal to be happy, but the heavy metal CD in Alex's room is scratched.
Pick up some noisy metal gears from Alex's dresser and give them to Lenny to make him happy.
Phil
Phil wants a vodka and orange juice.
Phil also wants a pig in a blanket to be happy.
Take the hot dog from the antenna on Alex's machine. Take a can of puff pastry from the fridge. Combine the two. Take the baking tray from the cabinet under the sink. Combine it with the uncooked pig in a blanket. Put the uncooked pig in a blanket tray in the oven. Click the controls to turn the oven on.
Open the top drawer next to the oven. Take the oven mitts.
Open the oven and use the oven mitts to take the pig in a blanket. Give it to Phil to get his vote.
Richard
Richard wants a rum and cola to drink.
Richard wants the female party guests to be happy before he will be happy. Make Barb and Cindy happy, then talk to Richard again.
Now that Richard is dancing with the ladies, he needs cologne.
Take the Empty Cologne Bottle from the dresser in Zee's room and the Patchouli Oil from the dresser in Alex's room and combine them. Squirt Richard with the cologne.
Finding the Aliens
Alex will remotely unlock the safe under his desk. Go in his room and take the Hammer
Use the hammer on the emergency kit above Alex's dresser and take the rotting egg and the squirt gun.
Use the rotting egg on the microwave, then talk to each of the guests.
Two the guests will be potential aliens. Each time you play the game, a different two guests will be the candidates. Alex will tell you to make the guests barf.
Go into the bathroom and look in the cabinet behind the mirror. Take the Ipecac Syrup
Use the Ipecac syrup on either guest who isn't repulsed by the rotten egg smell.
Go into Alex's room and use the hammer on the loose nail holding up his poster. Click the peephole.
The first guest you give ipecac to isn't the culprit. Use the ipecac on the second guest who wasn't grossed out by the rotten egg.
Go back into Alex's room and look through the peephole again. Alex will text you and tell you get some chocolate milk.
Take a chocolate drop from the table with snacks in the main room. Take the milk from the fridge. Combine them.
Combine the chocolate milk with the squirt gun.
Go into the bathroom and talk to the alien.
Four endings
Brain for Politics
Let the alien go without shooting at it.
Compromising Situations
Use the squirt gun on the alien, talk to him or her, then let it go without shooting it again.
A Star is Born
Use the squirt gun on the alien, talk to him or her, then click it again to kill the alien.
Party Massacre
After playing once, click on Main Menu, then select Replay with a Different Alien from the main menu. This will start you back at the putting the egg in the microwave stage. Keep replaying, and killing the alien at the end, until you've killed all six party guests. Remember, the first guest you give ipecac to will turn out not to be the alien, so you have some choice in who you kill.
Achievements
Drunken Master
Give everyone two of their favorite drinks (ie, give Barb two vodka oranges, give Lenny two beer cocktails, etc).
Cabinet Cleaner
Take the Sleeve of Cookies, Jellybeans, Baggie of Cheesie Sticks, and Half Eaten Bag of Chips from the cabinet above the sink. Give all of them to Phil.
Courteous Host
Click on the toilet lid twice to put the seat and lid down.
Zeebarf
Mix two drinks, then use the drinks on Zee to get him to drink them.
Leave the kitchen and do something else. Come back and give Zee another drink.
Posted by: MmeTurbulence | March 25, 2011 5:01 PM