They say they're protecting us, but from what?

Who do they think they are, keeping us behind these walls?

I gotta get out!




a game by

Scott Slucher


with music by

Robin Burgess





Controls

Zak can be played with Keyboard or a Gamepad.


Keyboard

Move: Left/Right, A/D

Jump: Up, W, Space

Attack: Z, K

Pause: Escape, P

Restart Level: R

Erase Save: hold Delete or Backspace for 5 seconds


Gamepad

Move: Left Control Stick

Jump: A, Y, Left Bumper

Attack: B, X, Right Bumper

Pause: Start

Restart Level: Select




If you want to support games like this, consider buying Zak DX, the standalone version! It's just a buck, and I've included a number of special features:

  • Screen Mode settings: Customize the way the game is rendered, even disabling the pixelation altogether if you want.
  • Cheats: Godmode, infini-jump, even guns!

In addition, you'll also get these Bonus files:

  • Music files! The FamiTracker project files for the finished soundtrack, plus a few from earlier in development!
  • Level files! The Tiled maps for every level in the game!
  • The original prototype for Zak, made in just a week!
StatusReleased
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux, HTML5
Rating
Rated 4.4 out of 5 stars
(66 total ratings)
AuthorsScott Slucher, RBurgess
GenrePlatformer
Made withUnity
Tags2D, pixel, Short, Side Scroller
Average sessionA few minutes
InputsKeyboard, Xbox controller, Gamepad (any)

Purchase

Buy Now$1.00 USD or more

In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $1 USD. You will get access to the following files:

zak-osx.zip 36 MB
Version 2
zak-linux.zip 35 MB
Version 2
zak-windows.zip 30 MB
Version 5

Comments

Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.

Love it. can't wait for Zak 2. 

(+1)

Rad. Super fun quick game with a great soundtrack

great game

(+1)

you should create another game like this

Heeeck yea nice game man 

(2 edits) (+4)

Do you like smashing rats with a pipe?  What about bats with a pipe?  I sure do, that is why this is the game for folks like me!  Those little bastard rats are fast and thought they were slick!  But this game has taught me that I'm doing it all wrong, holy moly!  I now use pipes to smash the rats in the filthy hellhole I call home.  It's so satisfying when you thunk their heads 'thwack', the sound still gives me goose bumps of joy.  In the game I mean, of course. ;)  This game is ripe for VR, cutting edge of graphics!  Anyhoo, 10/10 would smash rats with a pipe again.

(+3)

This was great hope to see more!

(+1)

Thanks!

(+2)

Loved this enough to 100% - I appreciate the bonus scene! Hopefully we see more of this world some day!

Thanks, I hope so too!

(+5)

Got this in the Racial Justice bundle, THOROUGHLY enjoyed it. Reminds me of the kind of gem you'd find buried somewhere on a mid-2000's Flash game site. 

(+2)

Haha, yep! Grew up playing Flash games myself, and I wanted to try my hand at making a modern one of those. Thanks for playing!

(+2)

Just finished it, beautiful level design and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Thanks!

(+1)

cute little action platformer.  Good level design and prepares you before throwing you in the deep end.  

Thanks!

(+1)

just finished the game, I enjoyed it a lot good work!

Thanks!

(+1)

I enjoyed that game, it was fun! I liked how things ramp up gradually. The graphics and music were fun. The bit with the enemy with the red beam, who you have to go back for by going around the top of the level, that was a great moment. Excellent work!

Thanks a lot!

(+1)

Great game, I hope there's more!

(+1)

Thanks! I have a sequel development, but the scope of the project kinda got away from me, haha. 

(+1)

Excellent stuff. Devious enemy placement, well thought out learning moments, perfect coyote time. The pacing is wonderful, especially the ending chase.

Thanks!

(+1)

Played this game a while back on Kong. Love your work. Hope zak 2 is still in development but I understand if not.

Hey, thanks! I spent a lot of time on Zak 2, but I was honestly getting frustrated with how long it was taking, so it's currently on the backburner. I hope to finish it someday!

(+3)

Really nice little game! Challenging yet forgiving, tight controls.

Thanks!

(1 edit) (+2)

Really fun game, feels VERY rewarding to play if you are a fan of self-improvement, like to challenge yourself, like speedrunning/beating your own times until it's no longer possible, etc. etc.


After you complete the game the first time, your best time for completing a level is displayed on screen for the respective level. Great addition, nothing beats spending an hour on Caves-4 to finally hit 15 seconds or discovering you can avoid an entire floor by jumping the right way and seeing yourself shave off an entire second from Sewers-3. Additionally, you unlock the "hearts and clubs" feature, heart being "no deaths on this level", club being "didn't kill any enemies on this level" - one heart and one club being available per level. Very rewarding, fun to achieve, really good feature. 

Fantastic game, can't wait for Zak 2.

Really good game, your work is awesome. Did you develop it alone ? From scratch ? :)

Thanks. I did everything except some of the music. The software I used is in the credits.

the character who saves you is the same one from that other game. the one that just goes on forever without any fighting. are you assembling a hero team like marvel did the avengers?

(1 edit)

The Cal game is a prototype made for ProcJam, which I currently don't plan on turning into a full game. I've been working on Zak 2 for a long time (way too long) and Cal will feature heavily in that!

(+1)

I can't wait until the next ones come out!

is there going to be a continuatio of this game?

I hope so! The secret ending looked really promising! >u<

Yes, I intend to do more games in this series. I'll need to ask for a bit of patience, though. As small as Zak is, it took me over 3 months to finish. Thanks :)