You have to find the screwdriver to continue with the story in Alan Wake 2. You need it to get into the Gift Shop at Coffee World but you can also use it to break padlocks you find in other places. So while it won’t work on locked collectibles like Cult Stashes, it’s a handy tool to have with you and it’s worth testing it on any old-looking padlock you find if there’s no clear-cut way to get it open. With all that in mind, here’s the screwdriver location in Alan Wake 2.
Alan Wake screwdriver location: Where to find it
You won’t find the screwdriver until you arrive in Watery for the first time and make your way around to Coffee World, which is over on the left side of the map. You’ll have to enter the Gift Shop to proceed with the story but it’s shut tight with a padlock. Luckily, a note nearby hints that a screwdriver has been used to get it open in the past—and more crucially, that you’ll find the tool at the Percolator ride.
The Percolator is further inside the Coffee World amusement park, and you’ll need to head in a southeast direction to find the ride. If you’ve picked up the Watery map, you’ll see the Percolator ride clearly labelled, though you can check the screenshot above if you’re unsure of the correct location.
You’ll need to deal with a couple of Taken in the area before you start looking for the screwdriver—one is at the centre of the ride if you’re having trouble pinpointing it. After these are dealt with, look for the control panel for the ride and you’ll find the screwdriver lying on top of it. Now you can make your way back to the Gift Shop and get inside to continue with the story.
At this point, you could also head back to any locked containers you’ve previously found to see what’s inside but you will come back to the Cauldron Lake area much later in the game, so it’s worth leaving those for now and saving them for later when you might need the contents more. Before you get too excited, the ones I’ve checked out only contain things like ammo and health items. Still, it all helps.