Help! I Took My Little Brother to a Halloween Party and the Popular Kids Want to Sacrifice Him to a Demon!

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Halloween 2004, a party full of theatre kids, and a demon that wants your little brother.

Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Price: Free
Rated: 4.8 of 5 from 6 itch.io ratings; 34th overall of Spooktober 2024 (16 ratings), 33rd for story
Length: about 1 hour
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse or keyboard: click to advance and choose; Ren'Py menu for saves.
Made by: The Coven Game Collective
Released: 2024

What frightens At your first Halloween party in a new town, the popular theatre kids seem charming, but something darker is going on behind the costumes: they have plans for your little brother involving a demon. You have one evening to work out what is happening and stop it, with blood, violence and some disturbing ideas along the way.
Content: blood, violence, underage drinking, mention of drug use, mature language, disturbing concepts.

A comedy-horror visual novel by The Coven Game Collective, made for the Spooktober Visual Novel Jam in 2024. On 31 October 2004 you take your little brother to a Halloween party thrown by the cool theatre kids, and slowly realise they mean to sacrifice him to a demon. It is free on itch.io, takes about an hour and has 11 endings.

About Help! I Took My Little Brother to a Halloween Party and the Popular Kids Want to Sacrifice Him to a Demon!

Help! I Took My Little Brother to a Halloween Party and the Popular Kids Want to Sacrifice Him to a Demon! is a visual novel by The Coven Game Collective, a team of ten writers, artists and programmers, made for the Spooktober 6th Annual Visual Novel Jam and released on 1 October 2024. It placed 34th overall in the jam and is free to download on itch.io for Windows, Mac and Linux.

It is Toronto, 31 October 2004. You are the new kid at high school and expect a quiet first Halloween in town, until the bubbly, popular girl from your English class invites you to the big party the theatre kids are throwing. The catch is that your dorky little brother has to come too. Over the evening you meet a host of characters in costume, wonder whether someone really brought a goose, and start to realise there is more going on at this party than it seems.

It is a mystery as much as a horror story: you talk to the guests, gather what you learn and try to solve what is happening before it is too late. The makers list 24,245 words, an original soundtrack, romance and non-romance options and 11 possible endings, with about an hour for a play through.

The tone is comedy first, with horror underneath: the content warnings include blood, violence, disturbing concepts, underage drinking and a mention of drug use. It suits players who want a funny, spooky Halloween story to read in one evening more than a frightening one.

How to play Help! I Took My Little Brother to a Halloween Party and the Popular Kids Want to Sacrifice Him to a Demon!

Download the game free from its itch.io page for Windows, Mac or Linux.
On Mac, the makers note you may need to override a Gatekeeper warning to open it.
Click through the story and pick your answers when choices appear.
Talk to the party guests and piece together what the theatre kids are planning.
Replay with different choices to see more of the 11 endings.

Screenshots

Three teenagers in Halloween costumes, a pirate, a gladiator and a Greek goddess, in a bedroom at the party

A girl in a pirate costume watches as a red-haired girl in a dark gown takes Lisa's hand in a library

Title art: a boy holding a pumpkin candy bucket in front of the costumed party kids, beside the game's long title

Tips

Save before big choices so you can go back and try another route.
Pay attention to what each guest lets slip; the mystery is solved through conversation.
Romance is optional; there are non-romance paths too.