Costume Quest

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Trick-or-treat on Halloween night to save your twin, and your costume fights back.

Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox
Stores: Steam, GOG, itch.io
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (94% of 4,129 reviews); Metacritic 77 (PlayStation 3) and 74 (Xbox 360)
Length: about 5.5 hours
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard and mouse or a controller (partial controller support on Steam)
Made by: Double Fine Productions
Released: 2010

No. 8 of the best Halloween games · No. 6 of the Halloween games for kids · No. 6 of the jack-o'-lantern horror games · No. 6 of the suburban horror games · No. 7 of the amusement park horror games · No. 4 of the mall horror games

Get it on Steam GOG itch.io Xbox (One and Series X|S, Game Pass)

What frightens Not frightening: a cartoon Halloween role-playing game. Monsters called the Repugians kidnap your twin on Halloween night, so you trick-or-treat through the neighbourhood, where each door hides candy or a monster to fight. Spooky by design, played for charm and jokes.
Content: cartoon fantasy violence, tobacco reference.

Costume Quest is a short Halloween role-playing game from Double Fine Productions. You trick-or-treat through a suburb, a mall and a carnival to rescue your kidnapped twin, and your homemade costume becomes a giant champion when a monster answers the door. It is spooky by design but made for charm, not fright.

About Costume Quest

Costume Quest is a short role-playing game from Double Fine Productions, Tim Schafer's studio. It grew out of the studio's Amnesia Fortnight prototypes and was led by animator Tasha Harris, with Schafer helping on the writing. THQ published it as a download for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in October 2010. The Windows version came to Steam on 14 October 2011 with the Grubbins on Ice add-on included, and Mac and Linux versions followed in May 2013.

On Halloween night, twins Reynold and Wren are new in town. You pick which one you play; the other goes out dressed as a piece of candy corn and is carried off by a monster. You have to get your sibling back before curfew, trick-or-treating your way through the neighbourhood of Auburn Pines, Autumn Haven Mall and Fall Valley Carnival. Knock on a door and you get candy or a monster. Candy is what the other children trade in, quests reward you with hints and costume parts, and two more trick-or-treaters, Everett and Lucy, join your party.

When a fight starts, each child becomes a giant version of their homemade costume: the cardboard robot turns into a real robot, the knight into a real knight, and each costume has its own special move. Battles are turn-based, with attacks, blocks and special moves, and pressing the shown button at the right moment does the most damage. Battle stamps and creepy treat cards add small bonuses. Some costumes also help outside battle.

Grubbins on Ice, included in the PC version and a free add-on on Xbox, moves the story to winter and the monsters' own world, Repugia, with new quests, costumes, battle stamps and creepy treat cards.

There is nothing here meant to frighten: the monsters are comic goblins and the writing is full of jokes. It is on this site's Halloween page for players who want the feeling of the night itself, trick-or-treating, costumes and jack-o'-lanterns, between scarier games, or a Halloween game to play with younger players. Costume Quest 2 continues the story.

How to play Costume Quest

Buy it on Steam, GOG or itch.io for Windows, Mac or Linux, or on the Xbox store, where it plays on Xbox One and Series X|S and is included with Game Pass.
Pick which twin you play, Reynold or Wren, then knock on doors around the neighbourhood to collect candy.
When a monster answers, fight it in turn-based battles, pressing the shown button at the right time for stronger attacks and blocks.
Find costume parts to build new costumes; each one gives a different special move in battle, and some help outside it.
Finish the quests in the neighbourhood, the mall and the carnival to rescue your twin before curfew.

Screenshots

A girl in a candy-corn hat and a boy in a blue cardboard robot costume on a lawn lined with paper-bag lanterns along a suburban street

A battle under a huge red moon: a giant blue robot faces a horned, armoured monster among jack-o'-lanterns and floating ghosts

Two trick-or-treaters with jack-o'-lantern candy bags, a knight and an astronaut with a glowing wand, in a dark warehouse

Three children in candy-corn costumes slide down a hill on a board, a Ferris wheel with a jack-o'-lantern face behind them

A mall stage under a Happy Halloween banner: a man in a top hat with a microphone, pumpkins, and children in robot and astronaut costumes

A hooded green goblin with a staff casts purple magic across a pumpkin field with ghosts

A snowy monster village of horned stone huts with blue banners, from the Grubbins on Ice add-on

Tips

Knock on every door you pass: each one gives candy or a fight, and both help you along.
Try new costumes as you build them; some open paths outside battle as well as giving new attacks.
Grubbins on Ice is included with the game and continues the story after the ending, so play it once the main story is done.
The GOG Mac build is 32-bit only and does not run on macOS 10.15 or later; check before buying it for a newer Mac.

Questions

Is Costume Quest scary?

No. It is a cartoon Halloween role-playing game with goofy monsters and jokes. ESRB rates it Everyone 10+ and PEGI 7, for fantasy violence and a tobacco reference.

How long is Costume Quest?

About 5.5 hours for the main story by HowLongToBeat's count, and about 7.5 hours to do everything.

What platforms is Costume Quest on?

Windows, Mac and Linux on Steam, GOG and itch.io, and Xbox One and Series X|S through the Xbox store, where it is also included with Game Pass and can be played through Xbox Cloud Gaming. The old iOS version does not run on iOS 11 or newer.

Who made Costume Quest?

Double Fine Productions, Tim Schafer's studio, with Tasha Harris leading the project. THQ published the 2010 console release; Double Fine publishes it on Steam.

Is there a sequel?

Yes, Costume Quest 2 continues the twins' story.