Costumes and Candy

Costumes and Candy is about what you'd expect, given the title and the competition it's in. And it really hits the mark for me, with a balance of adult wisdom and nostalgia. It's got several different mini games beneath the strategy of getting to all the houses in the neighborhood and maximizing your candy to defeat Shawn, the rich bully with a much more expensive costume than yours. Which you like, of course. But bullies are bullies, and this sort of thing is maddening when you're young.

There's a lot of flavor text as you go walking around. You have a choice between saying TRICK OR TREAT or, well, being a bit rude -- or in some cases, asking adults what's up. This reminded me of how I was told to behave, and in this case, there's obvious incentive to (adults don't like jerk kids,) so it's not even close to a perfect moral lesson. But I certainly remember thinking "I'll get what I want if polite, Halloween or no." It was good not to have to worry about ethical nuance. Simpler times!

There are also fun little dialogues as you walk between houses, and some link up or describe what you get from other houses. And there's a mini maze that's fun and wouldn't be fun if you were an adult. There's another game besides the maze that I don't want to spoil, because it's the sort of thing I'd have loved to do. Some adults let you in their house, and don't worry, they're safe! Others have, well, problems, or they even forgot to put out treats, and you can help them, maybe not perfectly ethically, but hey, it's just a fun game. And they wind up glad they "remembered."

C&C has replay value because you can figure where you didn't quite do what you could have. Or you can see what happens when you're a jerk. I got 96 out of 100 points. But I still had that "aw shucks I missed some candy feeling" from the kid inside me, when I didn't have time to visit all the houses or whatever. I remember strategizing too as well in the neighborhood, and how I would vow to get more next year once I was stronger and faster and had more endurance.

There are a lot of neat jokes in the writing but one caught my eye as a sports fan. The author, more often than not, has one of these very random ones that fit perfectly in each game he writes. A former athlete named (Spoiler - click to show)Jim Elbow, whose name is a mashup of (Spoiler - click to show)John Elway and Tim Tebow, lives in your neighborhood. The name feels like something even non-sports fans can enjoy.

The only weakness may be the lack of a map (or one apparent -- I couldn't find one.) It's your neighborhood, so you roughly know the way around.

I will be playing through as a jerk to see what happens. I didn't want to at first, because I was caught up in the fun. But then I will be sure to try a 100% run, so I can beat Shawn in a best two of three. He deserves it.

That was loads of fun, especially on the very night of Halloween! The author truly succeeded in depicting the atmosphere a kid perceived when going around a neighbourhood trick-or-treating, and reminds us all of the magic that can take place when adults actually buy into these holidays for themselves and for the kids; we all need to stay young at heart. This brought back a lot of great memories! :^) Happy Halloween