Costume Quest 2 (2014)

Genre: Action / RPG  |  Players: 1  |  Developer: Double Fine Productions

The '2' in the title is a clue. Yes, it's a sequel. But didn't costumed twins Wren and Reynold already save Hallowe'en in the original Costume Quest (2010)? Maybe they did, but they need to save it again, this time in the past, because there's some rudimentary timey-wimey shenanigans afoot. Grab your sack and suit up, kids.

CQ 2 doesn't reinvent the gaming wheel, but it makes good use of the one it already had. As before you're completing quests for both XP and candy, but a number of little things have been improved.

You now have access to the speedy-boots regardless of which costume you're wearing, so you'll not have to switch as often for simple level traversing.

However, you will be required to switch during the exploration phase in order to operate or initiate certain things within the colourful world. If you find an inaccessible part of a level, it likely means you don't have the correct costume yet, so find or earn its component parts before returning.

A small number of the new costumes are secret, meaning you won't just find them during the course of a standard play through; you'll have to go off the obvious path a few times in order to discover them.

The turn based combat has also received some minor but welcome tweaks and additions, although it does still feel repetitive after a while. Also, if you just scrape through a fight and are far from a save point, you can scoff a small portion of your candy haul and recover some health that way.

In closing, if you're too lazy, too old, unwilling or unable to role-play within the watered-down farce of a meaningful annual pagan festival that is modern Hallowe'en night, then you can do it from the comfort of your own home in your socks, and you won't get sick from all the sugar and razor blades, either.

3 candy violations out of 5

Stacking (2011)

Genre: Puzzle / RPG | Players: 1 | Developer: Double Fine Productions

The second Double Fine download-only title is what indie titles should be: stylised and fun. This time it’s based on the Russian stacking matryoshka dolls.

You play as young Charlie Blackmore, a chimney sweep and the smallest of the doll sizes. When his family get into financial hot water, Charlie gets heroic and decides to rescue them from the evil Baron, an upper class tyrant who controls the working class. Charlie must progress through a series of challenges, but you'll quickly find that he'll need to recruit other dolls if he's to succeed. To do that you creep up stealthily behind the doll you want and enter them from the rear. Yes, I did just say that. If they see you coming they won’t let you inside. Typical.

You can only go up one size at a time, so if you want to enter one of the larger women you’ll have to first find a smaller model to… this is getting awkward.

Each doll is 100% unique and gives the player different abilities enabling them to complete specific tasks, or grant access to previously hidden areas. Once a task is achieved you can move on. However, there are always three different ways to achieve each task, so the method you employ is up to you. You can even do all three if you feel like it, and the game rewards you if you do take the time to discover all the answers. It forces you to engage in some lateral thinking and to explore the characters’ abilities to see which you can use to aid you.

The optional ‘Hi-jinks’ are fun, such as farting in ten doll’s faces, or something equally as irreverent. The Double Fine humour is never far from the surface.

As with Costume Quest (2010), Stacking got DLC. Alongside bringing back Charlie, The Lost Hobo King introduced new dolls with new abilities. The gameplay is unchanged, but he's now in a town called Camelfoot. There's a demo of the main game on the stores so you can try before you buy.

Buyer's Guide:
Can only be bought directly from PSN, X-Box live or Steam.

3½ cheers for child labour out of 5

Costume Quest (2010)

Genre: Action / RPG | Players: 1 | Developer: Double Fine Productions

Developer Double Fine make interesting games, but they rarely sell in large numbers; it seems a majority of gamers prefer yearly updates of FIFA and C.O.D instead. That’s a shame. As a result, the team stopped making disc-based games and concentrated on DL-only titles. Costume Quest was the first of the batch.

It's filled with colourful charm and subtle humour; and while the actual gameplay is basic and repetitive, it's still a joy to play most of the time.

It takes place on Hallowe'en night. You choose to play as either Reynold or Wren, twins, one of whom has to rescue the other from evil, candy-loving monsters that all children know lurk in old people's houses on Hallowe'en night.

You hunt for clues to your sibling's location by asking local kids, trick-or-treating and solving simple puzzles. And there are some basic RPG elements that won't cause a headache for even the most fearful of RPG gamers.

In an act of pure kid-fantasy-awesome your cardboard robot costume becomes real, transforming you into an ass-kicking Japanese Mech the size of a house. You use each costume's ability to kill bad guys in turn-based combat. The fighting gets repetitive after a while, so to spice things up there are hidden costumes to find that grant your chosen hero new abilities. You can only wear a new one once you've found each of the individual parts needed to make it. That lets you vary your costume from time to time to make use of unique abilities.

Additional DLC called Grubbins on Ice was released a few months later. It continued the story and but with Xmas theme, introducing new costumes and abilities. The basic gameplay is exactly the same, however. There's a demo of the main game on the stores so that you can try before you buy.

Buyer's Guide:
Can only be bought directly from PSN, X-Box live or Steam.

3½ bags full out of 5