Costume Quest

Costume Quest (Double Fine) Downloadable on Playstation Network for $14.99

Plot Summary

At the outset the player must choose whether she will control one of two fraternal twins Wren or her brother Reynold.  Once your choice is made the two go trick or treating.  Whomever you choose to lead the expedition dresses as a robot; the other sibling as a candy corn.  At the first house you stop at, the candy corn sibling will be made fun of.  At the second house the candy corn sibling will be kidnapped by a monster, setting the stage for the major conflict of the game.  The game has two basic modes, in the first you navigate the neighborhoods go door to door trick or treating or searching for parts for new costumes.  The more candy you earn the better stickers you can buy for your costumes (the stickers each have unique properties -- some make you deal more damage in battles, some protect you from damage, etc.).  You enter the second mode when a) a monster opens the door of a home instead of a person in costume or b) you walk up to a monster.  The game's second mode is a turn-based role playing game attack mode.  You, each member of your party, and each enemy get one turn per round to attack, shield, or perform a special attack.  All the while, you get closer to rescuing your sibling as you get further from home and explore increasingly stranger outlying areas of your town (the mall and then a town's fair and corn maze).

Selecting your hero

On right: the robot costume in exploration mode.  On left: the dreaded candy corn costume.

The robot costume in battle mode

Critical Evaluation

The game is repetitive but charming.  It uses the most basic structures of role playing games: journeying, goldfarming, turn based battles.  And these elements of the game do eventually wear thin.  But the game excels in humor, especially when it comes to finding new costume pieces: snow boots, a safety visor, and empty soda bottles are used to make a space explorer costume while the robot costume (which you lose and have to regain after your first battle) is made up of roller skate shoes, a cardboard box and aluminum foil.  I was also pleased that you could play the game as a male or a female character (and as the game progresses and you amass a team there is an additional boy and girl guaranteeing that you'll proceed through the game with at least one female character).  It's not often in gaming that you can play as a non-sexualized female character.  Furthermore, when I knocked on one door to trick or treat a cowboy with a mustache came to the door and talked about his/her husband.  It's not clear if the character was intended to be a man or a woman.  Again, it was refreshing to play a video game that broke with the typical video gaming patriarchy.

Reader’s Annotation

When your sibling is kidnapped by monsters on Halloween, what do you do? Round up a posse, put on a variety of costumes and battle them of course.

Each dream bubble represents a different costume used throughout the game.

Information about the author

From the company's webpage: 

Double Fine Productions is an award-winning, independent game development studio founded in 2000 by games industry veteran Tim Schafer. Located in San Francisco’s South of Market district, Double Fine is committed to making high-quality games with an emphasis on originality, story, characters, and fun.  

In 2005, Double Fine released the critically-acclaimed Psychonauts, which won several awards including “Best Action / Adventure Game” from Official XBOX Magazine and “Game of the Year” from Eurogamer. G4TV and X-PLAY recently declared Psychonauts to be the #6 XBOX game of all time.  [That's solid glass. You think they give plastic to THE BEST?] 

At the 2006 Game Developers Conference, Double Fine itself was awarded the title of “Best New Studio” by their fellow developers.  

In 2009, Double Fine released the Heavy Metal Masterwork Brütal Legend, starring Spike VGA winner Jack Black and featuring the music and voice of the greatest names in the world of metal. Brütal Legend was the recipient of AIAS awards for both "Best Strategy/Simulation Game" and "Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack."  

After the release of Brütal Legend, Double Fine began simultaneous development on several smaller games. The first of these, the Halloween-themed RPG Costume Quest, was released in October of 2010 and was named Best Downloadable Game of the Year by the Spike TV VGAs as well as PSN Game of the Year by Playstation: The Official Magazine. It is available for download on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC (Steam).  

Soon after that came Stacking, an adventure game set in a world of living Russian nesting dolls. Stacking was included in IGN's round-up of the Top 25 PSN games. It is available for download on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC (Steam).  

In June 2011, Double Fine shipped the incredibly manly 3rd-person tower defense shooter Iron Brigade, (back then it was called Trenched) which scored a 9/10 review from Official Xbox Magazine. It is available for download on Xbox 360 and PC (Steam).  

Double Fine has also released multiple titles using Kinect motion-sensing technology on Xbox 360. Released in October 2011, Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster is set in a living storybook full of monster friends to meet and play with. It stars Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, and a whole cast of new, furry friends.  

The studio's next Kinect game was Double Fine Happy Action Theater, which solves those annoying life problems like not being able to shoot magic from your fingertips and not having enough lava in your living room. A sequel is being developed and will be released soon!  

In March 2012, Double Fine completed a successful Kickstarter campaign that set a record for the highest-earning video game project on Kickstarter. The studio is now developing the game that will directly result from that Kickstarter, with the team at 2 Player Productions filming the entire process for all to see! If you missed out on the Kickstarter, you can still become a slacker backer and get ongoing access to documentary episodes and development updates as they are released. (Double Fine, 2013)

Genre

Video game/RPG

Curriculum Ties

There are no curriculum ties to speak of.  The game is not a learning tool.

Booktalking Ideas

1. I think it's worthwhile to mention that there are female protagonists in the game.
2. I would also discuss the game's humor.

Reading Level/Interest Age

4th grade and up.

Challenge Issues

There is cartoonish violence.  It's a video game and to be made available would have to be purchased and downloaded onto a library computer; some parents may not feel that this is appropriate use of library resources.

I would openly greet any patron who presented a challenge to the work, giving them ample time to detail their complaint.  I would listen attentively.  To respond to these challenges I would have some reviews of the work on hand.   I would be prepared to explain that as a public institution libraries "cannot limit access on the basis of age or other characteristics" (ALA, 1999).  I would have copies of the library's collection policy on hand.  I would be prepared to politely discuss that parents can control what their children are exposed to by coming to the library with them and examining books they check out.  If the Teen Advisory Group had written reviews of the work I'd have them handy.  While it may be of little comfort to certain parents, I would also be prepared to discuss my staunch support of intellectual freedom and abhorrence of censorship.  As a last resort, I would be sure to keep copies or a reconsideration form on hand.

Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?

Double Fine is my favorite video game company.  The story is always inventive and charming (even if the game play is sometimes a bit stale).

References

American Library Association. (1999). Strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips 

Double Fine. (2013). What is Double Fine? Retrieved from http://www.doublefine.com/about/