As we gear up for Extra Life 2017, we’ve got games on the mind. With Halloween around the corner, have we got a treat for you! Being enthusiastic gamers, we know that spooky games and stories help us learn—and they’re fun to play. We scoured the internet and our portfolio to share a few games that are better than candy. From FableVision favorites to eerie apps to indie darlings, here are six handpicked games with something sweet for every age group.
Grab your plastic vampire fangs and bite into this incredible roundup of Halloween-themed games from Team FableVision.
Lure of the Labyrinth, FableVision Studios, Maryland Public Television, and MIT Education Arcade
Time for a costume party! In Lure of the Labyrinth, suggested for middle-school students, players can pick out masks and costumes to blend in with the monsters in a subterranean world. Once players infiltrate the monster factory, they solve math problems to progress through the story about the hero’s quest to rescue their pet. Lure of the Labyrinth reinforces math and literacy skills using a standards-based curriculum through a challenging and fun adventure. Play Lure of the Labyrinth on your browser.
Toca Boo, Toca Boca
Hide-and-Creep! In Toca Boo, little Bonnie dons an adorable ghost costume to playfully scare her family in this digital toy from our friends at Toca Boca. Each room has several objects to interact with and hide under as Bonnie waits for family members to appear. Bonnie can turn off lights, flush toilets, and rock rocking horses to raise tension. Once her family is nervous, she strikes with a delightfully cute “BOO!” The simple, intuitive controls and variety of rooms, family members, and interactive objects gives pre-schoolers dozens of opportunities for creativity and imaginative haunting. Toca Boo is available on mobile platforms.
Minecraft, Mojang
The immensely popular Minecraft is famous for the creativity, engineering, and programming skills it encourages, but it can be spooky too! In Survival Mode, a menagerie of monsters emerge to harass players, which encourages players to strategically design shelter and place light sources. Monsters include the Halloween classics: zombies, skeletons, and spiders…yikes! For players who want to build free from danger but still want to get into the Halloween spirit, there are several expansion packs that add Halloween-themed textures and worlds (pumpkins everywhere!) and even Halloween costumes for avatars. Minecraft is available on PC, Mac, mobile, and consoles.
Gone Home, The Fullbright Company
In Gone Home, 21-year-old Katie Greenbriar returns from college to her family’s new house on a dark and stormy night, but finds no one waiting for her. A cryptic note from her sister Sam sets Katie on a path through the creaky house as she tries to solve the mystery of where her family has gone. Using an immersive first person perspective and outstanding environmental storytelling, Gone Home is an easy-to-play game that can be finished in a single evening—perfect for Halloween night! Through game-based social and emotional learning, Gone Home is a game about empathy and family that conveys LGBT themes in a way that only an immersive, interactive medium can achieve. Because Gone Home is a spooky story about young adult issues, it is recommended for older teens and adults. Gone Home is available on PC, Mac, and consoles.
Zombies, Run!, Six to Start
This app combines interactive fiction and fitness for a unique combination that will have you running for your life after your Halloween candy binge! In a world overrun by zombies, you play a “runner” tasked with gathering supplies for your community. When you go for your real-world morning jog, you start a supply gathering mission in the game. Your progress is tracked like in conventional fitness apps, but music and actors on your “radio” fill you in on the story. Be careful not get too caught up in the drama, however, because when zombies appear, you must RUN! Zombies, Run! is available on mobile platforms.
You Snooze, You Lose, FableVision Studios and Random House
When it’s time to curl up with a scary bedtime story, Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller’s book Nightmares! has you covered. In addition to creating a website for the game, FableVision produced the supplemental game, You Snooze, You Lose, an endless runner game, featuring the main character Charlie running up the stairs of his stepmother’s purple mansion. The goal of the game is to keep Charlie awake. If he falls asleep he’ll start having nightmares. Players collect items on the stairs to keep him awake—a fan, a glass of ice water, and an air horn—and avoid items that are sure to make him sleepy, like a pillow or cuddly teddy bear. Make sure those eyelids don’t droop too far! You Snooze, You Lose is available to play on the FableVision-created Nightmares! website.
These six games are terrific tricks and treats for Halloween and a great addition to our Extra Life game-a-thon! With Extra Life only a few days away, Team FableVision will have enough fun to last during our 24-hour marathon of gaming on Nov. 4 for Boston Children’s Hospital and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
If you’d like to help us scare up enough fundraising to beat this year’s goal, be sure to check out our Extra Life team page to donate!
