Increasingly over the years, it seems that Halloween has become the kind of holiday that Christmas is. Instead of people preparing for it the week before, All Hallow’s Eve is now a month-long love affair with the creepy and crawly. Beginning sometimes as early as late September, you’ll start to hear about planned movie marathons, discuss costume ideas, and even see themed Twitter handles! Today, one of our favorite developers got in on the action.
Increasingly over the years, it seems that Halloween has become the kind of holiday that Christmas is. Instead of people preparing for it the week before, All Hallow’s Eve is now a month-long love affair with the creepy and crawly. Beginning sometimes as early as late September, you’ll start to hear about planned movie marathons, discuss costume ideas, and even see themed Twitter handles! Today, one of our favorite developers got in on the action.
Embracing the spirit(s) of the season, fledgling studio Beavertap Games has released Mike Shorts Halloween: a micro-sized version of their nearly perfect retro speed-runner Mikey Shorts. For the low low price of completely free, players will get four new levels, two of which are set in a graveyard, with the other two taking place in an appropriately Mario-esque haunted house. For those who don’t own the original game (shame on you! It’s a dollar.), Mikey Shorts Halloween is a chance to get a taste of what makes this gem so special. As I said in my original review, this is a game “pared down to precious few actions, but designed so well that nothing ever gets stale. [It’s] a glowing, beeping slice of pure, simple fun.”
Truth be told, that’s not why Mikey Shorts Halloween is a must-have. In keeping with the season of wacky costumes, Beavertap has tweaked the original’s stable of customizable outfits with additions like mad scientist hair, Frankenstein forehead, and an inexplicable (and awesome) pumpkin hat. When I first got my hands on Mikey Shorts, I expressed my suspicion that the team behind it was allergic to money. Having spent some time with Mikey Shorts Halloween, I’m now certain of it.
All jokes aside, this is definitely a game you’ll want to have on your device as we get closer to mingling with creatures of the night. At the very least, it will prepare you to expertly run away from all those shambling zombies!
