• Price: $9.99 USD
• Developer/Publisher: Gossamer Games
• Release Date: October 21, 2022 (NA)/October 24, 2022 (EU)

A review code was kindly provided by Gossamer Games. We thank them for being able to cover something they’ve worked so hard on.

Halloween has come and gone this year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t continue to enjoy some Halloween fun. (I, for one, am slowly but surely eating my way through my remaining candy corn stash!) Howloween Hero will allow you to keep your…spirits…up as you play as an adorable dog named LilPup, who wants to help their human get their hands on some candy.

Unfortunately for Ayva, LilPup’s human, her parents have apparently prevented them from trick or treating for the second year in a row! And to make matters worse, Ayva’s mother has also forgotten to pick up some Limited Edition Gummy Corn for her! 😱 Well, that just won’t do, so you – as her dog – must save the day! Just yelp for help!

When you first attempt to sneak out of the yard, one of the neighbors stops you. Normally it would be a good thing to have someone keep a dog from getting out, but in this fictional world LilPup needs to go out for Ayva’s sake! As such, a disguise is in order. Searching the backyard, a sheet from the laundry will transform you into a “Puppergeist”! 🐶 👻 This somehow tricks the neighbor into thinking that you’re Ayva, and you’re allowed to go out now. (Perhaps this can be explained by the…“Bark Kent effect.” 😉)

The main quest of the game is to get your hands paws on those Limited Edition Gummy Corn candies for Ayva, but the secondary quest has to do with rumors of a monster prowling the streets and stealing children’s candy! All of the other quests in the game will help you get closer to completing your primary objectives.

Before you can acquire the limited edition candy, you’ll need to gather regular candy – as well as some additional costumes. Actions can be performed with the controller or with the touchscreen. You can get regular candy just from walking around the neighborhood, but you can also get some by trick or treating! Regular candy serves as the game’s currency, which is used to purchase more costumes. The costume seller operates their totally legitimate cardboard booth out of the playground. Most costumes cost around 1,000 candies each, and the order you purchase them in doesn’t seem to matter.

There are some quest lines and badges (achievements) that correspond with each costume. You can’t activate some quests without wearing the right one when talking to someone. Unfortunately, you can’t switch costumes unless you are at the costume shop, so you’ll have to backtrack there when you need a different costume. You also don’t have any kind of inventory system; certain quests will require you to bring something to the quest giver. There are many items around the neighborhood that can be picked up, but you can only try bringing one at a time due to the lack of inventory.

The majority of the quests are not very difficult, but I did have trouble navigating the neighborhood. I am bad at finding places in real life as well, but sometimes the lighting/visibility would change and make it harder to see where I was. A map would have been a good tool for me to have. I was especially frustrated with the mailman costume’s quest because I had to find someone in several different locations in the neighborhood, and I kept getting lost.

That being said, I did enjoy the rest of the quests. They take place in a variety of interesting and unexpected locations that are related to the costume’s theme. You may need to suspend your disbelief a bit when it comes to these quests, but I found them to be entertaining nonetheless. There are only 7 costumes in the game, and I wanted more costume options – even if they came without quest lines – for some more variety. My favorite costume was probably the mermaid one, although I definitely appreciated the pun for the “Bark Widow” costume.

Part of the reason I was drawn to Howloween Hero (besides the costumed dog) was the punny title. I absolutely love puns, and there are a decent amount of them in the game. I found myself laughing at characters such as “Chef Girl RD.” It’s not all “pun and games” though – there was also some dialogue without puns that I still found amusing.

I thought that the character designs were pretty cute, and the music and font all felt appropriate for the Halloween theme. They did a good job with establishing a spooky yet fun and festive atmosphere. In terms of the story, the identity of the “monster” was not what I expected, and the ending also differed from my predictions. Disregarding some minor frustrations, I had a good time completing over a dozen quests and earning more than 20 badges. The game is somewhat short but sweet, and LilPup performed a lot of new tricks to get Ayva her treats. 🍭🥰