Costume Quest: Grubbins on Ice

Tim Schafer is the Joss Whedon of gaming: an immensely talented auteur with a fanatical following who can't quite crossover beyond cult hero. So, if Pyschonauts is his Buffy then consider Costume Quest Schafer's Dr. Horrible, a smaller scale, but still stylized, project that uses a download distribution model to bypass an unappreciative industry. This adorable, Zelda-inspired role-playing game captures Double Fine's quirky sense of humour and style, including more deceptively complex level design, gamer meta-humour and a hand drawn aesthetic created by a former Pixar animator who helms the project, with Schafer providing oversight and writing the script. The award-winning original was released as a trick-or-treat-based Halloween game ― the costumes, from robot to vampire to unicorn, providing powers for the battle scenes against candy-obsessed monsters. Wintry add-on Grubbins on Ice improved the game play and added new costumes while sending the kids over into the monsters' homeland where they must foment revolution. Let's hope more seasonal updates are in the pipeline because Costume Quest just keeps getting more charming.