19 reasons why you should play Until Dawn With Friends this Halloween

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  1. You’ve worn that Pokemon trainer costume 3 years in a row.

  2. Your neighbors think you’re really to old to go trick or treating.

  3. You still haven’t found your socks from the last Halloween party.

  4. ….

Ok, just kidding, I hate list articles too. Please allow me to explain why playing Until Dawn with a few friends would be a blast this Halloween. Maybe you’re stuck at home passing out candy, maybe you don’t feel like dressing up and getting drunk at a party, MAYBE you’d just like to chill at home but still enjoy the Halloween spirit.

slasherPlaying Until Dawn is like being the director of a slasher movie. Eight horny college students are taking a winter vacation in a remote lodge, and they soon discover a killer is on the loose. The controls are very simple, move the characters around, interact with highlighted objects. Quick time events are used in the action scenes, but they are easy enough for a non-gamer to get through. This allows easy controller passing on the couch, all your friends can have a turn. There are many natural opportunities to pass the controller, as the game moves from character to character, not sticking with one for too long.

Until Dawn™_20150821161617
Until Dawn™_20150821161617

Throughout the game, you will be asked to make many choices, but they are almost never multiple choices like Bioware or Telltale games, just yes or no or this or that choices. Do you make peace with that character, or egg them on? This can be really fun if you are controlling one character and another person at your Halloween party is controlling another, especially when the choice to save one character over another comes up. Maybe a playful rivalry will develop, or what if your characters hook up? I’m just saying…

until dawn castUntil Dawn has a really high production value using motion capture from actors like Hayden Panettiere, Peter Stormare, and Rami Malek. The game is very cinematic, and the scenes change frequently. Someone who isn’t used to playing games will have an easier time enjoying Until Dawn because it is presented like a movie. Until Dawn has more in common with the movie Scream than the game Silent Hill. While this might turn off a hardcore gamer, it allows a mixed party of gamers and non-gamers could have a lot of fun together playing/watching Until Dawn.

DSC_0046_1024x792To add to the fun this Halloween, Supermassive games is giving away this awesome Limited Edition Until Dawn Gift Pack to two people. On Halloween Day only, they will update the game and hide 11 pumpkins in the game. If you take a picture of a hidden pumpkin and tweet them, you have a chance to win! Since they are judging the entries, here’s a free strategy tip from me to you: Grab the screenshot and then take a picture of your Halloween party re-enacting the scene in front of the TV, with the pumpkin in the background. If you win, feel free to pass that T-shirt on to me. Kidding. Not really. Here are the rules:

So how do you go about getting one of these Limited Edition packs?

 

We will give a pack to the Twitter post showing:

 

  • The BEST image of one pumpkin being found in Until Dawn. It needs to include a screen shot from the game, but what else is in the image up to you!
  • The BEST montage image of all eleven pumpkins found in Until Dawn. The image has to include screen shots of ALL the pumpkins from the game, but after that it’s your call.
  • The post MUST include the hashtag #UntilDawnPumpkin
  • The post to Twitter must be made before midnight on the 31st of October, PST

I think an Until Dawn party would make a truly unique Halloween memory, but no matter how you spend your Halloween, I hope you have a safe and spooky time. I’d love to hear your Halloween plans or traditions in the comments, and as always, you can hear me discuss Until Dawn and other games on the Plug and Play podcast.

Tim Bledsoe

Podcasts & Single-player games are his thing except on "Adventure Time Tuesdays"