Game Review: Costume Quest: Grubbins on Ice DLC

Costume Quest was a departure for Double Fine. Gone are the days of struggling to compete with the big guys by spending years to craft a full, boxed-game experience that was charming and witty, only to have a gameplay mechanic cause people to give it up a few hours in. They've taken a new direction, concentrating all of their efforts on downloadable games that take a quarter of the time to put out and can still maintain their level of charm; and Grubbins on Ice proves they've quickly adapted to this new model and have a bright future ahead.

One glaring issue in Costume Quest was the save system, which didn't let you save the game until you'd either obtained or completed a quest. This was particularly obnoxious when you'd already activated all of the quests in the area, and lead to more than a few occasions where I was actively seeking to complete the easiest quest I could just so that I could save the game. Grubbins on Ice addresses this with a "Historical Society" always at the ready. Just stroll on up and let them know that history has been made, and they will document it for you. Effective and humorous.

I loved Costume Quest, but I think it was the perfect length. Anymore and I would have grown frustrated from the repetitive gameplay. Having downloadable content gave me time to take a break from the game, and then come back and revisit the world with a brief new story. The bite-sized addition helped the humor and charm rise to the top even more than they had in the original game, and I smiled and chuckled every few minutes throughout.

The fact that Double Fine got DLC out so quickly and fixed problems that many reviewers complained about gives me a lot of hope for their future downloadable endeavors. I would absolutely love for them to use Costume Quest as a platform throughout the rest of 2011, adding new DLC to it on holidays where it makes the most sense, while at the same time releasing new games like their already announced Stacking. If they can keep releasing new games with the same amount of quality while supporting the old ones, I have no doubt that this new downloadable approach will be where they can finally shine and gain the massive mainstream audience that they deserve.