Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Low interaction
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Trick-or-treating is in grave danger. You can feel it in your bones: someone in the neighborhood is a monster!
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Read the full game description
Trick-or-treating is in grave danger. You can feel it in your bones: someone in the neighborhood is a monster! Can you save Halloween and find the missing candy? The Pumpkin Problem, title #3 in the Holiday Hijinks line, is an escape room style game in just 18 cards! As a group, you will solve a series of puzzles to unravel a mystery. When you have solved a puzzle, you will enter the answer into the companion web app (compatible with all smart phones and computers) and it will check whether you are correct. If you are, the app will tell you which card or cards to take next. The app also contains a graduated hint system, so if you get stuck you can get just a small hint about the current puzzle to get moving again without giving too much away. Puzzles may test your perception, wordplay, and lateral thinking. English language fluency is required. Knowledge of traditional Halloween topics is helpful, but that information is also provided in the app if you need it. Most groups take about an hour to solve the game. You can write on the cards to help solve puzzles, but this is not required (or you could use penny sleeves) and the game is otherwise non-destructable. So while you can't play again yourself, you could give the used game to someone else to play.