A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux

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Note: a recent update to chromium based browsers has broken some Renp'y web games, leaving them only playable on firefox/safari. I've temporarily turned off the web-playable copy here until the issue is resolved. 

Story header

October 30th: You’ve just moved to Ravenville, and Halloween is the last thing on your mind, even if it seems like your new town is obsessed with it. You decide you’ll skip the festivities this year as you settle into your new home, expecting teenagers to welcome you to the neighbourhood by egging your house and toilet-papering your trees, per Devil’s Night tradition. Instead, you get a visit from 3 handsome Halloween Ghosts, who try to convince you to stop being a scrooge and give the holiday a chance. Will they convince you that it’s worth getting in the Halloween spirit after all? Or will you just spend the entire time trying to flirt with them?

Features:

  • 8k of text, about 20-30 minutes of gameplay
  • Customizable protagonist name (pronouns are unspecified/gender-neutral throughout)
  • Linear storyline with multiple dialogue choices that affect flavour text and one choice that affects something fun later on!
  • Multiple original, full-colour backgrounds and multiple character expressions
  • Custom UI

Character Header

Meet the cast of Halloween Scrooge: The Ghosts of Halloween History, Hedonism, and Future:

Jak Character Bio

Endo Character Bio

Grimm Character Bio


About Header

Halloween Scrooge is a short visual novel/kinetic novel created by Vanade for SpooktoberVNJam 2021. This project was Vanade's first visual novel and solo-developed game, with all assets created by Vanade including character/background art, custom gui elements, logo, promo material and script + programming. The original demo comprised 30% of the final game and was released Oct 1st 2021, with the final game released weeks afterwards on Oct 27.

Thanks for checking it out!

See more of Vanade's art at https://vanade.tumblr.com  or twitter: https://twitter.com/veetwentythree

Follow Vanade's indie VN studio Hamilton Hour at Hamilton Hour on twitter.

Additional Credits: 

Composer (Main Theme):

Melia Keys

Beta Readers:
  • Ravenville Mayor
  • Ravenville  Gardener
  • Chelsea
  • Fareeha

Download

Download NowName your own price

Click download now to get access to the following files:

HalloweenScrooge-2.0-win.zip 177 MB
HalloweenScrooge-2.0-mac.zip 160 MB
HalloweenScrooge-2.0-linux.tar.bz2 165 MB
HalloweenScrooge-2.0-web.zip 153 MB

Development log

Comments

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(+2)

Love the guys, but the bear has my heart <3

(1 edit) (+1)

I miss your Halloween hotties  😔

Jak would look better with his lips on mine ngl

(+1)

Just played this to get into the Halloween spirit, I've had it saved since I played your other game, 3 Seasons! It's so cute, I loved all the ghosts as well as MC (and the bear for lowkey being a shipper on deck >:3c ) I think Jak might have juuuust the slightest edge for being so adorably blushy!

Aw thank you!!! There's something about an easily flustered stoic chara that just hits different LOL

Bear, funnily enough, was inserted as a last minute NPC for chitchat and took on a life of his own as a wingman 

Will it be for android someday? The game looks amazing, but I sadly have an android😭

(+1)

I've been wanting to comment on this game since last Halloween! It's really helped me enjoy the season and just chill out in the evenings. 

The characters' names and designs were so creative. Plus, I love their unique personalities. I had a good time playing all of their routes. Jak was my favorite because he was so fun to tease >:)) 

 This is definitely one of my favorite short games. Great job guys! I'm looking forward to following "3 Seasons" :D  

Apologies for the belated reply and thank you so much for your sweet comment!! ♥♥♥ 

who doesn't love an easily flustered tsundere to tease heheh

Thank you~ It was a work of love and something I'm still proud of as my first game :D

This game is such an adorable quick play!!

The character designs are addictive! Not to mention, I love that the M/C also has some comedic lines (it gives the character some flavor that not many other games have.)

The art is so perfect and I'm obsessed with the pumpkin heads that the staff wear at the little fair scene!!! 

Seriously, I love how easily Jak blushes and his outfit was so good I'm decently sure it killed me, buried me, and brought me back to life. (Maybe I'm a ghost too?)

I love the huge switch from Endo's rambunctious personality to the intimidating stature of Grimm!!!! 

This game is so so so sweet and I'm so glad I took some time to play it <3

Thank you so much for your sweet comment!!! ♥  I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it (and the MC's humour, and the art, and jak's blushing--I'm a sucker for making him do that heheh) 

(+3)

this game is so cute!! perfect for Halloween, and the characters are lovely. Thank you for making this!

(+1)

I'm glad you enjoyed it!! Thank you for playing and for the comment ♥

(+1)

Found this game just in time! absolutely adored it omg... laughed more than I thought I would going in... and usually for games i expect to like one 'romantic interest'.... but honestly... all of the guys were p fun in their own ways. Awesome designs, nice MC! Just simple and straight to the point :)

(+1)

Thank you so much for your kind words! ♥ I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the game :D 

(1 edit) (+3)

I absolutely loved the game. Never have I related so much to an MC. Like poor MC literally just moved to the neighborhood after a 4 hour trip and an expensive bill, and arrived somewhat late into the neighborhood cut them some slack. But I'm glad Jak was understanding at the end because I think it really helps. I was finding the whole thing absurd at first just like MC, but in the end it grew on me. I adored Endo's energy and whenever I tried to flirt and whatnot I was instantly assaulted with full force, dang it you win this round Endo... And Grimm? Holy hell was it amusing to see the difference, also nice to see his dynamic with MC because despite whatever personality MC has I genuinely think it works with Grimm, also he fancy and pretty. Decked out even more than Jak and Endo but I think it makes sense since Jak has a childish feel to it to appeal to children, Endo has a pretty simple easy to move in costume that helps him with parties, while Grimm looks fancy since his job entails about companies and their capitalism. I don't know if it was intended but absolutely loved it either way! Thanks so much for creating this visual novel and letting it be free!

Thank you SO much for your kind words and sorry it took so long to reply; I read your comment + review back when you posted them and they really touched my heart, I meant to follow up but life has been so busy! I'm so glad you enjoyed the characters and their personalities, they were a lot of fun to write and design. Thank you for playing!! ♥

Ahaha it's fine! I'm sure life can be busy and I'm glad my comment and review was able to touch your heart and make you happy! Good luck to any future projects you have but also to general life itself! Take care!

(1 edit) (+3)

I really loved the game! The MC was so relatable to me, almost everything that crossed my mind they did, it was so funny to see a cranky protagonist like me. We don't celebrate Halloween in my country, I only saw in movies and thought it could be fun, but now I just don't care. But the ending was so cute, it made me want to celebrate a little.

Anyways, the characters, I loved them, even though the game was short, their personalities stuck with me. Jak was everything I thought. I love when a character looks tough outside but when you look through their actions you can see they are very kind and responsible. Now Endo gave me a bad impression at first bc he was so flirty and ugh... but I didn't expect he would be kinda shy. I liked it. And Grimm *muah* *chef's kiss*, his design is perfect, fell in love at the first sight, too bad we couldn't see much of him, but he seems a lot fun to tease...

Thank y'all for the game, I really enjoyed, I hope I can see more content 👀👀


(+1)

Thank you so much!!! I honestly gushed over this comment hahaha! I'm so happy to hear the game was relatable to you, that's one of the best compliments I could receive writing-wise. I worried a little bit in making this game that it wouldn't quite land with people who live in countries where Halloween isn't as big of a deal, so it's a relief to hear it's still relatable!

Loved hearing your thoughts on the characters! 

I do wish I'd had more time to expand Grimm's part and give more than the tease there is of him!

Anyway thank you again for the thoughtful comment, getting these really motivates me to come back to Halloween Scrooge with an expansion/follow-up.

(+1)

<3

(+2)

The characters in this were amazing! Im kind of obsessed with them >w< I'd love to see more work with them but i know how easy it is to get burnt out while making a game (i've been trying for two years now not a single demo even done >X<)

(+1)

Thank you!!  I would definitely like to expand their world, potentially add more characters etc but I'll have to take it slow on a bigger project, maybe in time for next halloween. 

Re: burnout, doing this solo did not help LOL but if you can get a team, a gamejam is a suuuper efficient way to get at least a demo done for your first game! Having that deadline set in stone was a good motivator. 

Hahhhh I loved this so much!! I do hope there will be a sequal in the future with individual routes heheh -//^//

(+1)

Thank you! We'll see hahah!

(+1)

Such a cute, fun game! I wish it was longer, but in a good way. It feels complete, just that it gives off a feeling of "can't get enough" with regards to the characters.

Thank you!! I'm really happy to hear that, it was definitely a concern to me whether the story would be cohesive enough to make up for the shorter length due to the timeframe.

(+1)

Just played the full version and I still loved it! No spoilers but the addition to Jak's scene made me giggle. And Grimm was exactly how I imagined he'd be, and by that I mean he was perfect.

It's rare for someone to make all the art by themselves like you did with the sprites and the backgrounds and the CG and the GUI and the literally everything. That's a ton of work, I hope you're proud! :)

(+1)

Thank you so much!!  I'm glad you enjoyed it and that Grimm didn't disappoint heheh. It was exhausting for sure but well worth the experience. 

(+2)

Aww that was cute!

The moment I saw the main menu, I already found it cute (those candy menus =w=), then when I saved there was a curious menu that says "Hi!"- that was cute of you >w<

And then the ending! That was so cute. The final CG was just HHHHHHH. CUTE.

I JUST KEEP SAYING CUTE.

Anyway, I didn't expect it, but I think my favorite ended up being Jak. Idk, he just seemed so nice up until the end. Even with all the flirting options I picked, he was so patient. 

I also liked the touch with the soda/ketchup choice. I was wondering why Jak was placed there. Again, CUTE.

OK. GONNA STOP NOW.

Great job finishing!

Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! I really appreciate it. I'm so glad you enjoyed the little details, and Jak's cuteness stood out! I didn't think he would have as many fans as the other two so it's nice to hear that he's someone's fave heheh! 

Cute game! I may or may not have flirted with all of them haha.

Spoilers below!





A little sad the time with Grimm was so short! and I wanted to see blushy Grimm.
Seeing Jak blush every time I flirted with him was so cute. Then I got to Endo and I was like, "omg I want him to blush, why is he not blushing?!!"
It was so satisfying finally seeing him blush. Truthfully, I wanted to date them all.................yeah I'm thirsty.
Overall the game was quite fun! The idea was unique and the character designs were on point. The characters themselves were also very cool! The art scene at the end was very pretty, I wasn't expecting it, but I liked it a lot. The only thing that took away from the experience a tiny bit (at least for me - and it's quite minor) was the lack of music at times. Other than that, I would be interested in playing any of your future games. Cheers!

(1 edit) (+1)

Thank you so much for your comment, I really appreciate it!!
Grimm did have a super subtle blush if you chose to flirt at the very last option (saying you got to see him smile; the dialogue was "got him!") but since he disappears if you click right away, it might not have been super visible hahaha. I'll consider bumping up the visibility on it so it's a bit more clear.


Flirting with all of them is totally the recommended path ;)  we're all thirsty here hehehe.

Absolutely re: music, I would have loved to add more but lack of time/resources to hire a composer for a full sound track meant I didn't have time to focus on that, but it's something I'm def going to be aware of for future games. If Halloween Scrooge gets some traction I'm considering making a sequel otome/amare game expanding on this world a bit with routes for these 3.

Thank you for playing and I'm glad you enjoyed it!!

I'll have to go back and see that blush now. I must've clicked too fast! I get that you were on a time crunch, and the game was great considering it was made for a jam. A sequel would be super cool to see since all the characters were quite lovable. I hope this game will get more attention in the future, it's very short and sweet :)

YASSSS I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THE FULL VERSION! HYPPEEE. Will come back once I finished XDXD

Thank you so much for your support! 

WHAT THIS GAME IS UNDERRATED 10/10 would and will read again

Thank you!! I'm so happy to hear that, glad you enjoyed it!

Ahhh i love it! the characters are so cool and the story was amazing. Im just sad at how short it was. I really would like a longer storyline like this

Thank you! I would have loved to make it a bit longer but 8 weeks straight between September and Halloween limited me (and caused a bit of burnout hhahah). I'm exploring the idea of a longer otome / Amare game sequel with routes for these 3 if there's enough interest in Halloween Scrooge. 

ooh a oteme sequel of them would be amazing!

(+1)

Everyone should play Halloween Scrooge! :)

❤️

(+1)

The game seems interesting and I liked the characters from what little time we have with them thusfar. Really enjoy the character design for Grimm in particular. Evidently, there isn't much to it yet but I'm looking forward to when you have the time to complete it.

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the demo. Grimm is my personal favourite design as well hahah. I'm on track to launch the final game early next week!