Google’s Halloween doodle is an adorable ghostly duel game

The novelty of Google’s doodles doesn’t really wear off does it? The doodles have always been a pretty great way to signify dates of historical importance, but when it comes to holidays and festivities Google ups the effort and sometimes brings us a little game to play instead. 

This year Google has brought back a game from a previous Halloween: Great Ghoul Duel. This 4v4 arena duel is part Snake and part Slither.io. It’s all about collecting Spirit Flames across the map and then bringing them back to your base. The team with the most flames by the end of the time wins, simple eh?

There is one wrinkle, though: if your chain of Spirit Flames is interrupted by the enemy team, they can steal the flames and you’ll be stunned for a second, mourning the loss of your hard earned orbs. It’s pretty easy to get a hang of and there are even some achievements you can earn if you’re really into the game. It’s a nice little Halloween treat, and I always appreciate it when there are thematically spooky games without too many scares involved. 

When Doodles arrive, Google puts together a little page of information on the project and even sometimes notes about how it was created. The Great Ghoul Duel’s page has some credits, early sketches of the game’s new characters, and even the names of the ghosts you play when you embark on your battles. My favourite is the little ghost cat with a fish in its mouth. Their name is Olive and I’d do anything for them. 

And if you’re not into the new game and miss 2016’s Magic Cat Academy, don’t worry, you can still play it in the Doodles archive for your fill of spooky browser game content.