Goosebumps: The Game

The point & click game set in the Goosebumps universe, based on the same books that served up thrills and chills to generations of pre-teens. The best thing is its atmosphere of omnipresent dread. Fans of the series will love seeing some of their favourite books in video-game format, including the one with the ventriloquist's puppet...

Goosebumps... You'll doubtless remember this series of horror stories for pre-teens that we all loved back in the '90s. They were scary, but never too terrifying, and they have regained their popularity three decades later via the movies starring Jack Black. This game is the videogame adaptation, or rather the introduction, to the 2016 movie. It's a point and click adventure that will captivate younger gamers with its mysterious atmosphere and ingenious puzzles.

We liked the games graphical style, with its hand-drawn 2D environments that are true to the aesthetic of the books. The monsters are all really well-designed so that they're scary, but not so much as to terrify kids out of playing the game. The sound effects add another dimension to the experience, again without being too intimidating for the younger audience.

The point and click gameplay is accessible, with clever puzzles and intuitive actions. The obstacles and puzzles are designed to pose what can sometimes be a frustrating challenge, encouraging kids to develop their thinking skills. The logic of the game can be a bit hard to grasp for some kids, especially if they've never played this kind of game before, but if you can explain that they need to explore every scene as much as they can and pick up every item they find, they soon get the hang of it.

But in addition to the puzzles, it's the amount of reading involved that makes this game more suitable for older kids.

Bear in mind that the story is engrossing but it is primarily a text-based one, encouraging young gamers to read the dialogue, narrative, and object descriptions in order to advance through the game. It's an approach that can help develop reading skills while also training working memory, but it might be too tricky for kids aged under 10.

Our favourite part? The ability to discover different endings and beat optional challenges. The different ways to interact with the plot add a bit of replayability, and encourage pre-teens to explore the mysterious world of Goosebumps.

With its aesthetic that's true to the books, its stimulating puzzles, troubling atmosphere and educational edge, the game is a rewarding experience for young paranormal detectives, or for adults who want to take a trip down a dark and scary memory lane.