I just finished the Costume Quest DLC, Grubbins on Ice. It retains the charm of the original game, but adds three new costumes and a rather brief foray into the Repugia world.

I haven’t played DLCs very often because I’m not in the habit of buying a lot of the games that release DLCs. I am more familiar with expansions, which are at least half the length of the original game. Grubbins on Ice was maybe a quarter, if that. Nonetheless, it was still quite fun to play and the new costumes (an eyeball, a pirate, and a yeti) also had interesting skills that made the battles more interesting.

The pattern of Repugia divided up the four types of monsters into their separate villages or “tribes.” The game play was pretty much linear with each village requiring a task to be carried out for the village elder in order to progress. There’s also a lot of forays into caves to collect candy, quest items, and costume materials. One cave even involved a puzzle, which wasn’t too difficult and is good if you’re looking more for the brainless pleasure of playing rather than getting your hands dirty in puzzle solving. Otherwise, the quest mechanics were largely the same – instead of trick or treating, you’re now trying to recruit people (but they all decline and give you candy anyway), you are still playing a trading card game with some of the NPCs, and you can bob for eyeballs instead of apples. The ending sets up the stage for either a sequel or a series of DLCs.

For a DLC, Grubbins on Ice is not bad. It’s a good way to spend a couple more hours in a game you like.