Games With Gold ushers in Halloween with two new free additions: Maid of Sker and Costume Quest

Another two games are spooping up the Xbox One Games with Gold scheme, well in time for Halloween. The freshly released Maid of Sker and the Double Fine classic Costume Quest are now both available for free to anyone with Xbox Live Gold or Game Pass subscriptions. 

They join the under-rated puzzler Slayaway Camp: Butcher’s Cut, which is still available, running from the 1st – 31st October. Making way is retro adventure game Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, which seems like a decent trade. Get installing: these games won’t be there forever, and Halloween is the perfect time to give them a runaround. 

What did we think of Maid of Sker? Our reviewer Gareth Brierley said that it was “a very good horror experience; one that manages to create an extremely creepy atmosphere and delivers a good story throughout. It borrows quite heavily from Resident Evil in the terms of its layout, puzzles, and maps, but that’s not a bad thing”, awarding it a 3.5/5. If you’re hankering for a Resident Evil-style survival horror game, then, it sounds like this is well worth shambling through. 

As for Costume Quest, it’s an oldie but a goody. So old, in fact, that it precedes TheXboxHub by quite a few years, so there’s no review to call on. You can be reassured that it’s well worth a play, and hasn’t aged too badly. It’s a lightweight RPG from the peeps over at Double Fine, and it manages to make an endearing, family friendly adventure out of trick-or-treating gone wrong. Pretty much just like the sequel – Costume Quest 2 – does.

It all gets interesting next month, with the release of the Xbox Series X. All eyes are on Games with Gold to see what it will offer into the next console generation. As for October, try to enjoy your more housebound Halloween with some classic horror games on Games with Gold. 

Full details of the free games delivered throughout October 2020 via the Xbox Games With Gold scheme: 

• Slayaway Camp: Butcher’s Cut: Available October 1 to 31 (Xbox One)
• Maid of Sker: Available October 16 to November 15 (Xbox One)
• Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy: Available October 1 to 15 (Xbox One, Xbox 360)
• Costume Quest: Available October 16 to 31 (Xbox One, Xbox 360)