The ‘Goosebumps’ franchise began as a novel series in 1992 about horror stories made for young readers created by legendary author R. L. Stine, who is still writing the books today. It has been adapted into various other media, including TV series, movies, comics and of course, video games. The latest game published by GameMill Entertainment and developed by PHL Collective, ‘Goosebumps: Terror in Little Creek’, is now creeping its way onto PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

Players will step into the shoes of Sloane Spencer, a young teen caught in a town of nightmares, as she unravels eerie mysteries, confronts sinister monsters and navigates haunted locations inspired by R.L. Stine’s legendary book series. The game features an all-new mystery, crafted exclusively for the game. Encounter fresh terrors inspired by the book series while uncovering the unsettling truths hidden within the town of Little Creek.

Throughout the game, players will be attempting to solve puzzles, evade creatures and uncover the dark secrets lurking in the shadows, all while experiencing the Goosebumps signature blend of spooky adventure and playful twists. The controls are straightforward and easy to pick up and play, with on-screen prompts letting you know what you can interact with.

Since this game is aimed at younger players, just like the book series is aimed at younger readers, the game is kept simple, the plot is easy to follow for the most part, and it has the right amount of spookiness to feel like a horror game, similar to something like Silent Hill, but suitable for children.

The majority of the game takes place in the dark without much light other than your torch, which gives that eerie feeling that something could be lurking around the corner or where you’d least suspect. While this may not be the scariest game for adults, kids are likely to get a fright, and it’s also a good way to ease them into the horror genre if that sparks their interest, before moving on to more intense games when they reach the right age.

A lot of the game will be spent exploring and investigating each location, looking for things that can help uncover certain points of interest and progress the story. There’s also a lot to find and just read, such as written letters and other easter eggs referencing certain story elements from the Goosebumps books, which longtime fans will certainly appreciate.

Players will come across various puzzles along the way, which range in difficulty. Simple puzzles may only require you to move a single object, while others are complex, requiring you to use more brain power, but successfully completing them always gives that satisfying feeling. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Goosebumps game without monsters, and the game comes with a nice variety of them.

The monsters come in different shapes and sizes and take inspiration from the book series. Small monsters are easier to deal with and can be taken out with your slingshot, but bigger monsters cannot be taken down at all, only slowed down temporarily by bigger ammo, and those are hard to come by, so it’s best to use them wisely.

Stealth is the key to avoiding those encounters, and there are a lot of places you can hide before it’s safe to proceed. The stealth aspect provides some tension buildup, but it isn’t all that fun, and it forces you to wait a bit longer than necessary. Stealth has proven to be fun in many other games, but here, it just drags on more than it should.

While the gameplay is kept simple, the story is the biggest reason to play this game. The Goosebumps novels always did an amazing job of drawing in young readers with imaginative, spooky worlds and brilliant storytelling by R. L. Stine, always sparking your curiosity about what could happen next. Unfortunately, the story in the latest game wasn’t written by R. L. Stine, but it does keep in the same spirit as all of his previous work.

For the most part, the game’s story is easy to follow and will keep you engaged and wanting to keep playing to find out what happens next, though it doesn’t always make it clear about what’s going on, and certain parts could do with more context.

The game has a cartoony art style with a good balance of bright colours, but in a dark, ghoulish and creepy setting. The character designs and environments resemble something you’d see in a DreamWorks animated movie, adding to the kid-friendly side of the game, and the monsters all look scary and unsettling without overdoing it and affecting the game’s rating.

The characters’ bodies are animated well, but their faces severely lack expression and look too bland when they’re supposed to be scared for their lives, almost like they’re not actually scared at all.

The voice acting is one of the game’s strongest points. The talented voice cast includes Morgan Taylor as the lead character, Sloane Spencer, Adrienne Crawford as Lydia and Lizzy, Zeno Robinson as Harvey, Elizabeth Maxwell as Mrs Schneel and Gavin Hammon and Joe Zieja as various other characters.

Their performances help bring the characters to life and give them plenty of personality, even if the characters’ facial expressions don’t reflect that. The soundtrack has a nice mix of tunes, with an upbeat, friendly, spooky track for the title screen and suspenseful tension-building music for the game.

The latest Goosebumps is a fairly short game overall, but a long enough game for its target audience and having two different endings gives it more replay value, though the $64.00 AUD price tag is quite high for the amount it gives. If the price isn’t an issue, then it’s the perfect game for kids wanting to get into the horror genre, but aren’t old enough yet, by having the right amount of spooky vibes without scaring them away for good, while testing their problem-solving skills. Fans new and old will have plenty to enjoy and be spoiled by in Goosebumps: Terror in Little Creek.

Written by: Sammy Hanson