SNAP Review – Ghosts Love Candy Too

It’s almost Halloween! Our kids love dressing up and trick-or-treating. But what about the candy? Everyone loves candy.

[Ghost] BOO!

[Ghost] Ghosts love candy, too!

Game

This is a SNAP review for Ghosts Love Candy Too, a card game designed by Danny Devine.

Ghosts Love Candy Too is an update to his game Ghosts Love Candy that was originally published in 2016. The new version has more kids, more treats, and new ghosts.

2-6 players, ages 8 and up can play Ghosts Love Candy Too, which is published by 25th Century Games.

Art

Let’s talk about the art in Ghosts Love Candy Too.

The art here is playful and perfect for this theme. Each ghost (there are 12 of them!) has a distinct personality – and they’re slightly translucent.

There are 100 unique kid cards in the game. Our family loved looking at all the costumes, and all the references.

Although some of the cards are a little text-heavy, the graphic design is really excellent. We never had questions about what a card does.

Mechanics

So what do the cards do? Let’s talk about the mechanics in Ghosts Love Candy Too.

Your goal in Ghosts Love Candy Too is to collect your favorite candies and avoid being stuck with negative points from junk “treats” and scared kids.

First, lay out the neighborhood – six kid cards, each with a single treat token.

Then every player chooses a ghost and takes the corresponding nine card deck, and a randomly chosen Craving card, which tells you how valuable each candy type is for you. Everything from licorice to candy corn to gummies.

You’ll also start the game with a few randomized treat tokens in your stash.

Every player chooses a ghost card from their hand and lays it face down. When everyone has chosen, reveal the cards! The player with the highest number goes first, then the next highest number, and so on.

On your turn, place your chosen ghost card below a kid. Immediately take all the treats assigned to that kid. Then resolve their ability – most kids’ abilities trigger immediately and can be anything from “swap a junk treat from your stash for any treat in a player’s stash” to “If you take more than 1 candy from the plumber bros, you must give one to another player”.

Lastly, check to see if any of the kids in the neighborhood are now “scared” – that is, their courage number is equal or lower than the total value of the ghosts that are haunting them. The top-most ghost in the haunting must take the scared kid and add them to their stash, and a new Kid joins the neighborhood immediately. (Most scared kids are worth negative points – but a few give bonuses instead!)

Then it’s the next player’s turn to haunt.

When everyone has played their cards for a round, add a new treat to every kid in the neighborhood and start the next round. If you draw a junk treat (Who gives a toothbrush?), add it to the kid anyway – and then add another treat token to balance it out.

Play continues until all nine ghost cards have been used. Now it’s time to tally points!

First, check to see if any kids have end-of-game abilities and resolve them.

Players get points based on their Craving card for each piece of candy in their stash. Full-size bars are always worth 5 points, but junk treats are worth negative 1.

Don’t forget to subtract (or add) points for all the kids you scared and put in your stash!

Expectations

What did we expect from Ghosts Love Candy Too?

Well, this game was designed by Danny Devine, who also designed Sprawlopolis and Circle the Wagons, two games that we really like.

The theme and the art for the kids and the ghosts immediately drew me in. I loved all the references, I was laughing the entire time we played this game.

Surprises

But there were some things that surprised us. So, what surprised us?

There were two negative things about the game for us:

At four or more players, it was common for the last player in a round to be faced with a choice between candy that wasn’t valuable for them, or a kid with no candy at all. We’re getting used to it, but if you’re just learning the game, that’s a really hard choice to make.

And even with fewer than four players, the game felt just a little bit too long. I could have stopped after seven or eight rounds instead of going the full nine.

[Anitra] One last quick negative – ties for turn order are resolved by drawing kid cards off the deck and comparing the card ID number (1-100). I really hate how this turns ties into the luck of the draw. We played a game where I tied with other players four times out of nine cards and ended up losing the tie every time.

On a positive note – I was surprised by the rulebook! It’s very clear and gives rules for “casual players” and an even easier set of rules for pre-reading kids that might struggle with some of the math. It makes this game very family-friendly.

Recommended?

So Anitra, do we recommend Ghosts Love Candy Too?

Ghosts Love Candy Too is a great fit for families who love dressing up and trick-or-treating. You can play it with pre-reading kids by ignoring kid abilities and forcing players to “give a candy back” when they scare a kid, instead of taking on negative points.

That sounds like a recommend to me.

We think this would be a good addition to family Halloween games, and we’re going to rate it 4 out of 5 candies.

That’s Ghosts Love Candy Too, in a SNAP!

Order it from Amazon, directly from 25th Century Games, or ask for it at your local game store this spooky season.

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The Family Gamers received a copy of Ghosts Love Candy Too from 25th Century Games for this review.

This post contains affiliate links, which do not change your price, but help support The Family Gamers.

SNAP review music is Avalanche, provided courtesy of You Bred Raptors?