Table-Tested Review of "Fight or Fright!"
Spooky month is in full swing and this week I have a neat little Halloween game to review! Fight or Fright! is a game not only made for fans of Halloween tropes, but also for those who don't like too much horror in their games. It’s about kids and their Halloween costumes that became real, it’s about saving your town and it’s about being who you are underneath your costume.
Before I dive in, some quick facts about the game.
- Game Designer: Alex Marinkovich-Josey (@MixUpPixels)
- Publisher: Plus One Exp
- Print Publication: October 7th 2025 (or 8th, depending where you live)
- Page Count: 40
- Genre: cozy spooky, Halloween, whimsical, childhood/youth adventure
There also is a podcast called Wait, Roll That Again! about the design process of Fight or Fright! which you can find here. It not only shows the game’s development, but also gives solid game design advice and it really makes me want to make stuff too, every time I listen to it.
Running Fight or Fright!
It’s just such a wholesome game. I’ve run a session myself and also played in one, run by the author himself. Both games were filled to the brim with heartwarming and funny characters. The setup questions make it easy to get a cohesive group together that really feels like a bunch of kids on Halloween night.
Prepping an adventure yourself doesn’t have to be a lot of work, either. With the help of the Festivities Sheet, defining the setting of your game together at the beginning of the session can be a lot of fun and was very well received in the session I ran. I’m still very much looking forward to ready-made adventures being published in the future, though, just so you can jump into a session without much prep at all.
The Mechanics
To resolve checks, you roll dice from one of three pools: Fight (for acting as your costume), Fright (for acting as a Kid) or Plight (for calming down). You have a total of four six-sided dice (4d6) distributed across those dice pools and dice shift between them depending on your actions.
While Fight and Fright are resolved relatively straightforward, Plight has a few special mechanics attached to it, like a special mixed success: ask the Master of Candies a question. This was one of my favourite parts of running this game, as you can bring up a lot of mysteries to make the players want to roll for Plight, even if it can bring their characters one step closer to retirement (if they roll a 1). Generally, Plight is one of my favourite mechanics of the game.
Bad rolls are only punished by shifting dice away and narrative setbacks, never harm to the children. The only way to lose your character is if they fail too many Plight rolls, which is usually unlikely to happen in a single session.
The mechanics are in a good spot of being satisfying to interact with (with a tiny bit of resource management) and simplicity, as you get the hang of how shifting the dice works.
Conclusion
Fight or Fright! is the perfect game to play on and around Halloween. It’s easy to pick up and perfect for groups who prefer a more wholesome feel to their games, but still want to delve into the spooky vibes. It definitely gained a spot in my spooky games repertoire.
There’s a Fight or Fright! Game Jam! Tomorrow!
Tomorrow a game jam will launch on itch.io and I will add the link to this post as soon as it’s live. You might even find a supplement or two from me there. Stay tuned!
Other Things Worth Sharing
There’s a Charity Bundle! Right Now!
Friends of mine have organized the HELLO//GOODBYE Charity Bundle for Legal Aid that’s live on itch.io right now. There’s some great games in there and I’ve listed a few of them below.
HELLO//GOODBYE by swanandravenstudio, an anthology zine made by people from Austria as well as America; and the beginning of this charity bundle.
Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast by Possum Creek Games, a cozy slice-of-life fantasy rpg that’s easy to pick up and play, where you’ll play residents in heartfelt little adventures around the B&B.
Levity by swanandravenstudio, an improv comedy RPG with some fantastic tables for all kinds of comedy genres.
The Sewers & The Stars by causacreations, a supplement for The Hidden Isle, a fantasy game that uses Tarot cards instead of dice, set in the sixteenth century. The supplement features two new settings in Rome and Zanzibar, an adventure in each (I’ve played in a session of the Rome one, it’s pretty great) and two new playbooks.
M is for Muscle by Wasbart, a fun little game about bulky giants that need to bring their kid to daycare, struggling with a world that’s too large for them.
Check the link above, for these and many many more!
