It's the Halloween weekend and what better way to prepare than a weekend buff for the five scariest Crusaders. Starting today, the five Crusaders below will receive boosts until Monday, October 31 at Noon PDT.

• Emo Werewolf - Base DPS +400%
• Detective Kaine - A-Hah! ability +200%
• Artaxes, the Lion - Roar! ability +200%
• Sarah, the Collector - All DPS +100%
• Littlefoot - Growing Up ability +200%

Also, check out the limited-time Wondrous Jeweled Chests that contain equipment for the five Crusaders above! (Please note: The chest will only contain gear for Littlefoot if you've unlocked her.)

This is the third of our player interviews where we celebrate your fandom for Crusaders of the Lost Idols. This week we speak to Roku from California.

Introduce yourself to your fellow Crusaders!

Call me Roku. I live California.

When did you start playing Crusaders of the Lost Idols and on what platform?

I started playing it on Steam soon after the Steam release. I saw it in the clicker category and thought it looked interesting. It was!

Which is your favourite campaign, event, and Crusader?

My favorite campaign is Ready Player 2 due to all the game references. The Merci event is probably my favorite seasonal because of how ridiculous and silly it is. Finally, my favorite Crusader is the Hermit. He may be crazy but in a good way. I don't think he's washed-up at all!

Roku's favourite campaign: Ready Player Two.

What got you hooked on Crusaders of the Lost Idols?

It has a lot more strategy involved than other clickers. Player skill can go a long way, so it holds my attention more. Each new upgrade and Crusader often has me altering my formations to improve them as much as possible.

"It has a lot more strategy involved than other clickers."

What other games do you play?

Right now I'm playing Final Fantasy XIV, Persona 5, and Katamari Forever.

Roku is also playing Katamari Forever.

What is your all-time favourite game? (other than Crusaders, of course).

There are far, far too many to choose from. I don't even know where to begin.

"Invest in idol gain Talents such as Efficient Crusading"

What tips do you have for new Crusaders players?

It pays off to read what each Crusader upgrade does and think them over, especially Event Crusaders who tend to have at least one ability that seems much more complicated than the abilities of the starting Crusaders. Invest in idol gain skills such as Efficient Crusading when you can. They really pay off!

What advanced tips do you have for Crusaders players?

Everyone has their favorite Crusaders, but don't rest on your laurels too much. New Event Crusaders or even new gear or weekend buffs change the status quo all the time. A Crusader you might have found weak before may suddenly become a must-have. It pays to think things through whenever you get someone or something new. Even Crusaders and gear that might seem useless at first might have a hidden usefulness if you think outside the box.

Hallowe'en is Coming to Bushwhackia!

Who doesn't love a good haunted mansion? Well, that's what Hallowe'en in Bushwhackia is all about! But to decorate your very own, you need to do what you do best! Go out into the world and whack bushes to find Pumpkins. Once you have found a patch of pumpkins, you can buy decorations from Glenda outside the mansion, or from the "Store" button while you're in Build Mode inside. Once you feel you've got enough, start laying out your design inside. (You can also purchase the same decorations for Bush Bucks from the Cop in the event area.)

You do not have to place all your collected decorations on display in the Mansion in order for them to count towards "Hallowe'en Completionist," they will count so long as they are within your haunted house inventory.

The goal is to scare the pants off the 8 children standing in front of the house, all of varying levels of bravery. The more you scare them, the more candy you'll earn in return. And you're going to want that candy so you can trade it for the custom items at the event store! You can try scaring them every 20 hours after you scared them the first time.

Glenda the Good Witch isn't just for buying decorations with Pumpkins. You will also be getting several quests from her throughout the event for special interactive decorations. You will need all four to complete the "Hallowe'en Completionist" achievement. As you complete each of her four quests, you can request help from your friends* by talking to the Construction Worker to increase the decoration's scariness.

*Platforms which do not support Friend Lists will have an adjusted static scariness.

The Haunted Mansion Photo Contest will be starting soon!

Gotta Collect them all!

What can possibly make your house scarier? How about some Creatures which wander around your mansion! Each creature will become available for a set amount of dates which you can then request from friends* by talking to the the Cop. You will need one of each creature to complete the "Hallowe'en Completionist" achievement; if you miss a creature, you can still purchase one from the Cop for Bush Bucks.

Creatures are available on the following schedule:
Black Cats - AVAILABLE at Event launch, UNTIL Sun Oct 23, 11:59:59 AM PDT
Witches - AVAILABLE Sun Oct 23, Noon PDT UNTIL Tues Oct 25, 11:59:59 AM PDT
Zombies - AVAILABLE Tues Oct 25, Noon PDT UNTIL Thurs Oct 27, 11:59:59 AM PDT
Bats - AVAILABLE Thurs Oct 27, Noon PDT UNTIL Sat Oct 29, 11:59:59 AM PDT
Spiders - AVAILABLE Sat Oct 29, Noon PDT UNTIL Mon Oct 31, 11:59:59 AM PDT
Vampires - AVAILABLE Mon Oct 31, Noon PDT UNTIL Wed Nov 2, 11:59:59 AM PDT
Franken-Dogs - AVAILABLE Wed Nov 2, Noon PDT UNTIL Event End

*Platforms which do not support Friends Lists can receive a single creature for free as they become available, by speaking to the Cop.

Candy! Candy! Candy!

To buy the custom items, you need your Candy! Not only do you get it from scaring those insolent little kiddies, you also net some from completing the various quests given to you by the Halloween NPCs hanging out in the event area!

Plus from Monday October 31st until the end of the event, you can hunt down denizens of Bushwhackia and Trick-or-Treat with them for Candy goodness! There will be a spooky character standing in front of a pile of Candy in each of the major areas! So 1 in the Mysterious Forest, 1 in the Shady Detour, etc. NPCs have been added up to the Spine of the World!

New for 2016:
We've added a new quest to the event which will reward something players will really enjoy! Keep a look out for the 3 stages to this new quest as the event goes on!

Event Achievements - POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!!!

There are a total of 15 possible Achievements to earn in the Hallowe'en 2016 event:

Achievements Returning in 2016:

• Mansion Maniac - Get 50 decorations for your Haunted Mansion!
• Hallowe'en Completionist - Have at least one of each decoration in your H. M.!
• Little Kid Spooker - Scare 4 kids in you Haunted Mansion
• Scarred for Life - Scare all the kids in your Haunted Mansion!
• Trick or Treat - Go Trick or Treating on or after Hallowe'en!
• Costume Quest - Complete the Costume Quests
• Year Round Scares - Completed the Moulder Most Foul
• Pumpking - Grow a very large Pumpkin.

Added for 2016:

• All Hallows' Items* - Purchase all the 2016 Hallowe'en Event items.
• There's a Skeleton in Us All - Help The Bone Doctor build and animate a skeleton for Halloween!

We have 4 achievements from previous year's events, which may be earnable by spending some Bush Bucks, if a player was not present during the initial years:

• Spooky Home Decorator - get all house items from the 2012 Hallowe'en Event!
• Year-round Cosplayer - Get all player items from the 2012 Hallowe'en Event!
• Candy Spender - Purchase all the Hallowe'en 2013 items!
• Spooky Purchases - Purchases all the 2014 Halloween Event items.
• Halloweenie - Purchase all the 2015 Hallowe'en Event items.

*The Hallowe'en Mini Golf piece is NOT included in the All Hallows' Items achievement, and therefore it is not required to purchase it.

Grab Your Spooky Companion for Bush Whacking!

Pet Packs for 2016- COMING SOON!

Previous Year's Event Pets available for Bush Bucks:



Halloween Kitty - 25% of Nothing Wins transform into Sweets at Max Level
Pet Monster - 25% of Nothing Wins transform into Sweets at Max Level
Baby Cthulhu - 25% of Nothing Wins transform into Sweets at Max Level



Vacuum Kitten - 25% of Nothing Wins transform into Sweets at Max Level
Sad Mummy - 25% of Nothing Wins transform into Sweets at Max Level
Beholder - 25% of Nothing Wins transform into Sweets at Max Level



Kitten Witch - 25% of Nothing Wins transform into Sweets at Max Level
Creepy Pumpkin - 25% of Nothing Wins transform into Sweets at Max Level
Emo Werewolf - 25% of Nothing Wins transform into Sweets at Max Level


Post your Hallowe'en scariness and questions on the forum!

The event will run until Friday November 4th at Noon PST!

Frequently Asked Questions

• How can I find the Pumpkins?
  Just keep whacking. The Holiday Item runes and pets will help attract them as well.


• How do I decorate my Mansion?
  You need to whack up Pumpkins. You can buy decorations from Glenda in the event area, or from the Store when you're in Build mode inside the Mansion. Once you have decorations, you can place them like you're decorating your ranch using Build mode.


• How do I get the Hallowe'en Completionist achievement?
  You need to buy each of the decorations available for Pumpkins, as well as make all 4 decorations that Glenda offers you along with getting at least 1 of each of the Creatures the Cop will let you request from your friends. You don't have to place them in your mansion though.


• How do I scare the Kids?
  Just keep buying decorations and getting friends to up the scare level of your interactive decorations. As your event progress increases, you will scare the kids more and more. As well, when you reach a certain level of scariness, the kids will elect to no longer tour your house.


• Does the Timey-Wimey watch or Time Turner affect the Kids?
  No, the kids do not have quest cooldowns, so trinket effects that work for quests will not apply to them.


• What adds to my event progress?
  Making your mansion as scary as possible by buying decorations (but you don't have to place them all.)


• Do I have to do the achievements?
  No. Completing the goals for the achievements is totally optional. You get either a large energy pack or a title for your character from them, no event progress.


• Where can I see all the achievements available and how to get them?
  Either on the holiday dialog, the achievements dialog, or on the blog.

Halloween is here! It always makes Emo reflective on the time he was in ghoul school. Relive his memories as he tells you the tale of what makes him emo, and tackle the 2016 edition of Emo's New Moon event!

Revisit the halls of his old school and the neighbourhood he used to call home, as you help to defeat the ghouls and haunts of his past. Don't be frightened; you're likely to survive.

Tier 1 Information

If it's your first time playing through our spooktacular Halloween event, or if you are finishing up Tier 1 to unlock the Tier 2, you get to tackle these objectives in order to move on. The requirements needed to start them are listed in the brackets.

• Moonrise With Emo (100 Candies): Recruit Wendy the Witch while she debuffs adjacent Crusaders for each monster on the screen. Wendy swaps with Prince Sal, and once she's on your team, she gets DPS from having monsters on screen.
  
  
  
  Wendy the Witch


• Bring Forth the Pumpkin (700 Candies): Recruit Jack O'Lantern by clearing area 100 while Jack occupies a spot and increases the damage Crusaders ahead of him take. Once he's on your team, he swaps with Natalie Dragon and gets power from tanking enemies.
  
  
  
  Jack O'Lantern


• Power of the Wyrd Sister (1300 Candies, 500 Idols): Survive the onslaught of ghouls by clearing area 150 with double the enemies, double the quest item requirements and enemies dropping less gold and quest items.


• Pumpkin Spice Tanke (1900 Candies, 1000 Idols): Reach area 200 with caffeine-powered monsters who are eager to reach you and do some damage.


• All New! Trick or Treat (2500 Candies, 1500 Idols): Get to area 250 while special Trick and Treat monsters randomly spawn, giving you an awesome treat or a nasty trick on their demise.
  
  
  
  Trick or Treat?
  
  Note: Since the Trick or Treat objective was just added this year, players who completed this event last year will need to do it prior to starting the Tier Two objectives, so be sure to save up 2,500 Candies before resetting to start the event!

Tier 2 Information

Once you've completed all of Tier 1 and have the Talent "Doing It Again" from the Talents shop, you are ready to get your fright on in the new objectives added for 2016!

• The Scaredy-Ghoul (400 Candies): Recruit Henry, the Scaredy-Ghoul to your roster by escorting him to area 300 while he occasionally gets spooked and reduces your DPS to 0.
  
  
  
  Henry, the Scaredy-Ghoul
  
  Henry, the Scaredy-Ghoul just wants to be left alone curled up in a corner with his blanket, but since you're nice enough to ask, he'll lend you his DPS power. When you swap out The Washed-Up Hermit for Henry, as long as no one is directly behind him, Henry's skill Spooked boosts his DPS by a whopping 250%.


• Research and Development (700 Candies): Who doesn't need more robots to keep them company? Recruit the Fright-O-Tron 4000 by escorting her earlier prototypes to area 300.
  
  
  
  Fright-O-Tron 4000
  
  Swapping with the Fire Phoenix, the Fright-O-Tron 4000 can't help being scary: it's how she was made. But she'll be supportive of your Crusaders when you use her. Oogy-Boogy decreases the maximum health of the monsters, and Remote Detonation has an explosive surprise for those looking to do you harm.


• G-g-g-ghost! (2500 Candies): Reach area 400 with killer ghosts approaching your formation. Oh, and the ghosts are invincible (real ghosts can't be touched after all.)
  
  
  
  G-g-g-ghost!!


• Scared to Death (2500 Candies): It's your Crusaders turn to be scared by all the death they've caused. Reach area 450 with every monster death frightening a random Crusader. When a Crusader gets scared enough, they go catatonic!


• Halloween Hoopla (2500 Candies): The Halloween Crusaders have decided to go out and party, to get to know each other better. They've invited Bush Whacker, Khouri, Merci and Nate along for the ride, so that they can be healed while tanking and take advantage of blowing up the world when they're done. Help this party of 8 reach area 500 on your final journey of the event.

Craving more candies? Don't forget that you can use Time Warps to acquire them!

Good luck on your journey filled with haunts and frights! The event will run until Wednesday November 2nd at Noon PDT!

Hi Whackers!

Fresh off his success in the Infected Plains, Investigator Kaine is ready to tackle a mystery in the icy wastes of the Spine of the World. Grab your ice skates and join him.

If you have completed the Mystery of the Infecting Machines and have reached the second field of The Path Through the Mountain, talk to the Town Crier to get started with helping Kaine slip and slide through his latest mystery.

Warm up with your fellow Whackers on the forums!

We don't need roads where we're going! Mostly because to enjoy this week's update you just need a computer or mobile phone. Nike Mag shoes are optional.

This week we launch four new challenging objectives for the Idols Through Time campaign.




New Objective: Echoes
In the objective Echoes you'll encounter randomly spawned malevolent versions of your Crusaders that can't be killed for 30 seconds but will still deal damage to you. If they're at the forefront of the enemy's attack, they'll soak up all your DPS until they disappear. You're going to want to clear all 600 areas as soon as possible to beat them.

New Objective: Hamstrung
The objective Hamstrung will only allow you to use Crusaders that don't have a DPS tag all the way to area 600. Time to find a new main dps'er!

New Objective: The Lost World
The Lost World objective sees you transported back to the Jurassic period and attacked by a cornucopia of dinosaurs. These beasts include ones that are invisible, tanky, super-fast, and others that will do ranged damage to your formation.

The final new objective is Atrophy where all Crusaders will take 1% damage per second until you can clear the area. Then you start all over again until you can beat area 700.

Plus, this weekend we're buffing some October-loving Crusaders from today until Monday, October 17 at Noon PDT.

• The Washed Up Hermit - Base DPS + 400%
• The Princess - DPS All + 100%
• Natalie Dragon - Gold Find + 100%
• Nate Dragon - Double Dragon + 200%
• Mister the Monkey - Follow the Leader + 200%

Also, check out the limited-time Octoberfun Jeweled Chests that contain equipment for the five Crusaders above! (Please note: The chest will only contain gear for Mister the Monkey if you've unlocked him.)

Good luck Crusaders, you'll need it!

What is Extra Life?

Extra Life is a fun program set up to raise donations for Children's Miracle Network hospitals. Money raised gets donated as unrestricted funds, for the hospitals to use as needed. What's awesome is that you can help by doing what you normally do: game! For more information from the Extra Life program itself, click here.

What's the Plan for 2016?

The Codename team donations will be going to the BC Children's Hospital Foundation. Last year, we managed to raise just over $5000, beating our modest goal of $1000, mostly due to Clive rocking the Princess gear and Justin's Bush Whacker 2 in-game avatars!

Princess Clive

Custom Bush Whacker 2 NPC

This year, we're starting with a team goal of $3,500. To donate to our team, you can visit here. To find a staff member with a reward you'd like, you can click on the "Roster" button.

We've set aside time on the weekend of Saturday October 22nd from 9am PDT through Sunday October 23rd at 9am PDT for our 24 hours of gaming fun. We'll be taking turns in shifts to play games and chat with our viewers and you can watch it all on our Twitch! We hope to make our fundraising goal while the live broadcast is happening, but you can donate before and after!

For those staff members whose goals require doing things live on the Stream, as we get closer to the date, we'll have a rough idea of when you can see them! Will there be more Pirate Goats?


Pirate Goat!

Extra Life: Gaming for the kids!

Hi Whackers!

Today brings a long-awaited feature update to mounts and the ownership of them! We've added 5 new functions to Clint to help you manage your mounts, and at the center of all of them are Mount Bucks.

You can earn Mount Bucks by...

Releasing Mounts!
Too many horses from your biweekly questing for a mount and Large Energy Pack? Only want to collect one of each color? Well, now you can trade in all your unwanted mounts to Clint for some of the all-new Mount Bucks!

• If you turn in a tamed mount, you'll get 10 Mount Bucks!
• If you decide you no longer love one of your premium mounts and trade it in, you'll get 100 Mount Bucks!
• The mounts received from content areas (such as secret bonus areas) or quests cannot be traded in though, but they do make nice decorations on your ranch!

Trading In Excess Feeds!
Have 100 of each of all the mount feeds you are not really interested in? Now you can trade them into Clint as well for Mount Bucks! Four small feed or one large feed will grant you a Mount Buck. You can also trade in Hay in groups of 4.

You can also spend Mount Bucks to...

Buy Mount Feed!
In addition to being able to buy premium feed for vouchers, you can also buy small and large feed for Mount Bucks. So if you're running low on Large Soybeans for example, you can pick some up with your Mount Buck collection!

Re-train Mounts!
Ever wish you could redo that last level-up of your Mount? Now you are able to buy a retry! With enough gold and Mount Bucks on hand, you can redo a level-up (or 2, or more) gone wrong, and get your mount's bonuses in perfect order!

Swap Mount Bonuses!
Are you loving your current mount set-up, but you really wish it was on your awesome Ostrich instead of your plain Black Horse? Or is today an Elephant day instead of a Momma Roo day?

Well, now for a handful of Mount Bucks, you can swap the bonus set up between mounts! It is an all-or-nothing deal though, no picking and choosing which bonuses get swapped. But it makes using the mount you adore that much easier!

We hope you enjoy this addition to the mount management system. You can post questions and feedback on the forums!

It's Thanksgiving this weekend, eh? That's right we're celebrating turkeys, autumn, and hockey in Canada this weekend, a full month before our American neighbours (although the turkeys probably don't see it as a celebration in the same way we do!)



To mark the occasion, this weekend we're buffing the five most Canadian Crusaders from today until Monday, October 10 at Noon PDT.

• Jim the Lumberjack - Gold Find +100%
• Khouri, the Witch Doctor - All DPS +100%
• Merci, the Mad Wizard - Deflect Evil ability +200%
• Pete, the Carney - Bad Joke ability +200%
• Roboturkey - Short Circuit ability +200%

Also, check out the limited-time Caturkey Jeweled Chests that contain equipment for the five Crusaders above! (Please note: The chest will only contain gear for Pete, the Carney and RoboTurkey if you've unlocked them.)

Do you need some playing tips for Crusaders of the Lost Idols? Who better to ask than your fellow players. We've collated a whole bunch of suggestions from players just like you who have found what works best for them to beat the campaigns and events.


"Do nothing but Free Plays, until have have loads of Idols. Purchase Upgrade Them All, and Spend It All, as soon as you can. Maximize your Crusader Levels BEFORE you reset, and do so with a mobile device for 25% more Idols. When you get to 300, and if you need to, 'respec' your Talents and work towards maximizing Efficient Crusading; (Keeping the two Talents I've already mentioned), and then do so again, at 600, and put Idols into Deep Idol Scavenger. It might also help to work towards the DPS Talents, to get you to 300, and 600."

Pádraig Ó T

"After you get higher rates of idols, use Smash10101 talent calculator to make the wisest talent purchases to get stronger."

Gary D

"Save time warps for events. No matter how tempting it is, save it for the event. You want those sweet events chests, and you're going to need to do a lot of Free Play to get them."

Brooke B

"Reset your free plays when you hit your soft wall. i.e. When you are no longer able to easily level-up your Crusaders and monsters are no longer being insta-killed. Grinding is the enemy if your goal is to get more idols. NEVER blacklist a Crusader. As new Crusaders are released and added to your roster, you'll suddenly find yourself using Crusaders that you have never used before. RoboTurkey and Robbie Raccoon are two Crusaders that I thought I would never use however I have found they are at the core of most of my formations now.

Amanda K

"Don't use Larry, the Leprechaun in any missions with the center taken over! Use Detective instead!"

Yuri C.

"Boost your best damage-dealer with every Buff you have. For me: Werewolf + (Jim, Sasha, Larry, RoboTurkey, Artaxes, Montana and Brogon)."

Skansy

Do you have killer tactics you want to share with other Crusaders players? Contact us on Facebook and Twitter and we'll share with the world!