Halloween 2018: how to play today’s multiplayer Google Doodle game

Halloween is upon us, and Google is getting into the swing of things with a spooky commemorative Doodle game.

Here’s how to play the search giant’s multiplayer treat, The Great Ghoul Duel, and what you need to know about the history of Halloween.

How to play The Great Ghoul Duel

The Great Ghoul Duel marks Google’s first ever foray into the realm of multiplayer gaming, and can be accessed by clicking on the replacement logo at the top of the search engine’s homepage.

It allows players around the world to join forces in two teams of four ghosts, with the objective of collecting the most wandering spirit flames before the moon disappears.

Flames are accrued behind your green or purple avatar in an ever-lengthening trail, reminiscent of Snake. However, there is some jeopardy: the opposition team can steal your flames as you try to safely deliver them back to base.

There are various maps on offer, and the players who collect the most flames can unlock special bonus powers, such as speed boosts.

Users can opt to take part in a quick tutorial, which covers how to move, collecting flames and stealing from the opposition, or can choose to skip it and get straight into the action by joining a game.

And if you want to make things interesting (or avoid getting anything at all done at work today), you can opt to host your own game, creating a bespoke link to share with up to seven friends, colleagues or family.

What you need to know about Halloween

Halloween is marked on 31 October every year, on the eve of the Christian feast of All Saints’ (or All Hallows’) Day.

There has been much debate over its origins, with some believing that it is solely a Christian holiday and others tracing its roots to Parentalia, the Roman festival of the dead.

However, the most commonly held theory is that Halloween’s basis is found in Samhain, a Celtic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the onset of the cold darkness of winter.

While the US has been credited with turning the date into predominantly secular, commercial enterprise today, many of the most familiar customs have deep-set roots.

Robert Burns’ poem “Halloween”, published in 1785, notes how “fearfu’ pranks ensue” and refers to the association of the night with “bogies” or ghosts.

In Scotland and Ireland it was traditional to grotesquely carve a turnip jack-o-lantern, although 19th-century American immigrants favoured the larger and softer pumpkin, which is much easier to carve.

Trick-or-treating has its origins in Christian practices such as mumming, souling and guising – which involved heading from door to door for donations of food or money.

And costumes have always been a key feature, dating back to Celts adorning themselves in animal skins during Samhain and continued by Christians dressing as saints, angels and devils.