Halloween in Switchback.

Switchback has its first seasonal event. From October 17 to October 31, every park dresses up for Halloween. It is free, it is the same on iPhone, iPad and Android, and there is nothing to switch on. If your game is on version 1.0.8 or later, it is already happening.

The dates are your own calendar, not the park’s. A year in a Switchback park goes by in a few minutes, so a Halloween on that clock would be over in under a minute, probably at noon. Instead it follows the date on your phone, and it is Halloween in every park you open.

Things to build

For two weeks the build menu has a Halloween shelf. Look for the little pumpkin on the tabs, or tap the Halloween filter to see only the seasonal things.

• Jack-o’-lanterns, carved and lit, that glow properly once the sun goes down.
• A pumpkin patch, a scarecrow and corn shocks.
• A small graveyard behind an iron fence.
• A witch’s cauldron with a bubbling green brew and a broom propped beside it.
• A pumpkin trail lantern. Swipe the ordinary trail lantern and it is right there.

When Halloween is over, what you placed stays. Your graveyard is still there in March; you just cannot build a new one until next October.

The park decorates itself

You do not have to place a single pumpkin to see it. The buildings already in your park dress up on their own, and go back to normal on November 1:

• Cabins, visitor centers and entrance arches get jack-o’-lanterns, pumpkin piles and corn shocks out front.
• The campground goes all in: campsites, tents, picnic tables, fire circles, bear boxes and bathhouses.
• The snack bar strings orange, purple and green party lights under its awning, and the snack cart gets caramel apples.
• The hay wagon turns into a hayride of pumpkins, and the info board gets flyers and a paper bat.
• The ghost cabin gets the most: a bedsheet ghost, cobwebs, green jack-o’-lanterns, headstones and a cauldron.

If you would rather keep something plain, tap it and turn off Holiday decorations on its card.

Visitors in costume

Some of your visitors arrive dressed up: about a quarter of the grown-ups and more than half of the kids. There are witches in tattered capes, cat ears, devil horns, vampires with slicked-back hair and red-lined collars, and Frankenstein’s monsters with flat tops, stitches and neck bolts. They hike, picnic and leave notes like anyone else. They just look better doing it.

Keep an eye on the sky

Once in a while, at dusk or after dark, a witch on a broom flies across your park, with her black cat along for the ride. She is rare. If you see her, you have done well.

The start screen joins in too: the hikee on the menu has a jack-o’-lantern sneak up behind him.

The pumpkin moon

On October 31, all day, the moon turns pumpkin orange. Just for the one day, in every park. On November 1 it is a moon again.

If you cannot wait until the 31st, there is a cheat code under Settings ▸ About. It is the word you would guess.

Halloween is the first of these. There will be more holidays. Send me a screenshot of your spookiest park at support@swanklabsgames.com, or post it in the Discord.

Go build a nice place. Put a pumpkin on the bench.

— Kristian