Civilian tips: what to do at every stage of a match

Gold, blue, green: reading the map

Open the full map at spawn. Townsfolk show as coloured areas over the buildings they are in, and the top of the screen tracks who is alive, dead or out.

• Gold: Special targets

  Three a match. Hide them first.

• Blue: Residents

  The rest of the town. Worth more since 1.0.3.

• Green: Players

  You and your teammates.

Michael hunts the gold ones because from Bloodthirst 1 he sees any special target who isn’t hidden, as a beam over their position while he is in Shape Jump. Patch 1.0.3 lowered what a special target is worth to him and raised what every resident is worth, saved or killed, so don’t write off the blues once the gold ones are safe. Challenges that say townsfolk mean the blue residents only; special targets don’t count toward them.

The first two minutes: find the gold, hide it

Michael can't see special targets until he reaches Bloodthirst 1, which usually takes one stalked kill. You can see them on your map from the moment you spawn. That head start is the whole early game.

• Open the map before you move

  Gold areas are special targets, blue areas are residents. Run to the nearest gold. With a group, split up so each of you takes a different one, and check the house you spawned next to on the way out.

• Talk, then send them to hide

  Hold interact, hit the two skill checks, then pick Hide. A hidden target drops off your map and loses the gold glow Michael looks for, so watch which way they go. You will need to find them again later.

• Keep special targets out of the phone queue

  Every second a special target spends on the phone or trailing behind you is a second Michael can spot them. Hide the gold ones straight away and let blue residents make the calls.

• Close the doors behind them

  A resident walking to a hiding spot leaves every door on the way open. Michael checks the one open door first. Shut them and he has to search the whole house, and often he won't bother.

• Lights on, and leave when they go out

  Switch on every lamp in a house you are searching, so Michael can't Shape Jump into the room. He can still slip into a closet or a parked car in a lit area, so don't treat light as a wall. When the power cuts out, stop looting and go.

• Fire the flare gun into the sky

  A flare fired straight up fills the first police badge on the spot. It only works on the first badge, and Michael sees it fill, so do it at the very start while he is still looking for his first kill.

• Locked house? Take the window

  Diving through glass costs health, but a civilian with Capability 7 or more loses only the part that regenerates. Laurie, Bob, Rachel, Marcus and Thomas can go window to window without spending a med kit.

Bring a starting item. The pocket knife unlocks as one when Lynda van der Klok reaches level 10, and the flare gun is another. Which civilians have the Capability for window dives is on the stats page.

Talking to townsfolk: every command

Talk to someone once and after that you can order them from the command wheel: hold Z on PC, L1 on PlayStation or LB on Xbox. The wheel reaches a few metres, through walls, and orders everyone nearby at once.

Tapping the wheel button instead of holding it pings whatever you are looking at. More on that below.

Mid-match: calls, items and exits

Special targets are tucked away. Now build the things that get them out: police presence, escape items, and a route Michael isn't standing on.

• Fill the three badges

  Every call to dispatch, yours or a resident's, pushes the meter at the top right. Each full badge sends more police into town, and more police means more chances for a dead teammate to come back as a cop. What finally brings the wagon is covered on the escapes page.

• Spread calls across phones

  The same phone gets harder each time it is used, worse when two players hammer it close together. Move on to the next house's phone instead of waiting at one.

• Personality makes a call land

  Two skill checks decide whether a call is unconvincing, convincing or very convincing. Hitting them well matters most, and a high Personality pushes a shaky call up a grade. Alexis's Smooth Talker widens the perfect zone.

• Tap the wheel button to ping items

  Tap (don't hold) the command wheel button and nearby items get a red circle on your map and screen. The range is generous, so pinging as you run turns up gas cans, keys and knives you would have walked past. It does not work on exits.

• Escape items stay on the map

  Once you have seen a key item it stays marked for the rest of the match. You don't need to carry everything: leave spare bolt cutters or keys at the exit they open, where the next player will find them.

• Let a follower carry the big item

  You get one large slot. A resident following you can hold a second big item, such as a gas can while you keep the axe.

• Keep a repair kit

  Michael breaks phones, phone lines, CB radios and power boxes. A repair kit puts them back, and a broken phone stays broken until someone brings one.

• Search hiding spots for items

  Climbing into a closet, car or dumpster lets you rummage for a random item with a short minigame. Guns and knives turn up this way more often than you'd expect.

What each exit takes to open, where they spawn and what brings the police wagon are on the escapes page. What every item does is on the items page.

Stalk markers, and how to lose one

Late match: getting them out

An exit is open. This is where most of the score is made or lost, and where most civilians get it backwards by leaving first.

• You must have found the exit yourself

  A resident will only take an Escape order for an exit you personally discovered. If a teammate opened it and you never saw it, go and look before you start sending people.

• Follow, then Escape

  Hold the wheel button near anyone who has been convinced. Escape on its own leaves a hiding resident sitting in the closet; Follow first pulls them out, then Escape sends them. It works from a few metres away, through walls, and on several residents at once.

• Walk special targets to the door

  A special target out of hiding glows for Michael again. On a long run, go with them, and if he shows up, get between them and him. Knocking him down while they run is the best trade in the game, even if it costs you.

• Opening an exit with a follower behind you

  Residents following you will shove you straight through the gate or cellar the moment it opens. Tell them to wait or hide first if you aren't leaving yet.

• Check your hidden targets once police arrive

  Patrolling police NPCs open hiding spots and let residents out. When police presence is high, go back and check on the gold ones before Michael finds them wandering.

• Armed residents fight instead of fleeing

  Hand a resident a weapon and they will swing at Michael, which can knock him off a grabbed teammate. Some players find armed residents then stand their ground and die where an unarmed one would have run.

• Escape last

  Your own escape is worth little next to the townsfolk you get out, and a teammate using the cellar early takes a space a resident needed. Several challenges only count an escape after you have saved residents. Surviving until the timer ends counts too.

When a teammate takes your resident

Credit for a save goes to one player, not the team, so some players shove you out of a conversation or give your resident a fresh order at the exit to take the points. You can’t stop it outright, but you can make it harder.

1. Walk your own residents to the exit with Follow instead of sending them off alone. The escort challenges count exactly that.
2. If you need a talk or escort challenge, say so on voice. Plenty of players will leave that resident to you.
3. For big challenge counts, a private match with friends counts too and nobody competes for residents.

When Michael goes down

• Don’t stand over him. From the floor he can execute anyone close enough, and the range is longer than it looks.
• When he gets up, Patch 1.0.3 gives him a short buff: no staggers, more damage, faster swings and more damage resistance, then faster healing and daze resistance. Players time it at about 30 seconds. Scatter, heal, and set up the next fight after it runs out.
• While he is down is the moment to send residents to an open exit. With Reality Tear he can vanish from the floor, so don’t count on him staying put.

After you die: cops, Loomis and the arrest

1. 1. You can leave

   Quitting after you die keeps your XP and challenge progress. It is only added once the match you left finishes, which is why it looks lost at first.

2. 2. Or stay for the spectator minigames

   Each round fills a meter and offers cards: a perk for the civilian you are watching, XP, or a way back in. The perk cards genuinely help the players still alive, so stay at least until your teammates are out.

3. 3. Coming back as a cop

   The cop card only shows up while police reinforcements are available, which the top of the screen tells you, and it is luck: players often need three to five rounds, sometimes more. Calling the police while you are alive is what keeps officers on the map for you to replace. Some players find the card does nothing when picked and drops them back into the minigames.

4. 4. Coming back as Loomis

   A living civilian has to use the CB radio after someone has died or escaped. The Loomis slot usually goes to the first player out, though not every time. Michael can break the radio, and repairing it takes two repair kits.

5. 5. Playing the officer

   Cops and Loomis can’t talk to townsfolk, but the command wheel still works on anyone already convinced, so you can send residents to an exit. Your other job is the arrest.

6. 6. Detaining Michael

   Stay close to him until the handcuff meter fills. Then he has to be knocked down, you take the prompt, and you win a run of fast skill checks to end the match. More officers fill it faster; one officer against a Michael who knows the game almost never manages it. Whether a Fragile Hourglass still buys you the time is covered below.

Where experienced civilians disagree

Challenges these habits finish

Playing the objective is also how the civilian Progressive Challenges get done. How many of them each habit feeds, with the two smallest goals of each kind:

Every goal for every civilian is on the Progressive Challenges page.

See it played

Worth watching for the timing: the flare into the sky at the start, ordering a hidden resident from the wheel, and a police officer opening a car and letting a resident out.

It was recorded before the balance patches. Grabs, melee damage and scoring have changed since; the grabs page and patch notes have what’s different.

Questions new civilians ask

Is there a civilian tutorial in Halloween: The Game?

No. The story mode teaches Michael's side only, so civilians learn in live matches. The short version: hide the three special targets before Michael reaches Bloodthirst 1, fill the police badges and find an exit, then send everyone out before you leave yourself.

What is the difference between residents and special targets?

Special targets are the three gold townsfolk on your map; residents are the blue ones. Michael hunts special targets first because he can see unhidden ones from Bloodthirst 1. Since Patch 1.0.3 a special target is worth less to him than before and every resident, saved or killed, is worth more.

How do you fill the police badges?

Call dispatch from a phone, or tell a resident you have convinced to call. Each call adds to the meter at the top right, and each full badge sends more police. A flare gun fired into the sky fills the first badge instantly, but only the first.

How do you come back as a cop or Loomis?

After you die or escape, play the spectator minigames. A cop card can come up while police reinforcements are available, which the top of the screen shows; it is luck, and often takes several rounds. Loomis comes in when a living civilian uses the CB radio, and usually goes to the first player out.

How do you detain Michael?

Only a cop or Loomis can do it. Stay close to Michael until the handcuff meter fills, get him knocked down, then take the prompt and win a string of fast skill checks. Several officers together fill it faster; alone it almost never works against a good Michael.

How do you find special targets late in the match?

Remember where they were hidden, ask your team, and walk past likely houses spamming Follow me from the command wheel, which pulls convinced townsfolk out of hiding nearby. Smoking a joint shows their noise, and Laurie's Spatial Awareness highlights residents within 25 metres.

Why did a teammate get the points for my resident?

Save credit isn't shared, and another player giving the last order can take it. Walk your residents to the exit yourself when you can, and say on voice if you need one for a challenge.

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