Halloween

Halloween has arrived in Lineguard, and it's the first of a whole year of events. Until 2 November, every world turns to dusk, pumpkins line the path, and the Build tab has three items you can only get while it lasts.

Halloween, until 2 November

• Pumpkin head: a grinning jack-o-lantern in place of your ninja's head. It faces the way he runs.
• Witching hour: a deep purple outfit fading to violet.
• Jack-o-lantern trail: orange and purple sparks behind him as he runs and dashes.
• A purple dusk over every world, with pumpkins along the path.

It isn't just Run. Your pumpkin ninja comes with you into Fight and Duel too.

Get them before they go

Open the Shop and tap Build. Event items carry a small orange Halloween badge so they're easy to spot, and you can try each one on before you spend a coin. Once you buy one it's yours for good, even after the event ends. If you miss it, it won't be back in the Shop until next October.

Events all year

Halloween is the first of eight. Each one turns on by itself on the day, with its own sky, things along the path and three limited items:

• Diwali (5 to 11 November): oil lamps, rising embers, a Marigold band, a Saffron outfit and a Diya lamps trail.
• Christmas (12 to 27 December): falling snow, presents by the path, a Santa hat, a Candy cane band and a Snow and stars trail.
• New Year (28 December to 6 January): fireworks over a night sky, a Party hat, the Midnight gold outfit and a Confetti trail.
• Lunar New Year (3 to 9 February): red lanterns, a Lion dance mask, a Red and gold outfit and a Firecrackers trail.
• Valentine's (10 to 16 February), Easter (20 to 29 March) and Summer (all of July) follow.

Also new since the last update

• Lineguard is on iPhone and Android: search for it on the App Store or Google Play. Leaderboards for Run, Fight and Duel work in the apps too.
• See who's online in Duel: the Duel button shows how many players are around, and the Duel screen lists them with a Challenge button. A challenge reaches you even mid-match against a bot.
• Your Duel record on the leaderboard: wins and losses for every player.
• Guard in Fight: hold your finger still for a moment to block a blow from any side, just like in Duel. The third blow in a row still breaks it.
• New best, as it happens: pass your best score in Run or Fight and it turns gold, with a burst of ink.
• Report a name from any leaderboard by tapping it.

Tips

• The Halloween items look best together: Pumpkin head, Witching hour and the Jack-o-lantern trail, then dash through a crowd in Fight to see the sparks fly.
• In Fight, block one or two blows, then let go and hit back before the third.

Thanks for playing! Which Halloween item did you pick first? And which event are you waiting for? Tell me in the comments.