We’re proud to present the official game event of BLOXtober 2013: The Witching Hour! The game is available with Paid Early Access starting today for the price of $1,000 ROBUX–early access means you’ll get the jump on collecting items and gear, and receive exclusive in-game benefits. The game will be open to everyone soon and running for the next couple of weeks, so don’t fret if you miss out on the early access period.

The Witching Hour features several firsts for a ROBLOX game. It introduces features and abilities that will not just change the way the game is played, but the way ROBLOX games are developed. We’re going to walk you through some of the major features of The Witching Hour, including Consumables, Companions, and the largest holiday map we’ve ever created. It’s ROBLOX Halloween 2013! Welcome!

Companions

For the first time ever, we’re giving you the option of going on this journey not just with your friends, but with your own virtual companion. Companions are customizable creatures (dogs, cats, dragons, etc.) that you are able to design to look exactly as you want. Halloween is all about dressing up to get in the holiday spirit, so we suggest wearing your favorite ROBLOX costume and dressing your companion in a similar fashion. This game will be constantly evolving, so be on the look out for gear for your companion that will not only alter its look, but its abilities.

Consumables

This is a feature we’ve been tinkering with for some time, and we decided Halloween would be as perfect a time as any to introduce it. Consumables are items that can be, well, consumed (like, for good), meaning you’ll have to find them again in order to use them again. This means you can buy your favorite items–keys, bullets, potions, weapons and more–multiple times and you will be on a constant hunt for new and exciting items during your Halloween quest. We’re debuting this feature with The Witching Hour and are actively working on implementing it across ROBLOX, meaning this feature will be in the hands of developers soon. We’re eager to see what you do with it.

Our biggest ROBLOX map ever

This map will offer hours (many, many hours) of gameplay to ROBLOX users, simply because of its sheer scale. At 20,000 by 20,000 studs, it is the largest map ROBLOX has ever created–we thought we’d pull some fun stats to illustrate just how big this place is.

It takes 21 minutes to walk from one side of the map to the other, and doing so in that much time is nearly impossible because of the way the roads and neighborhoods constantly shift and change.

In order to traverse every stud in the map, we calculated that it would take a user 4,200 minutes. That’s 70 hours.

Our previously largest holiday-themed map was last year’s ROBLOX Egg Hunt, which was 1/100th the size.

Gameplay Mechanics

You and your friends will find yourself in a massive, open environment and can choose from several things to do. One of our favorite aspects of The Witching Hour is that it’s a game that promotes multiple different types of gameplay–in addition to exploring, there are a ton of mini-games spread throughout the map. Going door-to-door is the quickest way to engage in a mission–battle beasts for in-game loot that you can use to upgrade your character or companion.

If you want to earn exclusive items (that you can actually keep outside of the game), you must be a patient and fearless explorer. There are ROBLOX admin characters scattered throughout the map, and each has a special quest for you. Whether you’re tackling Sorcus’ graveyard challenges, hanging out with Stickmasterluke at his Natural Disasters Farm, or helping Builderman in front of City Hall, there’s plenty to do to earn yourself some awesome and exclusive gear.

We’ll also be adding new gear that will change The Witching Hour’s game experience, as well as unlocking brand new regions of the map as time passes. We don’t want to get too heavily into the details, but we’ll be keeping you posted when changes are made to The Witching Hour. What are you waiting for? You’ve got a lot to explore!