Hey Howdy Hey Tappers!
Happy October 1st! Can you believe it’s already October? Feels like it was just March, but here we are! Summer is dead and gone (at least for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) and the cooler temperatures of Autumn have arrived! Riley (my 5-year-old daughter, for those that don’t know) noted that she could see her breath this morning as I dropped her off for school! Man those temperatures sure dropped fast! (now we start the time of year where I wished I lived in Florida…)
Yes, Autumn is here….and while cooler temperatures kind of depress me, Autumn does mean it’s almost time for the Addicts Community’s favorite time of year in TSTO…Halloween and the annual Treehouse of Horror Event! (although, long time players know, I’m still partial to Christmas)
So what will this year’s event entail? Well, no one knows yet…although I have a feeling we’ll know soon (remember my prediction over the summer, based on update patterns, was Halloween will start October 6th). In the meantime, since the 2021 THOH update will officially be the 10th Halloween update to hit TSTO…yes, I said 10, isn’t that insane?!…I thought it would be fun to take a look back at a brief history of the past 9 events, before looking ahead to #10.
So here’s a brief rundown of the Halloween history in TSTO…
2012- THOH XXIII, The Very First Halloween Update, Launched October 3rd, 2012
Halloween, 2012.
Addicts wasn’t around in the fall of 2012, we didn’t launch until August of 2013, so I don’t have any posts I can link you back to. However, the very first Halloween update in TSTO very heavily joked about the Myans (as that was the year the world was supposed to end) with characters like Mayan Homer and the Mayan God (Mayan Marge arrived with a later update).
This event also brought the cemetery to Springfield (including the Pet Cemetery), the black hole, Devil Flanders, the House of Evil, the Bad Dream House, and more! With this event interactions included squishing zombies, sending kids to trick or treat, and vandalizing your neighbor’s houses with eggs and toilet paper!
2013- THOH XXIV- Launched October 1st, 2013
This was the very first Major Event that Addicts covered. You can see our complete coverage of it here.
The 2013 Halloween Event featured lots and lots of Goo! Easily one of the best THOH events in TSTO history, at least in terms of things to do. You had to collect Goo to unlock prizes, not only on your personal prize track but community prizes as well! There was also an episode tie-in component to this update!
Prizes included: Strongman Homer, King Snorky, Count Burns, Suzanne the Witch and more! This event also saw the arrival of Kodos, and Kang if you didn’t unlock it the previous year.
Event interactions included: popping ghosts, leaving gremlins for your neighbors, finding a hidden 6 donut easter egg within the questline, and more!
2014- THOH XXV- Launched October 7th, 2014
Halloween, 2014.
Addicts coverage of the 2014 THOH event can be found here.
Halloween 2014 saw the Aliens trying to take over Springfield! This was also the first instance of the prize track being split into multiple phases (which would eventually turn into Acts). This is also the first instance of crafting in TSTO!
The prize/crafting track included: Hugo, U.B.O, Mutant Peacock, Donut Torture Device, the Rigellian Queen, and more! There was also an episode tie-in component with this event featuring Clockwork Moe!
Game interactions included: sending kids to trick-or-treat, squishing little Rigellian Aliens, shooting down UFOs, and neighbor interactions!
2015- THOH XXVI- Launched October 6th, 2015
For the Addicts Coverage on the 2015 THOH Event check out this page.
S’mores, Candy Apples, and Gummies…Oh my! The 2015 THOH event saw the split of the event into 3 different acts (although not the first instance of the act shift). Crafting was also split into 3 Acts.
This event focused on a m’nthster that attacked Springfield! We saw this via a campfire that spawned nightmares (how fun!) that we were then tasked with squishing.
Prizes/Crafting included: Pirate Kang, Clockwork Bart, Holiday Homer, the Re-Neducation Center, spooky trees, the spooky house, and more!
Interactions included: Squishing nightmares, sending formless terrors to your neighbors (and squishing your own), and shopkeeper challenges.
2016- THOH XVII- Launched October 4th, 2016
Halloween, 2016.
Addicts coverage of the 2016 THOH Event can be found here.
Once again split into 3 Acts, this event featured Monster Movie Magic! This event also had crafting, and Giant monsters you had to battle!
Prize track included: Space Marshmallow, Death, Count Burns’ Castle, Werewolf Flanders, Frinkenstein, and more! Crafting mostly comprised of returning Halloween decorations (spooky trees, etc.).
Interactions included: Battling Giant Monsters (this one was fun!), tapping ferral monsters, Trick-Or-Treating, and the MAG (Moster Actor’s Guild).
2017- THOH XXVIII- Launched October 3rd, 2017
Halloween 2017
Addicts coverage of the 2017 THOH Event can be found here.
This was the event that didn’t feel “Halloweenie” enough…also the event where the Addicts coined the term Hallo-Richard. The 2017 THOH Event was more about spoofing Harry Potter than about actual Halloween. Once again this event was split into 3 Acts.
Prizes included: Lewd’s Bar, the Wizard Unicorn, Greystach, Slithers, Lord Montymort’s Lair, and more! Wizard Bart and Lisa were given at the start of the event for free.
Interactions included: Beast Battles, crafting, squishing goblins and trolls, and tapping goblins and trolls in your neighbor’s towns.
2018- Treehouse of Horror XXIX- Launched October 3rd, 2018
Halloween 2018
You can find the Addicts Coverage of the 2018 THOH Event here.
This event featured ghosts, goblins, werewolves, mummies, vampires and more, as the female versions took over! Also split into 3 Acts, this event had a number of interactions…but no beast battles!
Prize track included: Countess Dracula, She-Wolf, Womenhet, Dracula-land, Haunted Crossroads, Grand Pyramid. and more!
Interactions included: a curse bonus area (where you dug for relics), an Old Ruins prize track, tappables (that changed for each act), and neighbor actions (where you basically just tapped items in your neighbor’s town).
2019- Treehouse of Horror- Launched October 23, 2019 (yes you read that date right)
Halloween 2019
You can find the Addicts Coverage of the 2019 THOH Event Here.
2019 was a rough year for TSTO, many folks thought it was ending because the updates were so few and far between. We’d often go months without an update…rare in the world of TSTO…and Halloween not starting until October 23rd was really rough.
This was the first Halloween Event where we saw the 4-act split, multi-event style. This event featured a plethora of creatures from the alternate universe…all trying to invade Springfield. No tappables with this event, no neighbor interactions, no crafting. Just the format we currently see today…a prize track and premium items to purchase. (although most of the traditional Halloween crafting items appeared in the store purchasable for cash)
Prize track included: Zia Simpson, Malicious Krubb, Gelatinous Homer, Martin of the Opera, Lucy Fer’Satan, and more!
Interactions included: well nothing. All you had to do was complete the quests on the prize track, by sending the characters on tasks, and that was it.
2020- Treehouse of Horror XXXI- Launched October 14th, 2020.
Halloween 2020
Addicts Coverage of the 2020 THOH Event can be found here
The 2020 Halloween Event featured a lot of Hell-Rasing! Much like the 2019 THOH Event, the 2020 Event followed the exact same format. 4 Acts, nothing really to do but complete the tasks and collect the prizes.
Prize track included: Beelzebart, Lisafer, the Hell Teacher, Hell Principals, the cursed desk, murder house, demon car, and more!
This event also brought us Donut Homer as a cash for character item.
2021- Treehouse of Horror XXXII- We think it’ll Launch October 6th..
???
Favorite event of Halloween’s past? What do you think the 2021 event will bring? Share your thoughts below!
Ahh I remember them all! I really do miss the interactions and taking and collecting things from your neighbours. Last years really was the worst and I really wasn’t motivated to log on numerous times daily like I was in the first few years! I loved splatting the zombies and hoovering up ghosts, really hoping for something more like that again this year. Is there a reason we don’t get those kind of interactions anymore?!
Thank you for the recap! I started playing on the week the game launched and that first Halloween event was great.
I thought I stayed away from the game a long time, but seeing this and the quests available to me when I got back this week I realised I left in the middle of 2018 Winter event. So not even 3 years…
I remembered there had been a “harry potter” event, but I didn’t remember it was supposed to be a Halloween one.
October is my December! 🎃
October 1st is a brief pause here in Las Vegas from 4 years ago (and that’s all I’m going to say, because I don’t want it to descend into a political comment!)
🧡 Going down memory lane (thank you Alissa!) I’m not asking for much, except for EA to put the Halloween back into the THOH Event! 🪦
Last year was Hell 🔥 – it was amusing , but it was too much for a Multi-Act Event … so, please put the Halloween back in THOH, EA (or there will be Hell to pay!!) 😈
I would hope that they will draw from more THOH segments this year. But what do I know; I’m just an old dinosaur.
I would welcome a THOH Multi-Act Event where each Act is a different Segment from THOH Episodes (plus we get the Season 33 Content available after this year’s THOH Episode airs – instead of 3 Segments, there will be 5!).👻🪦🎃
A fun walk down memory lane. Thank you. This game has become such a big part of my holiday traditions. I look forward to THOH and the snow, every year. The inclusion of tappables in our last little event leaves me hopeful that they are gradually bringing back the fun features we miss.
I will wish and hope each year that all children will be able to trick or treat at the same time from the nightmare pile. Seems an easy fix and would add a really nice touch to the TSTO events.
I also wish somehow that the tissue paper and eggs could be added as a feature, but not sure how. Even just as skins for trees and houses. A fun way to decorate our towns for Halloween each year.
And one last wish, I wish they would bring back some classics to replay. Like squishing zombies, ghosts, etc.
I really really miss the more interactive events. Wish they would bring them back.
Oh man, I’ve been playing this game for 9 years! Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
I hope the convict catching hints at more tapping in the Halloween event!
Great recap ! I started tapping towards the end of the 2017 Halloween event, and remember lamenting how few items I was able to collect or craft with limited characters & resources. I’ve since picked up some of the missing pieces in subsequent offerings, but have been suffering plopper disease for about the last year. I just need to get inspired again, without hitting the current item limits.
Thanks Alissa !
Woah I didn’t realize I was there for the first, I miss the old formats I think Kang and Kronos was my favorite old one 🙂
The THOH XXIX dig site strategy was really helpful, thanks Alissa ( and of course specially Safi in this case ! )
Thanks for the info Alissa, great looking back at the old events.
Man… it does not feel like it’s been 4 years since the Harry Potter spoof… Holy Jeez… Course, it doesn’t feel like 8 years playing either…. I’d love to see em get back to the days like 2013 THOH which was my first.. collecting goo, squishin gremlins.. etc. those were the glory days
Yes, I have had the same issue. Contacting EA help is mostly worthless, although you may have to do so anyway just because when they are on the phone with you (insist on a phone call), they can MANUALLY send you the code. Their one-time code authentication system is broken in lots of ways, and it is a well known problem (go look at the official EA forums, lots of people complaining about it).
The ways they suggested I fix the problem were insane. Instead, while on the phone with them, I added a backup e-mail address to my account, while logged into help.ea.com, then I went into security and officially turned on the one-time code thing (it is active even if you don’t turn it on, which is part of the problem) — THAT gives you some backup codes you can use (to get back into the website, they don’t work for the game). I also temporarily added a phone number to the account (didn’t work, still wouldn’t send the codes).
After all of that, logging into TSTO STILL didn’t work!
What DID end up working was going back into my account and changing the e-mail address to a different address (I used a gmail address I use for shopping with untrusted vendors). THAT worked. Suddenly their automated system was sending me the codes when I tried to log into the game.
Their coders are outsourced to India, and incompetent. As is their help desk, but if you stay on them and are persistent, you will eventually get back into the game. Good luck.
I guess EA was proving with last few THOH events, that it’s more about “Horror”, and not “Halloween”. So I’m not expecting anything with costumes & candy, trick or treats, or anything remotely festive.
I do think they’ve become more about specific THOH segments vs traditional Halloween.
I wish they would go back to passwords. The codes are such a pain a lot of people in my household have stopped playing. It’s such a huge irritation.
I started a new side game in late February of this year (in the middle of the Love and War Event). I didn’t get too far, but it was slowly growing… until this new login procedure :/ . I’ve avoided playing it since, as I don’t want to get locked out of my main game.
I actually think the old password login won’t be coming back.
We’ll get more land tiles, increased item limits, new neighboureeno interaction + prizes, new community prizes, …& a new premium currency before we get back to being able to the password system.
… yeah.
Memory’s, takes me back, I think I joined in 2013, would be good to see what I was saying on this site back then, love the splash screen album page superb, loving the calendars, thanks Alissa, great memories 😁😎🏴🌞
Just did a quick comment search off your email address…looks like your first comments were from 2015 and mostly Friend Requests 🙂
Really, wow thanks for the info, I remember playing anonymous for a while and the friends were needed more then so joined addicts and created a log in for the game, still that’s a long time.😁😎🏴
No offense personally, but your name makes me cringe. The actor that played THE Mr. Rooney,..Ferris’ principal…Was actually not a good person.. like I said…nothing personal..just makes me cringe…but what do I know. Great post Alissa..great info…much appreciated.
Have an issue where the app is not sending the code to my email. Anyone else have this issue??
2013 Halloween event is the first time I played and it was the best event ever!! I liked having other things to do which I’ve found severely lacking recently (catching criminals added a bit of spice in last mini event). Hoping Halloween this year is more than the usual style which has been trooped out time after time recently
Ah…makes me long for the “Good Old Days” when we whined about events that are so much better than the last couple of years. We didn’t know how good we had it!
Hopeful that they bring back some of the “chase the bad guys” elements. It makes it a lot more fun.
Glad to hear that all is well in NJ, and the only weather you are dodging it the cold!
I LOVED the chase the bad guys part! I actually spent some time visiting neighbors recently to see how their towns have grown. (Sorry (not!) for the multiple tags to your town, Patric). And sandytoes has done a great designing job since I last was there. Interesting to see who is still playing.
Also, thanks Alissa for posting the sounds of the 3 convicts from the last mini game. Loved the audio, as I play with the sound off most of the time.
Reading all simpsons notes shame I haven’t been able to play since the code to play game was introduced as when ever I put code in it keeps saying wrong code and noone seem to want to help me I really enjoyed playing game and recommend my family and friends to play but noone can get into game very disappointing as I never missed any mini games
Hello Pam
Have you tried using copy and paste to enter the code. Most people’s problems seem to have been getting the code sent to their current email in the first place. Because you have actually received the login code half the battle is won. It is just possible that your keyboard interpreter is causing the issue and maybe a copy and paste of the code might work.
Got to love the splash screens, hidden in my memory where I couldn’t find them and you have found them for me, thank you.
We keep them all in a gallery (and I actually remember to update with each event) here:
https://tstoaddicts.com/2017/01/25/tsto-splash-screens-and-poll/
Thanks for the memory of home pages from THOH. I remember a lot of those events fondly. I can’t believe I’ve been playing this long! Hope the new one is the best one yet!
Oddly(?), the ‘mini event’ will almost certainly be running parallel to any Halloween Event.
‘Twill be interesting.
Thank you so much for this! I joined in March of 2013 and I remember staying up late to collect and/or complete everything! Remember how dark and foggy the game got during Halloween events? I struggled to see the game on my old phone for weeks on end but the first Halloween event that wasn’t as dark I grumbled about it! I still have jack-o’-lanterns hidden under trees around my town from 2013 or maybe 2014 that I was excited to see the next year . . . but those trees didn’t lose leaves in subsequent years, they only changed color! Thanks again for this post! Best. Post. Ever.
We had plenty of reasons to grind all day for Event Content (and various ways to obtain what was necessary in order to reach those Levels to release said THOH Content!) It was not easy, but it was fun – and EA’s Global Networks handled Tappers logging in to Play! 🧡🎃