Special Targets explained: the match's real scoreboard

Every match of Halloween: The Game is secretly about the same few people: the Special Targets — named NPC residents that both sides are scored on. Michael builds power by hunting them; civilians win by getting residents out, with Special Targets counting most. If you only track one thing beyond your own health, track them.

Why they matter to each side

For Michael: Special Targets are premium Bloodthirst. The intended opening — build Stalk and Bloodthirst on NPCs and Special Targets before hunting players — exists because they're the efficient fuel. A Michael who ignores them to chase heroes early is playing at a power deficit.

For civilians: the win condition is residents evacuated, not personal survival. You can die and still win the night if the Special Targets made it out — and your death converts into a deputy or Loomis who keeps escorting.

The tug-of-war in practice

That dual value creates the game's core race:

• Michael wants Special Targets found and isolated while his power builds.
• Civilians want them warned, moving, and escorted toward an escape before that happens.
• Every minute a Special Target sits unwarned in a dark house is a minute working for Michael.

Civilian handling

1. 01

   Find them early. Warning residents as you sweep is progress even mid-loot; a warned NPC moving to safety needs less babysitting later.

2. 02

   Assign an escort — the opening playbook role. Your best awareness hero walks the contested ground.

3. 03

   Stage before opening escapes. Special Targets near the route when it opens; a route opened with targets scattered is a gift to a patient Michael.

4. 04

   Protect the group, not the geography. If Michael commits to your escort group, lights, noise, and numbers beat clever positioning.

Michael handling

Work them early and quietly — Stalk on a Special Target pays double: meter now, tracking later. Cutting phones near them delays the police call that protects the endgame evacuation. And leaving one almost saved, as bait near an escape, is the oldest killer trick in the genre for a reason.