Halloween Costume Guide
May Goodwin spends most of It Takes Two arguing with her husband about whether their marriage is worth saving while physically fighting through a succession of increasingly dangerous miniature environments. The yellow turtleneck is the item that anchors the costume visually, but the blue yarn and paper plates are what make it specifically interesting as a Halloween choice. It Takes Two won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2021 (IGN).
Affiliate links. We may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
The yellow turtleneck is what reads first and it needs to be a warm, saturated yellow to read correctly at a party. A pale or washed-out yellow sits flat against the jeans and the glasses lose their visual contrast. The round glasses need to be on your face rather than pushed up on the wig — they are the detail that makes the character’s face specific rather than just a woman in a yellow sweater. The blue paper plates and yarn are the conversation-starting props. Carry them rather than hiding them. They do not make the character immediately recognizable to most people, but they generate the questions that let you explain the costume.
May is a professional engineer and the primary financial provider for her family. She is also completely checked out of her marriage and has been for some time. The game does not treat her as a villain for this — it gives her and Cody a genuinely equal share of responsibility for what went wrong and expects you to work through it alongside them. She finds her lost passion for singing somewhere around the attic chapter, and the moment she uses her voice as a weapon against the microphone snakes is when the game says something real about what she gave up to become practical.
Thread the Yarn Through the Plates Before You Leave
The blue paper plates and yarn are more useful as a single assembled prop than as two loose items. Thread the yarn through the center of the plates and tie it so they can hang from your wrist or be carried easily. Loose plates at a party end up on the floor within an hour. Assembled props stay with you.
Have a One-Sentence Description Ready
Most people will not recognize May without help. “She’s from It Takes Two — a co-op game where a couple going through a divorce get trapped in dolls their daughter made” is enough. The game won Game of the Year in 2021, so anyone who follows gaming will likely have heard of it even if they have not played it.
Couples Idea
Excellent couple concept directly from the game. May as the wooden doll in yellow turtleneck and patchwork jeans, Cody as the clay doll in his distinct build. Anyone who has played It Takes Two will place this immediately, and the pairing comes with the built-in irony that the couple who starts the game trying to divorce each other is the natural Halloween couple costume.
Group Idea: The Magical Garden Adventure
Strong group for people who know the game well. Rose is the catalyst for the whole story, Dr. Hakim is the relationship therapist book who guides May and Cody through each chapter, and together the four make up the complete central cast. Dr. Hakim specifically — a sentient hardcover book with a face — is a genuinely interesting costume challenge that rewards commitment.
Group Idea: Co-op Game Characters
Might work, but this is a theme concept — “characters from co-op games” — rather than a shared world, and the visual range is enormous. May’s realistic doll aesthetic, Kirby’s round pink cartoon blob, and Banjo and Kazooie’s Nintendo 64 bear-and-bird design have nothing visual in common. The concept rewards people who specifically think about game design. At a general party, the explanation needed is longer than the payoff.
Group Idea: Video Game Characters from GOTY Winners
Might work as a gaming-crowd group, but this requires everyone to know that all four characters are from Game of the Year winners from consecutive years. May (2021), Ellie (2020), Colt (also 2021 GOTY at some awards), and Sekiro (2019). The concept only lands for people who follow gaming awards specifically, which is a smaller subset than general gamers.
This is one of the most thrift-friendly builds on the site. Almost everything is cheap or already in your house.
May is driven, slightly impatient, and genuinely loves her daughter even while the marriage is collapsing. She is not a villain and she is not fully the victim. She is a person who buried something important under being practical.
Yellow knit turtleneck sweater, long wavy brown wig, patchwork jeans, classic round framed glasses, and black slip-on shoes. Cotton rope looped at the waist as a belt. Carry blue paper plates threaded with bright blue yarn as a prop, and a pair of scissors as a hand prop. The yellow turtleneck and round glasses are what make this recognizable. The paper plates and yarn are what make it interesting.
Yes, for gamers. It Takes Two won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2021 and has a large co-op player base. At a gaming event or a party where people play games, recognition is reliable. At a general Halloween party, most people will need an explanation. The costume is distinctive enough that the explanation is short.
May’s abilities change with each chapter. In the shed she uses a claw hammer. In the tree she gets an explosive matchstick gun. In Rose’s room she gains anti-gravity space boots. In the cuckoo clock she creates holographic clones of herself and teleports to them. In the snow globe she controls a magnet half. In the garden she uses a sickle and water hose. In the attic she gains a harmonic singing voice that moves objects.
May and Cody Goodwin are a married couple planning to divorce. Their daughter Rose makes two dolls from scrap materials and cries over them. Her tears trigger a spell that traps May’s consciousness in a wooden doll and Cody’s in a clay doll. The game follows them working through the divorce while trying to return to their human bodies.
May’s doll form has blue yarn hair with a blunt fringe, thick black round wire glasses, a vivid yellow knit turtleneck sweater, patchwork denim jeans with exposed stitch lines, carved wooden arms, and simple black slip-on shoes. The yellow sweater and round glasses are the most immediately recognizable elements of her design.
It Takes Two was developed by Hazelight Studios and directed by Josef Fares. Published by Electronic Arts and released in March 2021, the game won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2021.
Yes. Cody is the natural partner and a costume guide exists on this site. Cody’s doll form is clay rather than wood and has a distinct visual language from May’s. Anyone who has played the game will recognize the pairing immediately, and the built-in irony of using a divorcing couple as a couples Halloween costume is its own kind of joke.
What is May’s profession in It Takes Two before she becomes a doll?
What ability does May gain in the cuckoo clock chapter?
What award did It Takes Two win at The Game Awards 2021?