Most civilians in Halloween: The Game are built to run, hide, and survive the night. Bob Simms is built to swing back. His character sheet lists him as civilian 011, and the number that matters is Capability, sitting at 9 — the stat that decides how much damage you do when you connect with the killer instead of fleeing from him.
Quick answer: Play as Bob Simms and keep a heavy melee weapon in hand — a pickaxe, wood axe, sledgehammer, or pitchfork. With Capability 9, one clean hit staggers Michael Myers and drops him, which buys you the seconds you need to pull a resident out of danger or reach an escape.
Bob Simms stat line and traits
His spread is lopsided on purpose. Combat and movement are strong, social and looting skills are weak, so you get a civilian who wins fights but struggles with talking residents down and squeezing extra value out of containers.
| Stat / Trait | Value |
|---|---|
| Capability | 9 |
| Athleticism | 8 |
| Personality | 4 |
| Resourcefulness | 3 |
| Heavyweight | Doesn’t get full |
| Lethal Pitch | Trait |
| Runner’s High | Trait |
Lethal Pitch is the trait people forget. Anything you can throw — firecrackers, a lawn dart, an ice pick — gets aimed with a reticle before it leaves your hand, so it is worth checking what is in your pockets before you commit to a melee swing.
Weapons that down Michael Myers with Capability 9
The high Capability rating carries across almost the entire weapon list. Heavy tools are the most consistent, but even a kitchen knife pulled out of a locked box is enough to put the killer on the floor when Bob is holding it.
| Weapon | What it does |
|---|---|
| Pickaxe | Repeatable downs; the most commonly found heavy tool |
| Wood axe | Downs Michael and is often found upstairs in houses |
| Sledgehammer | Downs Michael while covering a resident’s escape |
| Pitchfork | Downs Michael; stocked in the hardware store |
| Kitchen knife | Enough to down him, but weakest of the melee options |
| .357 Magnum | Headshots down him; found in locked boxes |
| Revolver | Downs him; can be looted from Dr. Loomis after he dies |
| 12-Gauge Shotgun | Best for holding an escape point against him |
| Flare gun | Blinds Michael rather than downing him |
Tip: bolt cutters are worth grabbing early even though they are not a weapon. They clear boarded paths and pop locked boxes, and those boxes are where the kitchen knife, the .357 Magnum, and the Ancient Amulet turn up. They can break after a use, so spend them on the container you actually want.
A down is not a kill
This is the part that decides whether Bob’s Capability actually saves anyone. Putting Michael Myers down interrupts what he is doing and creates space, but he gets back up. Treat every down as a timer, not a victory, and spend it on something concrete — dragging a resident to cover, unlocking the storm cellar, or breaking line of sight entirely.
Downing him also does not save a resident who is already in his grip. Residents can and do die mid-rescue while you are swinging, so hitting him a fraction too late still ends with a body on the lawn.
Keep a pocket knife on you as insurance. If Michael grabs you directly, it is what breaks the hold and gives you the chance to swing back.
Saving Haddonfield residents with low Personality
The core objective is Save Haddonfield Residents, and this is where Bob’s weakest stat bites. Personality 4 means the skill checks that convince a resident to cooperate are tighter than they would be on a talker. Approach residents like Edna Rivera, Robert Jones, or Vincent Taylor when Michael is not nearby, and give yourself the full conversation without a chase hanging over it.
Escape routes and calling for help
There are a few ways out of Haddonfield, and Bob is the civilian best equipped to hold one open while other people use it.
| Route | What it needs |
|---|---|
| Storm cellar | Clear the overgrowth, then use a padlock key or escape key |
| Locked gate | Bolt cutters or the matching key |
| Police wagon | Police called and arriving on scene |
Three separate methods bring in the police. A CB radio works if you can reach it, ideally with a teammate helping. A house phone works once you have repaired the nearby power box. A flare gun fired straight into the air also summons them, which makes it the fastest option if you find one and cannot reach a radio.
A shotgun is the ideal thing to be holding at the cellar doors while a teammate climbs down. You cover the approach, they get out, and the down you land on Michael in the meantime is time nobody else has to spend fighting.
What Michael Myers does to counter you
Being able to fight does not make you safe, because the killer has answers of his own. Blackout disables the equipment civilians rely on and can fry a car’s engine, forcing everyone inside to bail and find another way out. Detection Pulse temporarily marks civilians on the map and lights up occupied buildings, so hiding indoors is not automatically cover. Reality Tear lets him trigger Shadow Jump whenever he wants, closing distance on a runner or slipping out of a spot where you have him pinned in the light.
Against that, Bob’s Athleticism 8 and Runner’s High matter as much as his swing. Fighting is the tool you use when a resident or teammate is about to die; disengaging is still the correct call the rest of the time.
Managing health and fear
Trading hits with Michael costs health, and Resourcefulness 3 means you should not count on finding your own supplies. First aid kits dropped by teammates are the reliable way back to full, so ask for one rather than burning time searching houses.
Fear is a separate meter. Drinking a bottle of beer brings it down, and Heavyweight means Bob never gets full, so he can keep consuming without hitting the cap other civilians run into.
The honest read on Bob Simms is that he is a bodyguard, not an escape artist. He will down Michael Myers repeatedly across a single night with nothing more exotic than a pickaxe, and every one of those downs is a resident who gets to the storm cellar or a teammate who reaches the police wagon. What he cannot do is win a fight outright — get greedy, miss a swing, and the same grab that ends every other civilian’s night ends his too.
