The Tale of Orpheo's Curse

The Tale of Orpheo's Curse is a story that is told by a new member of The Midnight Society who wishes to join. If the new member (the player of the game) is able to complete the story with the best ending, then they will become part of The Midnight Society.

The Story:
The story follows the two siblings Alex and Terry, who decide to explore Orpheo's Palace one night while their Great Uncle Josh is out (having a meeting). Once inside, the pair are locked inside the building (unable to escape) and are soon split up from each other.

Orpheo's eldest daughter Mary placed a curse on the Theatre many years ago, meaning that any tricks performed on stage will go horribly wrong. Alex and Terry are the latest 'volunteers' the be part of the famed Teleportation Trick, though they face being stuck in Limbo for eternity. They both now need to explore the Theatre, hunt down The Five Enchanted Items and break the Curse that has been placed.

How to play:
You (as the potential new member of the Midnight Society) have to tell to the story of Orpheo's Curse by making decisions, solving problems and avoiding having your character's being caught (unless it is part of the story). The main aim is to guide the story to it's best possible ending where everything is resolved at the end.

As the player, you are tasked with exploring Orpheo's Palace to uncover the truth about Orpheo's Curse. You take control of both Alex and Terry (the main protagonists) who explore the Theatre and try to find The Five Enchanted Items to break the curse. There are ghosts (affected by the curse) haunting the theatre who give advice to Alex and Terry and give clues on what they need to do.

This game is a point-and-click adventure where you click to go, look at certain items or details and pick up item or activate certain events. The story is mostly told through pictures as cutscenes and some Full Motion Video sections.

True Ending (Spoilers):
There is only one true way of ending the story and resolving everything. Terry and Alex must perform the Teleportation

Trick correctly to set Elizabeth (Orpheo's youngest daughter) free from Limbo and set the other ghosts free. Terry must also return Alex from Limbo by joining both Teleportation Boxes together to create one big Teleportation Box (which Alex steps out of). Afterwards, Alex and Terry (plus the ghosts that have been set free) take a bow before the curtain closes for the last time (infront of a Wax Audience who chap and cheer).

Achieving this ending will get approval from The Midnight Society who will all vote for the player to become a member.

Before the end credits, Mary will appear and speak directly to the player. Taunting them one more time that she will be in their dreams.

Alternative Endings:
Though there is only one true ending that all members of the Midnight Society will approve of, there are several endings that can occur. Getting one of these endings will results in members of the Midnight Society giving advice and clues as to how the player can go further in the game or avoid getting a bad ending. This also gives the player the opportunity to go back to an earlier point in the story or carry on from where they were before getting the bad ending (the choices vary depending on the ending the player gets or how far along they are in the story).
 * Falling for a Trap or Trick - There are many traps which can cause the player to be caught and being forced to take part in the Teleportation Trick, which goes wrong and sends Terry and Alex to Limbo. These traps include pressing The Skull Button on the control panel inside any of the Teleportation Boxes, opening Wardrobe Number 5, trying to walk past the Snake Rope, choosing the wrong room layout and opening The Fake '0' Door.
 * Being Caught (before placing The Five Enchanted Items onto Orpheo's Statue) - The most common ending is where the character you are playing as is caught, Terry and Alex are then made to take part in the Teleportation Trick where it goes wrong and they are both sent to Limbo. Terry and Alex can be caught by The Wax Mummy, The Wax Caveman, The Wax Skeleton, The Electric Monster or Orpheo.
 * Being Caught (while trying to place The Five Enchanted Items onto Orpheo's Statue or not having all the items to place on the statue) - If Alex and Terry take too long to place the enchanted items onto Orpheo's Statue or don't have all the items while placing them on the statue, Mary will turn Alex and Terry into Wax Statues (cancelling the show).
 * Being Caught (after placing the The Five Enchanted Items onto Orpheo's Statue) - Terry and Alex must run down to the stage to perform the Teleportation Trick correctly. If they are caught by Mary who chases them (after coming round), she makes them 'permanent specimens' in her Wax Museum (results in one of three different poses of Terry and Alex).
 * Making Mary Fall - While running towards the stage, the player must run across the Rooftop. There are light switches (located to the right after escaping Mary's Apartment), if the player turns the lights on it will cause Mary to fall off the rooftop, killing her. However this will leave the story unresolved as Elizabeth is still trapped in Limbo and the other ghosts are unable to rest in peace as the Curse has not been lifted. Also The Midnight Society will not vote the player in if this ending occurs as the curse has not been lifted.
 * Not Performing the Teleportation Correctly - Once on the stage, Alex goes into one of the Teleportation Boxes and if he teleports to the other box, Mary will capture them and turn them into Wax Statues (leaving Elizabeth trapped in Limbo and leaving the other ghosts as they are).
 * Releasing the Ghosts but Alex is still Trapped - After breaking the curse (which sets the ghosts free), Terry still needs to return Alex back from Limbo. If she opens one of the Teleportation Box doors (or waits too long), Alex will be lost in Limbo forever. Also The Midnight Society will not vote the player in if this ending occurs as Alex is trapped forever.

System Requirements (to run the game on PC):
The game can also be played on DOS emulators such as DOSBox.
 * DOS 5.0 and higher
 * 386/33 MHz processor (486/50 MHz recommended)
 * 4 MB RAM (8 MB recommended)
 * SVGA compatible video card
 * Double speed CD-ROM drive recommended

Game Credits:
Game Design:

Raymond Benson, Donna L. Friedman, Jake Smith, Doug Snook

Produced by:

Jake Smith, Doug Snook

Executive Producer:

Kenneth Tarolla

Managing Producer, Nickelodeon:

Donna L. Friedman

Creative Director, Viacom New Media:

Stephen Gass

Screenplay and Story Direction:

Raymond Benson

Based on a story by:

Dan Duling

Creative Consultant:

D. J. MacHale

Art Director:

Doug Snook

Programming Director:

Horace Satmar

Additional Programming:

Fred Allen, Matthew Bezark, Steve Briggs, Jake Smith, Jim Weisz, Martin Wilde

With: Andy Glaister, David Wilson

Game Scripting/Coding:

Jake Smith, Jim Weisz

With: Baki Allen, Joe Chang, Horace Satmar

Audio Producer:

Stephen W. Boyer

Sound Effects, Music Composition and Arrangements:

Audio Magic

Additional Music:

Raymond Benson, Stephen W. Boyer, Rob Herman

Sound Design and Additional Sound Effects:

Rob Herman

Digital Audio Engineers:

Rob Herman, Matthew Scott

Viacom Interactive Audio Software Development:

Stephen W. Boyer, Steve Briggs, Martin Wilde

Recording Engineer-Voice Overs:

Max Perez

Trivia:

 * You (the player telling the story) are not shown during the cut scenes with The Midnight Society.