<aside> 💡 Here at Tales, we’re a big fan of weird - because that’s where you find the unexpected. Why do the same thing as everyone else when you could get weird with it? This is why we can’t get enough of Cirque du Strange.

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Game writer, Nicky Silber

Part historical fiction, part urban fantasy, part really freaking weird, Nicky Silber’s branching title is a masterpiece of character development and atmosphere.

With an extensive background in interactive fiction and game design that spans over a decade, it’s no wonder that Silber has created some so steamy and downright addicting.

Having spent time at Telltale Games, CrazyMaple Studio, and Pixelberry Studios, Silber is exceptionally skilled at crafting branching narratives that put the power in the player’s hands.

We invite you to step right up to the haunted circus you never knew you needed… will you become the ringleader of all things odd or will you send your found family into the footnotes of history?

Cirque du Strange puts you in the center of an unfolding family drama as fraternal twins Rose and Theo LeStrange struggle to keep the Marigold Red Tent Circus afloat in a post-civil-war America.

While a fragmented country desperately attempts to repair itself outside, under the big tent a string of accidents begins to feel like something more sinister - or supernatural - than just a run of bad luck.

Readers will move between Rose and Theo’s respective points of view, and make no mistake: these twins’ stories are anything but identical, and they each have a different idea of how best to save the circus. What’s more, the branching nature of this title means that choices you make as one Lestrange sibling will inevitably have consequences for the other - even down to potential love interests. Go ahead, have both Rose & Theo flirt with the same person: what could possibly go wrong? And there are plenty of alluring faces to choose from.

With a diverse cast that could only be found under a circus tent, the found family of the Marigold Red Tent Circus will twist their way into your heart faster than a double-jointed contortionist. But there is more to these red tents than just acrobatics and sideshow trickery; Rose Lestrange has an affinity for the paranormal that allows her to see things that others just can’t make out. But when is it better to see through the veil, and when is it better to blend in?

That’s where you come in.

Readers must balance their own ‘Weird’ variable when playing as Rose by making choices that either push her weirdness levels up or suppresses them back down. A high enough level of Weird might unlock special paths or allow Rose to see things she shouldn’t - but too high might make necessary business deals with mundane folk harder than they should be. Will you be loyal to our inner oddity, or are the rewards of conformity too valuable to pass up?

Beneath the twisting, back-flipping, fire-eating tale of Cirque du Strange, there is a palpable atmosphere: in the art, in the soundtrack, in the floating fog that glides across your screen, and the echoing laughter of mocking spirits.

Somewhere between melancholy and nostalgia, this gothic tale delivers just the right amount of creep factor while continuously reminding us of just how timeless and human these stories of family and the struggle for survival really are.

So break out your séance board, your cheapest whiskey, and don’t forget to limber up. Under the big top of Cirque du Strange, anything could happen.