Make It To Midnight

About[]

^MakeItToMidnight (MITM) is a #RecRoomOriginal game made with Rec Room Studio that was released on August 17, 2023. The game requires five players to start. It has its own level and ticket system to unlock circus outfits and food items. Players have two roles to choose from: Survivor and Bonky the Clown. Survivors are the kids who are attempting to leave to the Merry Midway. Bonky the Clown is the main villain of the game who chases Survivors with a giant squeaky hammer.

How to Play[]

As a survivor[]

As a Survivor, one will spawn in a photo booth near other survivors. The game will prompt a "How to be a Survivor:" infographic with the following tasks:

Repair 3 generators.
Heal and help friends.
Escape, earn XP and level up!

The main objective of a survivor is to escape and avoid being caught by Bonky.

Generator repairing[]

To start repairing a generator, click on an empty seat. Progress on the generator will continue the longer it is sat at. During the repair, the generator will prompt a test, activating the generators dial. To pass this test, time the dial to hit any green. Hitting the button on the green and continues progress regularly. Hitting light green will in a "critical success" giving the generator more progress and 50XP, Leaving the stool, missing the green area, or letting the dial spin too long will make the generator fail, draining 10%* of the progress and notifying Bonky there is survivor activity near that generator. Leaving the generator incomplete will stop progression and gives XP for the amount of seconds present on it. The progress made when unattended will slowly decay for a short period of time until completion.

Depending on Bonky's equipped perks, there is a chance that a generator can be in a sabotaged condition. The appearance of the progress bar will change to red and will make electrical buzzing sounds. When working at one with this condition, the next generator test will be scrambled, spinning the dial uncontrollably which makes it much more difficult to succeed the test. After failing or succeeding the test, it will return to its normal condition and spin regularly.

*Or 5% with the Tech Whiz Perk

Hiding[]

Hiding can be very essential to a Survivors "survival" ... at times. Naturally there are many places to hide, behind objects, in bushes, commonly in bathroom stalls, Etc. The chance of successfully hiding may vary on the player playing Bonky. For bathrooms, when Bonky opens one with a survivor in it, it will make a horn sound and give Bonky a brief stun. Keep in mind that Bonky gets knocked back in front of the door, not the side of it.

Stamina[]

Survivors have a stamina bar that's used for running, sliding, climbing small obstacles, and jumping. Each Survivor starts with a bar full of 100 stamina. When not doing any major physical movement, the bar will slowly fill up back to 100. Using up all stamina will make the survivor exhausted and will take longer to recover back to full.

Each action has its cost.

Sprinting: 1 stamina
Jumping: 5 stamina
Sliding: 5 stamina
Climbing: 40 stamina

Getting hit will ignore the stamina bar for a short duration as for getting hit will grant the survivor a speed boost. Any action done will not affect the bar until the Survivor starts breathing nervously.

Healing[]

Getting hit will cause injury, and the HUD will deploy a bandage on the survivors icon. To recover from injury, they will need to group with another survivor and heal their injury. until an aura of green shows on the injured. Holding the prompted button for about 10 seconds will recover the survivor from getting hit to be jailed or eliminated. Letting go of the prompted button will cancel out the healing process.

Certain perks can make healing more essential.

"Expert Medic" will heal a survivor 30% faster, taking 7 seconds of time instead of 10.
"Get Hyped!" will make the healer and the one being healed 50% faster AFTER medical treatment has been applied.
"Best Friends Forever" can heal 60% faster AFTER unlocking a survivor from a cage. This perk when freeing a survivor is stored until the next successful heal.

Cages[]

Upon getting hit when injured, the survivor will be locked up in a cage and will have 1 minute and 30 seconds before elimination. The caged survivor will be marked to every other survivor. To recuse someone from a cage, grab the cage door. The cage timer will pause once the Survivor starts unlocking the cage but will resume when letting go of the cage. Just like healing, letting go of the prompted button will cancel out the uncaging sequence.

Be mindful that some Bonky players tend to "cage camp" caged survivors from other survivors attempting to free them.
If a survivor has the perk "Escape Enchantment", They can honk the horn in the cages to escape themselves. This process requires one completed generator in order to execute.

Escaping[]

After a third generator is complete, The intercom announcer will say "That's it! Everybody! Head for the exits" and an alarm will sound. The game will immediately direct the survivors to the north and south exit. In order to escape, the survivors must pull the lever in front of it to open the gate. Letting go of the lever will not cancel out its progress. Once a Survivor reaches beyond the gate and out of the fair, the Survivor will "survive" and receive 550 XP for surviving.

Bonky will also have the exit gate locations to prevent survivors from escaping.
Each opened gate will reward 150 XP

As Bonky the Clown[]

Bonky Perk selection — Bonky's Perk and Ability screen

Just like a survivor, Bonky also will spawn in a photo booth, But further away from survivors. The game will prompt a "How to be Bonky" screen showing three tasks. Those tasks are:

Bonk em all & lock em up
Guard the generators
Earn XP and level up!

After 10 seconds of that screen, it will go to the following image on the right, to where the player can select the ability and perks they desire to use.

The main objective is to hit them and Cage them until the player can cage them no more. Here is how to play Bonky The Clown.

Bonky's Hammer.[]

Bonky uses a large squeaky hammer to 'bonk' survivors. A direct swing at a survivor will injure them. Hitting them a second time while they're injured will cage them. If a survivor got rescued from their cage, it will take a minimum of one swing if injured, or two swings if in good condition to eliminate them from the game.

Whenever the hammer is swung, Bonky will be extra slow and has to reflate his hammer in order to swing again, which may take about 3 seconds.

With the "Swing and a Miss!" perk, the time for the hammer to reflate is shortened by just a bit.

Caging[]

When Bonky hits a survivor that has been injured, the survivor will be locked up in a cage for 1 minute and 30 seconds. If the survivor escaped the cage, Bonky and other survivors will be notified that a survivor has been released. When released, the survivor that was once caged will not be able to be caged again, being on the brink of elimination.

Fear Aura[]

Bonky's Fear Aura is the glowing red aura around Bonky. Survivors 20m within the fear aura will have a warning sign on their screen. Any injured survivor within the fear aura will breath heavy from time to time, giving Bonky the advantage to scout for the hidden survivor. The fear aura can be tinkered with a few perks.

Silent but Deadly will reduce the fear aura by 50%. But with this in effect, Bonky will move 10% slower.
Terrifying Presence will regenerate survivors stamina within the fear aura 50% slower.

Midnight[]

When the time approaches midnight (10 minutes into the game), Bonky will be much faster than before. The speed will eventually match up to a player's stamina and to the effect, meeting the range to hitting a survivor. When more time passes after approaching Midnight, Bonky will continue to accelerate faster until every survivor has escaped or been eliminated. Five minutes later (when the duration of the game hits the 15 minute mark), the clock will strike midnight and everyone's location is revealed to Bonky.

The after midnight speed will not be present with the Brainiac perk.

Abilities[]

Unlike perks, Bonky has an ability they can use to pick on or find their prey, but when used, survivors will receive a notification that Bonky used an ability. There are three abilities that can be used: Clown Radar, Silly Sneak, and Bonky Bounce. They all require a certain level to obtain. To use an ability, press the jump button.

Certain perks can also upgrade abilities:

Midway Magic will enhance any ability that is used. Silly Sneak and Clown Radar are 5 seconds longer and Bonky Bounce is farther.
Gathering Storm will gain 25% movement speed for 10 seconds the next time a survivor has been damaged. This is AFTER an ability is used.
Ante Up will make Bonky's ability have a 20% longer cooldown. Eliminating a survivor will decrease Bonky's ability cooldown length by 20%.
Brainiac will reveal the closest survivor AFTER an ability is used for 5 seconds. Once it's Midnight with this ability, Bonky will not move faster than intended.

Clown Radar

The Clown Radar is the first Bonky ability players will unlock at level 2. The description in-game says "When used you reveal survivors within your fear aura for the next 25 seconds. 75s cooldown". The Clown Radar is essential for finding survivors in hiding, detecting through bathroom stalls, bushes, and walls. It is recommended to use the Clown Radar when eye contact on a survivor is lost or near a failed generator.

Silly Sneak

Silly Sneak is the second Bonky ability that's given to players at level 12. The description reads "When used your fear aura makes no sound or red light and you make no sound when moving for 10s. 45 second cooldown". This ability utilizes a stealth factor where the fear aura and heavy footsteps disappear. It is recommended to use Silly Sneak when a survivor fails a generator or while someone is unlocking cage.

Bonky Bounce

Bonky Bounce is the third and last Bonky ability that's given to players at level 36. The description reads "When used you bounce forward a long distance. 75s cooldown".

Map Layout[]

Here is the full Map of the Merry Midway.

Levels and XP[]

Earning enough XP will boost a player's level. Each level will unlock tickets and sometimes, a perk. The max level is 100. All Unlockable perks are earned from levels 2-46. The rest of the levels will grant Tickets

Here are all the rewards earned through the leveling system.

12 Survivor Perks
13 Bonky Perks
3 Bonky Abilities
4 Perk Slots*
37x 500 Tickets
39x 1,000 Tickets
1x 2,000 Tickets
1x 3,000 Tickets
18x 5,000 Tickets
1x 6,000 Tickets

*The maximum perks that can be used is three, but there are four perk slots that can be unlocked. A survivor gets their first perk and perk slot at level 2, while Bonky gets their first perk and perk slot at level 4. the next two perk slots are unlocked at the same level for both roles.

There are several ways to gain XP. From Bonking to Healing and more. Below is listed actions to earn XP.

XP list
Action	Role	Amount of XP
Chase complete	Bonky	Varies on time of chase
Bold	Survivor	1 XP per second when 10m close to Bonky.
Generator repair progress	Survivor	1-100 XP
Generator Test Success.	Survivor	25 XP
Bonked a Survivor	Bonky	100 XP
Player in sight	Bonky	50 XP
Generator Test Critical Success	Survivor	50 XP
Uncaged a survivor	Survivor	150 XP
Completed Generator	Survivor	150 XP
Healed a Survivor	Survivor	100 XP
Caged a Survivor	Bonky	200 XP
Survivor eliminated	Bonky	250 XP
Gate opened	Survivor	250 XP
Escaped	Survivor	2500 XP
Game Complete (Bonky)	Bonky	1000 XP
Game Complete (Eliminated)	Survivor	2500 XP

Perks[]

Perks are the biggest mechanic in the game and are separated by the Survivor and Bonky roles. The more a player levels up, the more perks they can earn.

Here is a list of both Survivor and Bonky perks.

Perk List
Perk	Unlock Level	Role	Perk Description
Tech Whiz	Level 2	Survivor	If you fail a generator repair test, you only lose half as much progress (5% instead of 10%).
Swing and a MIss!	Level 4	Bonky	When you miss an attack, reduce the slow duration by 25%.
Expert Medic	Level 5	Survivor	You heal others 30% faster.
Danger in Numbers	Level 7	Bonky	Whenever a generator is repaired by 2 or more players, reveal it for 10 seconds. 75s cooldown.
Get Hyped!	Level 8	Survivor	After healing a teammate, you both gain 50% movement speed for 5 seconds.
Terrifying Presence	Level 10	Bonky	Survivors in your fear aura regenerate stamina 50% slower.
Signal Boost	Level 13	Survivor	After a generator is completed, reveal Bonky to you for 15 seconds.
Danger Zone	Level 15	Survivor	When a teammate is caged, you become 50% faster for 5 seconds.
Butterfly Effect	Level 16	Bonky	When you cage a survivor all generators go haywire. The next tests on those generators are scrambled.
Brave Scout	Level 17	Survivor	Whenever you enter 10m of Bonky and can see them, reveal their location to your entire team for 5 seconds. (60s cooldown)
Best Friends Forever	Level 19	Survivor	When you free a teammate from a cage, you gain a 60% boost to heal speed until your next successful heal.
Gathering Storm	Level 20	Bonky	After using an ability, gain 25% movement speed for 10 seconds the next time you damage a survivor.
Powering Up!	Level 23	Survivor	For each completed generator, you permanently gain 15% max stamina.
Ante Up	Level 24	Bonky	Your ability has a 20% longer cooldown. Reduce your ability's cooldown by 20% for each eliminated survivor.
Adrenaline Rush	Level 27	Survivor	While you are weakened, your stamina recharges 50% faster.
Eye See You!	Level 28	Bonky	When you bonk a survivor, reveal other survivors' locations within fear aura distance for 5 seconds.
Midway Magic	Level 30	Bonky	Your ability is now enhanced:- Bounce farther,- Sneak 5s longer.- Rader lasts 5s longer.
Escape Enchantment	Level 32	Survivor	If at least one generator is repaired, you can escape from a cage by honking the horn.
Sabotage	Level 34	Bonky	You can bonk a generator to make it go haywire. The next test on that generator is scrambled.
Squad Up!	Level 38	Survivor	You repair generators 5% faster for each teammate at the generator.
Silent but Deadly	Level 40	Bonky	Your fear aura size is reduced by 50%, however you are 10% slower.
Leaving So Soon?	Level 42	Bonky	The first time each generator is repaired to 70% progress, reveal it. Gain stealth and 25% movement speed for 5 seconds.
Stop Hitting Yourself	Level 44	Survivor	When Bonky attacks you, they are stunned for 5 seconds. This perk then deactivates until you are caged.
Power Drain	Level 45	Bonky	When you cage someone, all unoccupied generators explode and begin decaying twice as quickly until occupied.
Brainiac	Level 46	Bonky	When you use your ability, reveal the closest survivor for 5 seconds. your move speed doesn't escalate as midnight nears.

Depending on the players level, they can have 1 to 3 perk slots.

The first perk slot is unlocked at two different levels.
- The first perk slot for Survivors unlock at level 2 upon getting the first Survivor perk: "Tech Whiz".
- The first perk slot for Bonky unlocks at level 4 upon getting the first Bonky perk: "Swing and a Miss!".
The second perk slot unlocks at level 16.
The third perk slot unlocks at level 31.

Shop[]

The shop is where MITM tickets are bought and spent. The shop includes eight cosmetic items, and two food items. The yellow button on the left of the shops counter is used to turn tokens into tickets.

Here is each shop items ticket price:

Ringmaster Tie: 21,000
Ringmaster Torso: 42,000
Ringmaster Hat: 33,000
Ringmaster Beard: 21,000
Garbage Bag: 33,000
Decaying Dancer Dress: 24,000
Clown Hat: 70,000
Clown Nose: 27,000
Dessert Pizza: 600*
VR Cola: 3,000*

*can be bought more than once.

Purchasing all the cosmetics in the shop will cost 271,000‬ tickets altogether. Once a cosmetic is bought, it will never be purchased again for it will now be owned. Food can always be purchased more than once.

There are two sets in this shop, the Ringmaster Set, and the Clown set. The Ringmaster set that comes with a the hat, beard, tie, and torso, costs 117,000 tickets altogether. The Clown set features the hat and nose, costing 97,000 tickets. The Garbage Bag and Decaying Dancer Dress are separate items and are not part of a set.

Ways to obtain tickets[]

Leveling up. About each level can give around 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, or 6000 tickets.
- Upon reaching the max level, players will not be able level up to earn tickets. Bringing a final total 158,500 tickets earned through levels.
Playing and finishing a game daily will give 200 tickets. The max amount for each day is 3 games; giving 600 tickets per day.
Buying tickets in the ticket shop with Tokens. This option is ideal for getting every cosmetic quicker, but the cost of Tokens is very extreme for a large amount of Tickets.
- 500 Tokens = 1,500 Tickets.
- 2,500 Tokens = 8,000 Tickets.
- 5,000 Tokens = 17,000 Tickets.
- 10,000 Tokens = 36,000 Tickets.

Tips[]

In General[]

Know your perks. Some perks synergize well with others, while some Bonky perks counter some Survivor perks:
- Some synergies are:
  - Danger Zone & Escape Enchantment: If someone else gets caged & they have Escape Enchantment, while you have Danger Zone, the speed boost from Danger Zone can be readied again by Escape Enchantment
  - Stop Hitting Yourself & Escape Enchantment: If Bonky successfully cages you, but you have Escape Enchantment, then you can instantly activate Stop Hitting Yourself again the next time Bonky tries to re-cage you.
- The Bonky counter perks to Survivor perks are:
  - Danger In Numbers against Squad Up!: Squad Up! usually won't have enough time to unleash its full potential as you know in which direction the Survivors are using Squad Up!
  - Terrifying Prescence against Adrenaline Rush: If you're chasing a weakened Survivor with Adrenaline Rush while you have Terrifying Prescence, the Survivor you're chasing only has 75% Stamina Regen, still less than 100%.
Set Ambience to 0. There's no need for that, & it may even distract you from your goal (escape for Survivors, eliminating all Survivors for Bonky).

As a Survivor[]

Survivor perks can be categorized into three types based on their color:
- Blue perks: These perks are centered around generator completion, either helping it or rewarding successes in it.
- Green perks: These perks are mostly centered around healing, either helping it or rewarding successes in it.
  - Escape Enchantment is a unique case in that it revolves around generator completion instead of healing, but is colored green regardless.
- Orange perks: These perks serve as self-defense perks, assisting in evading Bonky.
Speedrun the generators. Most of the powerful Survivor perks & perk synergies come online after at least one generator is completed:
- For instance, here's a Survivor with a Headband, with the Powering Up perk. We'll call him Headband Guy. We also have another Survivor with a Space Visor, with the Escape Enchantment perk. We'll call her Space Visor Girl. If another Survivor completes, say, the green generator, the following happens:
  - Headband Guy permanently gains 15 MAX Stamina, which he can use to keep running loops around Bonky.
  - If Bonky manages to cage Space Visor Girl, she can just honk the horn on her cage & she's free.
Balance time spent alone & with at least 1 other Survivor. There are upsides & downsides to spending time alone or together with other Survivors, so split up or group up together only when needed:

Time Spent:

Upsides

Downsides

Alone

More generators being separately fixed

Only one person will be bonked at a time, even if they mess up

Can't be countered by Brainiac, Clown Radar, or Danger in Numbers

Better chance at successfully hiding

Easier for Bonky to chase people

Not many people are being healed

Can't trigger Squad Up!

Worse communication

With Other Survivors

Too many people for Bonky to chase

Many people are getting healed

Can trigger Squad Up!

Better communication

Bonky can catch many people within a short timeframe if they mess up

Fewer generators being fixed separately

Countered by Danger in Numbers, Clown Radar & Brainiac

Less chance of successfully hiding

Save caged Survivors. Not for the sake of kindness, but for the sake of surviving. The more Survivors free, the better odds for escape. 2-4 survivors to one Bonky is easier for a Survivor then facing against the clown on their own.

As Bonky[]

Try to delay generator progress as much as possible to drag out the game. This is because spending enough time in a match will give you extra movement speed (unless you're using Brainiac) & will eventually reveal all Survivors for the rest of the match. Perks like Butterfly Effect, Danger in Numbers, & Power Drain are good at this.
Bonky's perks can be categorized into 3 types based on their color:
- Red perks: These perks are usually offense-based, in that they are meant to directly impede Survivor progress.
- Yellow perks: These perks revolve around revealing Survivors' precise or rough locations.
- Purple perks: These perks revolve around modifying your Bonky Abilities.
- Teal perks: These perks revolve around reducing default disadvantages (mallet backswing duration & fear aura size).

Notes and Trivia[]

Non-lit Generator, meaning no one has worked there yet. — A Non-lit Generator, meaning no one has worked there yet

Notes[]

Players can earn a maximum of 7,500 XP per game. By partying up with friends, players may gain an additional __ XP on top of that cap.
Some walls can be glitchwalked through.
When Bonky leaves during the match, a notification will appear for all survivors saying "Bonky left the game, keep getting those generators!". If Bonky leaves before the match starts, the game will randomly choose another player to fill in Bonky's place.
- If everyone but one player leaves the game, that only player will be kicked back into the intermission area and the game will say "Not enough players to start".
When a survivor works at a generator, the big light above it will start to glow but flicker, meaning the generator has got progress to it. If the light is lit up without flickering, it means that generator is complete. No light would mean its progress is at 0%
- This can be used as a tactic for Bonky players.
If both are using VR; Survivors can be healed while working at a generator together, as long as they are close enough to reach each other.
- Using Screen-Mode is risky since the player healing has to hit the repair test button while healing, which may interrupt the healing process or will mess up the generator when not pressing the button, giving the attention to Bonky.
When the sabotage perk is used, swinging the hammer rapidly at a generator will make the squeaky bonk sound constantly.
In VR, no matter what playstyle setting the player is using, it will use automatically use Seated Mode and override Standing Mode if in use.
Votekicks are not permitted during the game. Executing a votekick will not give other players the notification to votekick that certain player.
- Votekicks are permitted through the game intermission.

Trivia[]

The Make It To Midnight shop is very similar to the Laser Tag shop as both shops feature tickets as currencies.
- The Tickets in MITM are also the first type of tickets that can be purchased with Tokens.
The slide in the game was often used to glitchwalk into to hide from Bonky. This was patched a few weeks of after the games launch.

Sk0l with the four carnival posters
There are many posters in the game showing characters that performed in the Merry Midway; showing Bonky the Clown, Wanda the Dancer, Helga the Seer, and Lionel the Tamer.
- The red carnival tent inside shows each characters acts.

This is the first and only Rec Room Original that doesn't allow votekicks during the match.
There are many concession stand signs showing food and their prices. One of the most unique is the prices of Pretzels, Cotton-Candy, Root Beer, and VR Cola; having the price of .87 cents, which refers to the year of 1987 when Rec Room took place.

Gallery[]

A Disappearance at the Rec County Fair - Make it to Midnight - TEASER TRAILER 1 -RecRoomOriginal

The Legend of Bonky - Make it to Midnight- TEASER TRAILER 2 -RecRoomOriginal

Make it to Midnight- A Rec Room Original - OFFICIAL REVEAL TRAILER

Story[]

There is four friends that sneak into the Rec Room County Fair during the night, Little do they know something was still hiding..., they explore the circus until they reach to a big circus tent, it opens to reveal Bonky the Clown. Bonky the Clown starts to chase the four friends until they are cornered by Bonky at a gate. Bonky captures the four friends.