Season 1: Fairy Tales

## KaleidORGs Season 1: Fairytales

KaleidORGs: Fairy Tales was the first season of KaleidORGs.

Featuring a number of original challenges and twists based on classic fairy tales, KaleidORGs: Fairy Tales saw 20 intrepid explorers fighting to earn the title of Sole Survivor. Along the way, players were given a unique opportunity to venture into the Dark Forest, exploring the wicked side of beloved fairy tales for the chance to earn power in the game. After a chaotic opening with several blindsides and a brutal swap that saw multiple players get picked off through no fault of their own, the merge would settle into a battle between the two original tribes. After one began to gain the upper hand, two members of the dominating alliance decided to turn on their own, sparking a fervent free-for-all to reach the finish line. With the jury split between two of the players at FTC—who spent the entire game on opposing sides—it came down to the third-place finalist to cast the tiebreaker vote, and in the end, Michael became the first winner of KaleidORGs over Craig and Courtney in a 5-4-0 vote.

## Twists/Advantages

* **The Dark Forest:** Every other round in the pre-merge, a command was hidden somewhere in the server that led to a secret channel. Players who found the command would be given the opportunity to compete in a reward challenge inspired by the original Grimm's Fairy Tale version of the fairytale that that round's immunity challenge was based on. The winner of each reward challenge would receive a secret advantage, also based on the appropriate fairy tale.
	+ **Pumpkin Carriage:** At the first Dark Forest challenge, at the Final 20, players raced to complete a blind maze, inspired by the blinding of the evil stepsisters in the original *Cinderella*. The winner received the Pumpkin Carriage advantage, an advantage that allowed the user to leave tribal and lose their vote but become ineligible to be voted for, similar to a Safety Without Power. However, the Pumpkin Carriage came with an additional twist: if it was used pre-merge, the person who played it would mutiny to the other tribe. This advantage was won by Allen.
	+ **Poison Apple Trio:** At the second Dark Forest challenge, at the Final 18, players attempted to count to 100 as quickly as possible while following a series of rules, inspired by the deadly dance the evil queen was forced to perform in the original *Snow White and the Seven Dwarves*. The winner received the Poison Apple Trio. This advantage was comprised of three disadvantages (each represented by a poison apple) that could be played on anyone: vote loss, challenge disadvantage, and inability to play or transfer advantages for a round. These came with a caveat, though: the holder did not know which poison apple was which, and would still not know after each was played. This advantage was won by Evan.
	+ **Ursula's Conch Shell:** At the third Dark Forest challenge, at the Final 16, players had to identify morphed faces of celebrities who had broken up, inspired by the sad ending in the original *Little Mermaid*. The winner received the Conch Shell advantage, which, when played on someone, would strip them of their ability to use DMs or alliance chats for the remainder of the round. If played before immunity results were announced, the Conch Shell would also give the person who played it a significant challenge advantage. This advantage was won by Haley.
	+ **Rumpelstiltskin's List:** At the fourth Dark Forest challenge, at the Final 14, players raced to complete exactly half a jigsaw and half a word search, inspired by Rumpelstiltskin's brutal death in the original *Rumpelstiltskin*. The winner received Rumpelstiltskin's List, an advantage that functioned as an extra vote. This extra vote came with a condition; it started with a list of players still in the game, and each round before the conclusion of tribal, the holder had to choose a name to cross out (or else a name would be selected at random). Players' names were removed from the list if they were voted out. The extra vote could only be used on players whose names were not crossed out. This advantage was won by Evan.

* **Merge Idol:** The hunt for the merge hidden immunity idol was hidden in the application form for the season. Players who found it had to complete a series of puzzles to earn the idol. This advantage was found by Allen.
* **Pied Piper's Flute:** This advantage was sold at the Final 11 auction and functioned as a steal-a-vote. It was bought by Archy.
* **Little Muck's Magic Slippers:** This disadvantage was sold at the Final 11 auction and forced the person who bought it to use a challenge disadvantage on themself for two separate immunity challenges before the Final 6. It was bought by Courtney.
* **The Magic Mirror:** This advantage was sold at the Final 11 auction and allowed the person who bought it to receive a list of advantages still in the game once per round. The holder of the advantage would only know the names of the advantages and not what they did. It was bought by Jack.
* **The Lamp of Agrabah:** This advantage was sold at the Final 11 auction and did nothing. It was bought by Deadpool.
* **Winged Sneakers:** This advantage was sold at the Final 11 auction and gave the person who played it a significant advantage in the current immunity challenge: it had to be played prior to attempting the challenge and made it so that the user only needed to finish top 3 in an immunity challenge to win immunity rather than winning outright. This would result in up to two people being immune that round. This advantage was bought by Evan.
* **Catskin's Golden Coat:** This advantage was sold at the Final 11 auction and functioned as a mini hidden immunity idol, negating a single vote against the person it was played on. If it did negate a vote, the person it was played on would receive an extra vote that could only be used the next round. It was bought by Haley.
* **Scroll of Destiny:** This advantage was sold at the Final 11 auction and could be bought by multiple people for a set price. It was a clue to the merge idol. It was bought by Craig, Parker, and Raury.

## Season Summary

In early June, 20 castaways were split into two tribes of ten: Whispering Willows and Sylvan Sanctuary. Tasked with exploring the kingdom’s vast lands and uncovering the secrets behind the magic-tinged forests, they competed to be the last one standing and earn the title of Sole Survivor. The first challenge was an intense affair, where players solved puzzles and put together clues to escape Cinderella’s basement, and Sylvan Sanctuary’s lack of cohesion proved too much to bear. They made up for this in the vote, however, unanimously eliminating Izzy as the least active. Whispering Willows lost the next challenge, a series of duels, and after obvious boot Allen played an advantage allowing him to mutiny to the other tribe, they were divided on who to eliminate. Toge attempted to rally the troops against Flare, but Haley disagreed and turned the numbers on Toge’s ally Red instead. After a challenge where tribes needed to solve a word search and logic puzzle combination to properly plant Snow White’s garden (which Allen and Flare carried for their respective tribes), Sylvan Sanctuary lost and immediately plunged into chaos. Almost everyone’s name was thrown out as a possibility; eventually, much of the tribe elected to vote for Allen for being an outsider. However, Craig saw an opportunity to take out a potential adversary, gathering the numbers against Hunty for throwing out his ally Kelsey’s name and blindsiding him 6-4. At F17, a fairytale writing challenge spelled doom for Whispering Willows after many failed to contribute, and it was their turn for a harmonious boot, as Toge was the consensus vote for being likely to flip at a swap.

And swap they did! Unfortunately, the numbers were extremely lopsided, with 6-2 OG tribe splits on both sides. Alco and Kelsey were in trouble on Sylvan Sanctuary 2.0, and Flare and Allen were in a similar predicament on Whispering Willows 2.0 (though the latter had an advantage, having already spent a good chunk of time with his other tribemates). When Emily failed to show up for the emoji charades challenge, costing her tribe the win, her tribe quickly came to an agreement and booted her so hard she left the server. The F15 challenge presented a classic dilemma in Greed: one had the choice to take individual immunity for themself but send their tribe to tribal in the process. Not wanting to risk going home, Alco hastily grabbed Greed, resulting in Kelsey being voted out as the only remaining option in the minority. The next round was a double boot, with individual immunity once again up for grabs. Players would be randomly paired up across tribes and have to compete with their partner in an audio-based, Rumpelstiltskin-themed, spot the difference challenge. Flare got paired up with their ally Jack on the other tribe, but when he accidentally did the command in the wrong channel, they were disqualified, and Flare was voted out as the sole outsider on their tribe. The other person on the hot seat, Alco, fared slightly better, but he and his partner Allen just barely lost immunity to Cypress and Evan, resulting in Alco being voted out and capping off a brutal swap.

With 12 players remaining, the two sides merged into the Phizz Iallo tribe. With the swap having played out in the asymmetrical way it did, the camp seemed divided in two: the OG Whispering Willows and the OG Sylvan Sanctuaries (with tribe hopper Allen aligning more with the latter). The OG Sylvan Sanctuaries had a 7-5 numbers advantage, but some of their members, namely Parker, seemed antsy to make a move…

Allen won the first merge immunity in a blowout, a Little Red Riding Hood themed scavenger hunt. Craig and Cypress realized Parker and Raury were not going to stay loyal and attempted to pull the key duo of Archy and Evan to blindside Parker. Unfortunately for them, the pair aligned with Parker and Raury instead, voting out Cypress along with the other OG Whispering Willows. At F11, the challenge was an auction, with numerous goodies up for sale. While everyone spent all their money, the OG Whispering Willows ended up with nearly every good item, allowing their core alliance (called “Poison Apple Corporation” and consisting of Archy, Evan, Haley, Jack, and Michael) to cement control. Craig, Parker, and Raury all bought clues to the merge idol, but it was Allen who found it after Craig shared the clue with him. Allen also won immunity from the auction, but it was rather inconsequential, as Deadpool was a simple unanimous boot for his inactivity.

At F10, a live game of Troll’s Trivia saw Michael winning his first individual immunity. The Poison Apples targeted Allen for his challenge prowess, while the minority of Allen, Courtney, and Craig targeted Jack, seeing him as the easiest person to get votes on. They sought to draw Parker and Raury back to their side to force a tie; while Raury was on board, Parker realized he needed to prioritize self-preservation and work with the Poison Apples, resulting in a majority vote on Allen. However, Allen surprised everyone by playing a hidden immunity idol, eliminating Jack with only four votes.

Touchy Subjects revealed a number of perceptions on the tribe; namely Evan and Haley being threats, Archy having little FTC win equity, Parker being a snake, and Courtney being trustworthy. Michael—who coincidentally only won one shared answer—won his second individual immunity. The Poison Apples held power yet again, and they opted to snipe the eloquent Raury. Leaking Allen as a decoy name to the minority and pulling in Parker (who at this point had fully jumped ship from his old tribe) as a fifth, they blindsided Raury in a 5-3-1 vote, their steamroll appearing to be in full effect.

However… some members of Poison Apples—Archy and Evan in particular—were realizing the threat levels of their allies and feeling as if a move had to be made before it was too late. After Allen fixed Tiana’s restaurant the fastest in a puzzle gauntlet, ruining a number of plans, Archy and Evan decided it was time to turn on their own. They approached minority figurehead Craig with the intent to make a move, and the three of them decided to target Haley, the biggest threat in the game. They pulled Allen on board as a fourth, but due to Haley’s wealth of social connections, they weren’t sure who else to get for majority. Fortunately, they had Archy’s steal-a-vote, which they used to blindside Haley in the splashiest move of the season. This blew the game wide open, preventing the Poison Apples from coasting to the end and forcing everyone remaining to scramble to cobble together numbers.

At F7, the explorers were presented with the challenge of organizing Belle’s library in a series of word-based competitions. While Allen had the fastest raw time, Evan played a challenge disadvantage on him, resulting in Michael narrowly winning immunity instead. And although whispers of taking out Evan floated around the camp, the threat of Allen winning out was too dangerous and he was voted out unanimously. The next challenge was a betting game called Beauty Contest, and Michael managed to win his fourth individual immunity. A Parker vote initially appeared most likely, but when Evan attempted to rally the troops against Courtney instead, his closest allies Archy and Craig realized he was too dangerous to take forward, uniting with the rest of the tribe to vote him out instead.

The five remaining explorers were tasked with solving logic puzzles about the ghosts of explorers past. Archy emerged victorious, becoming the first person other than Allen or Michael to win immunity during all of merge. A split between Michael and Parker formed, with the former being targeted for his physical abilities and strong bonds with the jury and the latter being targeted for his impressive story and unparalleled impact on the season’s trajectory. In the end, a F3 alliance of Courtney, Craig, and Michael shone through, and despite Parker’s attempts to bluff an idol, he was voted out 3-2. At the final immunity challenge, a fairy-counting contest filled with various minigames, Michael won his fifth individual immunity in a blowout. And with the Courtney-Craig-Michael trio staying strong, Archy was eliminated in fourth place.

Final Tribal Council presented a number of battles. OG Whispering Willows vs OG Sylvan Sanctuary. Social vs strategic vs physical. Google docs vs notes app vs youtube-narrated third-person fairytale. Despite Courtney being well-liked among the jurors, her frenetic gameplay and general lack of strategic decision-making removed her from contention, leaving the battle between Craig and Michael. Craig highlighted his underdog storyline, emphasizing his persistence that allowed him to move from the bottom of the pecking order to the top and gain lots of control in the endgame. Michael underlined the consistency in his gameplay, indicating how his subtle yet strong social game kept him in a good spot throughout and his immunity wins, while impressive, were far from his only commendable quality. While both gave solid performances, Craig perhaps fared a little better, managing to flip Archy’s vote which had previously seemed locked for Michael. Everyone else voted via their old alliances, resulting in a 4-4-0 tie and Courtney having to determine the winner. In a shocking moment, Courtney randomized her final vote (just like she’d done with several of her rogue votes throughout the season), citing herself as unable to pick between two of her closest friends and allies. The coin flip ended up landing Michael’s way, resulting in him being declared the first ever winner of KaleidORGs!

## Awards

Winner: Michael

Runners-Up: Craig and Courtney

Player of the Season: Evan

Fan Favorite: Courtney

Hero of the Season: Craig

Villain of the Season: Parker

Rookie of the Season: Allen

Most Robbed: Flare

Funniest: Haley

Host Favorite: Cypress

Best Confessionals: Raury

Best Parchments: Archy

Best Duo: Alco and Hap

Best Rivalry: Craig and Parker

Best Alliance: Poison Apple Corporation (Archy, Evan, Haley, Jack, Michael)

Best Move: Allen Uses the Pumpkin Carriage at F20

Worst Move: Evan Pushes Too Hard to Vote Courtney at F6 and Goes Home