| “ | Break those boards and let's get this party started! | ” |
– Bierce | ||
"Monkey Business" is the first level in Dark Deception. It is the only level in Chapter 1.
It is set in an Art Deco-themed hotel patrolled by vicious, animalistic bellhops known as Murder Monkeys. As of the Enhanced update, it is the first level to feature boss enemies, the Chef Monkeys.
Dark Deception[]
Introduction[]
| “ | What a charming little hotel... Bring back any memories? | ” |
– Bierce | ||
The level begins in a small lobby area, near a vacant reception desk. Ringing the bell several times will summon an unnerving cutout of an anthropomorphic bellboy monkey behind the desk, shrugging its arms. A similar cutout is positioned further down the hall and will fall over when approached.
The hallway opens into a wider lobby area containing a row of elevators. As Doug continues, the elevator at the far end opens, revealing a Murder Monkey inside with its back turned. Approaching it will cause it to shriek and leap, followed by the elevator doors closing. After a short period, the elevator will return to transport Doug to another floor. The elevator buttons display indecipherable rune-like patterns and cannot be interacted with.
The elevator opens into a small room containing the ring altar, where the ring piece is stored. Bierce informs Doug that in order to unlock the ring piece, he must collect all of the soul shards, floating purple crystals embodying the spirits of those who died there. She then provides him a tablet, explaining that it was left behind by her previous servant, a girl whom she describes as clever, but “not a very fast runner.” The tablet displays the area layout, the locations of soul shards and interactables in Doug’s vicinity, the current objective, the number of soul shards remaining, and two vacant ability slots, which become usable in future levels. Before finishing her dialogue, Bierce warns Doug that the hotel is inhabited by monsters seeking to kill him. Doug is then urged to break down the boards and commence the search.
Act I[]
| “ | "You've gathered half of the shards. I'm impressed. I would've thought you'd have been shredded by now... | ” |
– Bierce, after collecting half of the required shards. | ||
Doug must collect a total of 289 soul shards scattered throughout the hotel corridors while being pursued by three Murder Monkeys. They spawn shortly after breaking the boards, in the southwest, southeast, and northeast corners of the map.
The Murder Monkeys always follow the quickest path to Doug and accelerate slightly when near him. Their presence is indicated by loud, thumping footsteps and shrill breathing noises. While they cannot outrun Doug while he is sprinting, they can easily intercept or surround him when dispersed, especially around the corners of the map. An effective strategy is to keep them clustered together and to maintain a steady distance, particularly when exploring the inner corridors.
There are various doors throughout the map; while most cannot be opened, some lead to secret rooms while others reveal harmless Murder Monkeys.
Act II[]
| “ | You've gathered all of the soul shards. The ring piece is now exposed, and the monsters will go into a frenzy. Get to the ring piece before Mr. Monkey finds you! | ” |
– Bierce, after collecting all of the required shards. | ||
Once Doug has collected all the shards, the ring barrier will deactivate, and the Murder Monkeys are replaced with their more vicious counterparts, the Chef Monkeys. One will spawn in the kitchen after a short cinematic, while two others guard the pathways to the ring barrier. Doug must lure them away to gain access.
After collecting the ring piece, Malak is alerted to Doug’s presence. Bierce urges Doug to return to the entrance portal in the lobby. The elevator doors shut just as a Murder Monkey bursts from a doorway and rushes toward him. As the elevator descends, the Murder Monkeys’ shrieks remain audible in the background.
Final Act[]
| “ | Hrghh... Who dares?! | ” |
– Malak, after the ring piece is obtained. | ||
Doug returns to the lobby floor, seemingly void of threats. As he passes by the elevators, however, the doors suddenly open as hordes of Murder Monkeys pour out to pursue him. Bierce urges him to hurry as Malak’s voice can be heard threatening him. He successfully evades them and escapes through the portal as a final Murder Monkey pops up from behind the reception desk.
Secrets[]
- Ringing the service bell 10 times at the reception desk will cause a cutout to pop up from behind the desk, earning the achievement, "Service, Please!"
- Opening some doors in the hotel will reveal some Murder Monkeys where they will just stare at the protagonist and they will not try to kill them.
- There are two secret rooms in this level:
- Secret 1 is to the west of the Ring Altar.
- Secret 2 to the south and also has a secret note from E talking about the origins of the Murder Monkeys and that they ditched the tablet.
- Murder Monkeys will have a hard time entering the secret rooms, but there is a slight chance that they'll succeed. Doug may also get trapped inside this room due to the Murder Monkeys blocking the entrance. Both of these rooms will have files in them, which will unlock new content from the Art Gallery. Primarily 4 artworks of the Murder Monkeys.
- The player will be awarded a soundtrack upon finishing the level.
- In Monkey Business, breaking a board which leaves into a small dead-end near secret room A reveals a wall graffiti reading "Evans was here".
- You can also click on that graffiti, and doing that replaces the main track of the level to the track from the 2014 demo version of DD,
S-rank[]
To obtain an S-rank, the player must achieve all of the criteria listed below.
- Time: Less than 10 minutes (+40)
- Bonus Shards: 1 (+10)
- Secrets: 2 (+10)
- Lives Lost: 0 (+20)
- Shard Streak: 250 (+20)
An S-rank must be achieved to obtain an excerpt of Bierce's Diary.
Achievements[]
| Picture | Name | Description |
|
Shard Enthusiast | Get a streak of 100 shards in Monkey Business. |
|
Eagle Eyes | Found a secret in Monkey Business. |
|
Not Monkeying Around | Don't die for 2 mins in Monkey Business. |
|
Service, Please! | Rang the service bell 10 times. |
|
Monkey King | Earn an S Rank in Monkey Business. |
Known Bugs[]
- Main Article: Bugs & Glitches
Monsters & Mortals[]
The multiplayer variation of the map removes the ring barrier room, kitchen and secret rooms, but still retains most of the original layout. The map features banana peels as traps to stun players who walk into them and the Chef Monkeys as bosses to chase after players.
Stats[]
| Shards | Minute | |
|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | 300 | 2.30 |
| Wave 2 | 250 | 2 |
| Wave 3 | 250 | 1.30 |
| Wave 4 | 200 | 1 |
| Wave 5 | 200 | 1 |
| Total | 1200 | 8 |
| Required | 600 | < 8 |
| Shards | Minute | |
|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | 400 | 2 |
| Wave 2 | 400 | 1 |
| Wave 3 | 400 | 1 |
| Wave 4 | 400 | 1 |
| Wave 5 | 400 | 1 |
| Total | 2000 | 6 |
| Shards | Minute | |
|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | 500 | 4 |
| Wave 2 | 400 | 2.30 |
| Wave 3 | 300 | 1.30 |
| Wave 4 | 300 | 0.55 |
| Wave 5 | 200 | 0.35 |
| Total | 1700 | 9.30 > |
Soundtrack[]
- Main Article: Dark Deception: Chapters 1-3 (Original Soundtrack)
Trivia[]
- "Monkey Business" is an idiom referring to mischievous or morally dubious activity. Doug's mistress utters the phrase while describing a hotel during the flashback sequence at the end of Mascot Mayhem.
- It is the only level to not have an alliterative title.
- The level shares a title with one of its background music tracks.
- This is the first level to be entirely indoors, the second being Stranger Sewers.
- This is the first level in which Malak does not physically appear, the second being Torment Therapy and the third being Bearly Buried.
- To date, "Monkey Business" is the only level in Dark Deception that does not feature any traps.
- Prior to Dark Deception Enhanced, the Chef Monkeys appeared as bosses in Monsters & Mortals. Originally, the Murder Monkeys would resume their pursuit until Doug obtained the ring piece.
- Doug was originally chased by four Murder Monkeys during the shard collection. This was changed to three in the 1.1.2 update to compensate for AI improvements.
- As of Chapter 3's release, the Murder Monkeys are immune to the Primal Fear ability after collecting all of the soul shards.
- Additionally, the Telepathy ability now highlights Murder Monkeys that appear in scripted encounters, such as the elevator passenger in the intro and the receptionist at the end of the level.
- Malak's phantom was originally intended to chase Doug in the lobby alongside the Murder Monkeys in the 2015 Alpha release.
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