Bye Sweet Carole introduced for 2024 release

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Traditionally animated horror fairy tale from the creator of Remothered blends classic adventuring with stealth and platforming

We tend to think of the animated Disney films as being whimsical and child-friendly, and yet there's often a dark undercurrent running through them to lend an air of menace. Indie developer Chris Darril is drawing on that same dichotomy between lush Disney-esque visuals and horrific subject matter in the upcoming genre-bender Bye Sweet Carole.

It's 1903, Great Britain, where a teenager named Lana Benton feels like an outcast at Bunny Hall, the orphanage where she's been raised since she was a child. The place is aptly named, as it's infested by a colony of mysterious wild rabbits who are able to open a dimensional portal to another realm called Corolla. After discovering a series of letters, Lana decides to follow the trail of Carole Simmons, her best friend who managed to escape the orphanage, leaving Lana behind all alone. But Lana gets far more than she bargained for when, at the urging of an enigmatic man known as "Old Hat," she finds herself swept into a dark fantasy land filled with terrifying creatures.

At first glance, Bye Sweet Carole looks like a classic animated fairy tale with hand-drawn 4K graphics and frame-by-frame animations. And yet the charming visuals belie a "horrific thriller" hidden just underneath, which should come as no surprise from the creator of the Remothered survival horror series. There will be plenty of classic adventuring to do here as Carole explores both worlds, acquiring needed items to solve puzzles along the way. But there's a survival component to deal with here as well, in the form of platforming, stealth and chase sequences to overcome physical obstacles and elude enemies. Fortunately for the young heroine, she has a few magical abilities of her own to aid her in her quest, as Lana is able to speak to birds and transform herself into a rabbit when strategically advantageous.

There is no firm target release date for Bye Sweet Carole, but the game is expected to arrive sometime in 2024 for PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch platforms.