I mentioned Bye Sweet Carole in passing in my coverage of Guerilla Collective’s Not-E3 showcase this year, but otherwise I actually haven’t written about it at all. And that’s a shame, because it looks extremely promising. It’s a classically-animated horror game about a young girl unwillingly brought to the mysterious (and perhaps dangerous) world of Corolla. To celebrate the year’s spookiest season and Steam Screamfest, the developer has partnered with American McGee’s Alice: Asylum artist Omri Koresh to create one chilling piece of artwork.
The artwork, shown above, showcases Mr. Kyn and his rotten rabbits enrolling Lana Benton into the world of Corolla. The rotten rabbits are black rabbits made of black tar. While their origin is unknown, they are closely related to Mr. Kyn as he can open the portals that summon them.
Here is some pre-alpha in-game footage that debuted at Gamescom 2023:
Set in the early 1900s, young Lana Benton finds herself in a mysterious enchanted garden to deal with menacing (and rather disturbing) creatures – and she was urged to go there by the terrifying Mr. Kyn, AKA Old Hat. She discovers a number of letters from a mysterious French guy (as she puts it) and decides to follow the trail of Carole Simmons, a girl who escaped from a 19th-century orphanage called Bunny Hall. Now, though, the building is infested by colonies of wild rabbits able to open a portal to the realm of Corolla.
The hand-drawn game is a dark tale through Corolla, and uses cinematographic techniques from classic animated films. There is a vibrant cast of characters, from Mr. Kyn to loyal friend Mr. Baesie. Players will shapeshift into a rabbit, harnessing various forms to conquer the deadly challenges ahead.
Developed by Little Sewing Machine and Meangrip Studios, and published by Just For Games (part of Maximum Entertainment), Bye Sweet Carole will be released for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, and Xbox One in 2024.
