Bye Sweet Carole

"Dear Carole... It's been weeks since you left..."

***Bye Sweet Carole*** is an upcoming platformer adventure horror game created and directed by an Italian artist and game designer Chris Darril and developed by Little Sewing Machine.

## Official summary

> Set in the early 1900s, in an age where the phenomenon of the feminist political movement begins to shake the British nation, young Lana Benton, guest of the eerie Bunny Hall orphanage, is the only one to suspect that her best friend Carole didn’t just run away. The secret correspondence between Carole and a mysterious “French” pushes Lana to investigate enough to find herself surviving, poised between the real world and the fantastic kingdom of Corolla that, under the cruel influence of the terrifying Mr.Kyn, the insensitive owl Velenia, and the ravenous colonies of tar bunnies, is inexorably perishing.
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## Characters

Main article: Characters
* Lana Benton (voiced by: Elsie Lovelock) - a girl looking for her missing friend. She has a magical ability allowing her to transform into a rabbit.
* Carole Simmons - Lana's friend who escaped Bunny Hall
* Mr. Kyn (voiced by: Anthony Ingruber)- a mysterious man that appeared from a cylinder hat

## Staff

* Director: Chris Darril
* Writer: Chris Darril
* Writing Assistant: Mark Darin
* Composer: Luca Balboni
* Animation department: Laura Crosio, Beatrice Gentili, Alexia Sapienza, Valeria Tirloni, Pino Nippy Ieno, Elios Silvestri, Alessia Puli, Emma Zamboni, Lucia Girelli Carasi, Simone Gnaccarini, Mattia Zoppo.

## Gameplay

The game is a 2D animated cinematic adventure horror inspired by the original *Clock Tower* but with platforming elements similar to games like *Cuphead* and *Forgotton Anne.* The main character Lana has an ability to transform into a rabbit.

## Development

The game originated from an unfinished prototype of *Remothered*, a *Clock Tower*-inspired horror game that Chris Darril had worked on in his youth before it was lost due to a computer crash. Darril managed to recover an unfinished build of the game in mid-2020 but decided to create a new IP using the prototype as a basis . The game was originally meant to be made in the similar style as *Remothered 2D,* but Darril eventually settled on the hand-drawn artstyle inspired by Disney classics due to to his love for traditional animation.

The game was officially announced in September, 2021, alongside Chris Darril's newly founded company Little Sewing Machine that the game will be developed under.

The award winning writer Mark Darin joined the development team in early 2022. Several well-known voice talents who worked with Darril on *Remothered* were confirmed to join his new project, including Lani Minella and Elsie Lovelock*.* Luca Balboni will also return as the lead composer for the game.

The game is set to be released in 2024 under the publisher Just For Games. The development is regularly updated with new screenshots and WIP videos on the creator's Instagram page.

The reveal trailer was released on June 7, 2023 as a part of Guerrilla Collective 3.

## Themes

> *"Chris Darril's Bye Sweet Carole* will tell a touching yet also terribly disturbing Hitchcockian story that will push the traditional boundaries of classic films in dealing with the phenomenon of bullying (denouncing the rule of silence as much as active participation). Unlike those earlier beloved masterpieces, one way *Bye Sweet Carole* has no intention of resembling a fairy tale or a classic animated movie is in its refusal to cut corners or have any censorship, either in the content or in the themes addressed."
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## Sequel

A sequel titled *Bye Sweet Carole 2* is in Chris Darril's plans.

## Locations

* Bunny Hall
* Kingdom of Corolla

## Trivia

* Unlike Chris Darril's previous project, *Bye Sweet Carole* will be made with Unity engine and will feature hand-drawn animation in the style of Disney Renaissance.
* The game was inspired by *Rule of Rose*, *Clock Tower,* and old school 2D platformers like *Heart of Darkness*, *Flashback* and *Another World*. The story will be a dark fairytale inpsired by *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs* and *Alice in Wonderland*.
* The main character Lana was named after Chris Darril's dog whom he named after the character Lana Winters from *American Horror Story.* She will be voiced by Elsie Lovelock, who previously voiced the main character Celeste for *Remothered: Broken Porcelain*.
* The game's title is a reference to a 1964 psychological thriller *Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte*.

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/chrisdarril/status/1308175750814670850 (archive)
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/chrisdarril/status/1580862096996061184 (archive)
3. ↑ https://www.everyeye.it/notizie/bye-sweet-carole-annunciato-gioco-chris-darril-autore-remothered-542063.html - everyeye.it (ita.)
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/chrisdarril/status/1459229573711900675
5. ↑ https://pledgetimes.com/bye-sweet-carol-mark-darin-joins-the-development-team/
6. ↑ https://www.gematsu.com/2023/04/thrilling-horror-adventure-game-bye-sweet-carole-announced-for-ps5-xbox-series-ps4-xbox-one-switch-and-pc
7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSd5hbRGYR4
8. ↑ https://www.littlesewingmachine.com/bye-sweet-carole/
9. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23711218/
10. ↑ https://twitter.com/chrisdarril/status/1464701927992745984 (archive)

## External links

* Steam
* IMDB
* Little Sewing Machine official website
* Just for Games official page
* Wikipedia (ita.)
* Facebook page
* Chris Darri's Instagram page