Key Highlights:
- Bye Sweet Carole release date set for October 9, 2025, for PS5, Xbox, Switch, and PC.
- Created by Chris Darril (Remothered), the game fuses fairy-tale animation with survival horror.
- Players explore Bunny Hall orphanage and the dark kingdom of Corolla, shifting between human and rabbit forms.
After nearly a year of silence, Bye Sweet Carole has finally locked in a release date. The animated horror adventure from Little Sewing Machine, Meangrip Studios, and publisher Maximum Entertainment will release on October 9th, 2025, across PC and all major consoles, with physical editions coming for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch.
The project is led by Chris Darril, best known for creating Remothered. While that series leaned into traditional psychological horror, Bye Sweet Carole takes a very different approach. It’s a game that looks and moves like a classic hand-drawn animated film yet tells a story steeped in darkness. If you’ve ever imagined what it might look like if golden-age Disney decided to embrace survival horror, this game comes surprisingly close.
Set in early 1900s England, the narrative follows Lana Benton as she investigates the disappearance of her friend Carole Simmons. That journey leads into Bunny Hall orphanage and eventually to Corolla, a fantastical kingdom ruled by sinister forces: the cruel Mr. Kyn, the unsettling owl Velenia, and swarms of tar bunnies.
The tone oscillates between whimsical fairy-tale charm and disturbing horror imagery, a contrast that should appeal to fans of both genres.
Mechanically, the game blends exploration and old-school platforming with a unique shape-shifting ability that allows Lana to transform into a rabbit. This form plays a key role in puzzle-solving and survival, letting players slip through spaces or avoid predators in ways that would be impossible in human form.
Encounters with characters like the loyal Mr. Baesie and hostile figures such as Velenia help flesh out a cast that feels more in line with an animated feature than a traditional horror game.
From a design perspective, what stands out most is the hand-drawn animation. The team has used techniques inspired by classic cinema to give Corolla and Bunny Hall a fluid, film-like quality. Its great to see unique games like this, compared to the old recycled genres.
This isn’t just a stylistic flourish, it’s central to the atmosphere, making each sequence feel alive and unsettling.
When I first saw the footage, I was reminded of how unsettling even traditionally “safe” animated films can feel when their imagery brushes against the uncanny. Bye Sweet Carole embraces that tension fully.
You never know, if the game becomes succesful, then maybe down the line we might even see a crossover with Disney Dreamlight Valley at some point.
For players who enjoyed the claustrophobic dread of Remothered but are open to something more experimental, this looks like a natural next step.
The side-by-side arrangement of familiar fairy-tale visuals with survival horror mechanics isn’t common, and that alone makes the game worth keeping an eye on. With its mix of narrative depth, unsettling atmosphere, and a clear love for animation history, Bye Sweet Carole is shaping up to be one of the more unusual horror releases of the year.