The month of October usually sees the release of multiple horror games that lean into the Halloween aesthetic. This year promises to be no different with the release of Bye Sweet Carole. Developed by Little Sewing Machine and published by Maximum Entertainment, the game takes the style of animated family films from the 90’s and uses it to tell a story that is darker in tone. The game is primarily narrative-based, giving players the chance to appreciate the intricate animations that make up the world and scenes.

Bye Sweet Carole is set in England in the early 1900’s, with the suffrage movement providing the backdrop to the events of the game. Players take control of a young girl named Lana Benton on a mission to discover what happened to her friend, Carole Simmons, that caused her to disappear. She passes through two separate environments. The first is Bunny Hall Orphanage, a haunted place seemingly connected to the disappearance. The second is the kingdom of Corolla, where she encounters the antagonists, Mr. Kin and Velena the owl.

According to the Steam store page, the game is directly meant to emulate classic films that use animation that has largely been neglected by animation studios. This fairy tale art style is present in both the game’s story cutscenes and the average 2D gameplay, twisted to suit the game’s horror theming. During the game, players will be tasked with solving puzzles while avoiding the monsters that roam the two areas of the game. The release trailer sheds further light on the mechanics by showing her transforming into a bunny for different movement.

Many horror games are designed to look life-like, to varying levels of success. Bye Sweet Carole forgoes this trend in favor of twisting something that once made many of its players comfortable. The game is available now on console and PC.