We're so happy to report that Mandrake has sailed past 50,000 wishlists, and counting. It's wonderful to share our game with you and see your enthusiasm in return! Today, we present a conversation between Erion Makuo, Senior Artist, and Chris Gardiner, Narrative Director, about her work using characters' homes as a vehicle for story and mood.

CHRIS: Erion! Tell us who you are and what you do! 

ERION: Hey! I’m a fantasy illustrator and make art for books, Dungeons & Dragons, and Magic: The Gathering. For Mandrake, I paint the character illustrations and some of the environments. It’s my first time working on a video game.…

We hosted a Q&A about Mandrake just after the announcement went out, on the Failbetter discord. Here are the Qs, and our As.

(This has been edited to combine responses from multiple people and to simplify the questions. If you’d like to read the complete thing, which contains more silliness, there’s an archive in the #answers channel on said discord.)

Will there be a crowdfunding campaign for this game, or Early Access? 

We don't expect to crowdfund Mandrake.  It's already an ambitious game and we think this would push us towards expanding the scope with things like stretch goals.…

When you arrive in the village of Chandley at the start of Mandrake, Rosen – the village leader – greets you. "Welcome to Chandley! It's small, it's complicated, and everyone's got an opinion." 

Chandley is one of the most important places in Mandrake. It has the densest concentration of characters, and because it's where many useful services are available, you'll spend a lot of time there. It acts as a window onto the wider world – this is a whole new setting, with its own mysteries and secrets to uncover. And it gives context to your arrival and actions as its residents react to them.…

Our new game is called Mandrake.

Watch on failbettergames.com

It’s a rural life sim, though with the kind of complex, playfully responsive narrative you might expect from us, and an unusual art style for the genre. You play the last of the Mandrakes, a sorcerous line of gardeners. Horticulture is a cursed and forbidden practice... except to you. Your family line is steeped in the green and growing arts, so you’re able to grow such marvels as: runner beans! Cherry trees! The humble turnip!

The Mandrake setting takes inspiration from British history and folklore. It’s a world of old, wild powers, of uncanny spirits that reside in those places mortals dare not go; of deep histories, and deeper mysteries. …