Failbetter Narrative Director and lead writer on Mandrake, Chris Gardiner, and senior artist Erion Makuo talk about the process of character design as collaboration between art and writing.

Chris: Erion Makuo, we meet again.

Erion: Chris Gardiner, my friend in arms!

Chris:Last time we talked, we discussed your work on the interiors of our characters’ homes. This time I want to talk about your preposterously luscious character designs, and I should warn you I’m going to be embarrassingly gushy about them.

Erion: Oh no.

Chris: They’re just so thick with detail and personality. See, dear reader:…

Here’s Mandrake Art Director Tobias Cook, who was also Lead Artist on Sunless Skies, on how we’ve created a brand new world for Mandrake.

Until now, we’ve mostly been working in Fallen London, a setting that substantively takes place in a cave, with little in the way of sunlight, seasons, or real weather. In Mandrake, we’re making a new visual world from scratch, which as you might expect begins with asking questions: what are our visual touchpoints? What are we trying to say about the world?

A Grounded World

Mandrake has a fantasy setting, but we want it to feel like a believable, natural space. …

The mandrake root has been a staple of folklore and magic for well over a thousand years. Often eerily human in shape, with little arm- and leg-roots sprouting from its 'torso', it was assumed – due to the magical principle of sympathy, whereby a thing is believed to hold power over that which it resembles  – to have various magical properties. The smell of it could drive away demons. It was a popular component of fertility spells. Witches used it in the unguents which gave them the power of flight.…

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. …