Kase & Thyme: The Manor Rouge

During my time at Simple Machine, I wrote and illustrated Kase & Thyme: The Manor Rouge, a branching narrative, interactive visual/graphic novel for iOS.

Join the fiery detective duo and lovers, Kase & Thyme, as they uncover the spooky and bloody events at The Manor Rouge and attempt to find a missing boy with extraordinary powers from the village of Nidum Tumm.

Darkly comedic and inspired by classic, cheesy B-horror films and Survival Horror games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Outlast, and FAITH: The Unholy Trinity.

My Role:

➜ Developed the overall narrative direction and voice of the project.

➜ Conceived and wrote the story, characters, and dialogue.

➜ Wrote a non-linear narrative where player choices altered the story path.

➜ Learned to use in-house visual novel mapping tools (Twine/Ren’Py contemporaries).

➜ Developed the overall visual and art direction.

➜ Illustrated and textured all of the visual novel’s art.

➜ Prepared a public build for release by Halloween.

Watch: Playthrough Highlights

Adding a faction or “chaotic” entity that conflicts with both the protagonists and main antagonists can embroil players in a situation that feels bigger, creating branches in a non-linear story. A rabbit hole of horrors…

Outlining factions and their conflicting needs is one of my go-to strategies for writing intention, foreshadowing, and satisfying payoffs. A great method of doing this is viewing your characters on a “game board.”

Draw up your board, the tiles, and important items!

My Game Board:

Protagonists, Kase & Thyme

➜ Wants to find the missing boy Lancel and return him to his mom in the village of Nidum Tumm.

Main antagonists, The Manor’s Cult led by Victor Donovan

➜ Wants some kind of otherworldly transformation.

• Metamorphosis gives us imagery of cocoons, chrysalis, insects. You know I had to make ‘em an Insectoid Deity-worshipping cult that transforms themselves into half-Goldblum, half-Fly monsters!

➜ The Manor’s Cult have kidnapped Lancel to use as a host body or cocoon for their God.

'Pheromones Ultro' Research Team

➜ A lab funded by rogue members of The Manor’s Cult, led by a maddened Dr. Bhagwat. This workaholic doc, obsessed with perfecting 'Ultro,' is also notorious for his lustful, womanizing escapades through Nidum Tumm.

➜ His treatment of Lancel as an illegitimate son or a mess to “cover up” might have placed the boy right in the hands of the bug-brain cultists.

➜ ‘Pheromones Ultro’ is a mind-altering substance Dr. Bhagwat believes can unlock full human potential and serve as a direct 1:1 line to a higher power. Ultro’s scent attracts a rare species of frog, “Bufu Amphigus,” to The Manor.

A mysterious figure, Cashes

➜ Appears interested in stealing some of The Manor Cult’s research for a private buyer. He might be involved in something far deeper than he’s letting on.

It’s cults vs. chemistry (insects vs. frogs, rituals vs. mad science), and within this conflict we have Kase & Thyme vs. the Manor’s Cult to get back Lancel, while Cashes exacerbates the conflict between all parties.

The “game board” approach illuminates structure, parallel experiences and character desires that can strengthen story themes. For example, both The Manor’s Cult and Dr. Bhagwat seek evolution and want to see God in their own ways.

I see an opportunity for irony: Dr. Bhagwat abandons his son to prioritize his “opus,” developing Pheromones Ultro. The Ultro scent attracts crazed frogs that feast on the insectoid-ified cult members, saving Lancel at many points in the game. Dr. Bhagwat feared his son would taint his professional image, destroying his work. But ultimately, Dr. Bhagwat’s “ambition baby” (his work) became his son’s true protector and the catalyst for his own downfall.

Grounding The Characters:

The soul of this project is the relationship between Kase & Thyme, their bond as friends and lovers. It’s important to ground the horror in real, emotional character work and give players time to explore their personalities, including love languages and inside jokes.

I added moments where players can choose to have Kase & Thyme chat before moving forward. We see the duo growing apart: one wants to leave the detective life, while the other starts taking it more seriously, dropping their cocky, smart-ass demeanor.

Additionally, I included a bonus funny path where both detectives “nope” and go on a cute vacation instead.

Checkpoints

The branching narrative is extensive, and The Manor Rogue is crawling with voracious foes, from buggy cult members to a buggy bodyguard battle-bot named “BLOCKY.”

Checkpoints had to be strategically placed to prevent players from slogging through text they’d already read after falling victim to the game’s ghouls. This was a good exercise in pacing.

Playable builds with each new draft were submitted for notes and feedback. I implemented changes efficiently, with a new build expected by the end of each day.

Creating & Refining The Game’s Art

Process:

“Cursed children’s book” is a good way to describe the imagery.

My illustrations for this project make use of trippy, abstract visuals with a paper cut-out finish. I made sure the art aligned with the psychedelic elements of the story and themes of metamorphosis by contrasting organic, flowy images with sharp, jagged moments. I wanted my illustrations to be layered, intended for players to discover something new the longer they looked.

It was important that I took into consideration the most effective workflow for a tight two-week sprint (between main projects, and in time for Halloween).

Living in The Manor and drawing its nightmarish decor was an oddly therapeutic, absolute blast.

You don’t need to get high on "Ultro” to