Developer posts and news about this game.
Join Hannah for a playthrough of the showfloor demo of Mandrake, as it existed at Gamescom 2026! We're unlikely to show the game exactly like this again, so we wanted to capture it for everyone who didn't make it to our live events this year. Hope you enjoy!
Mandrake is in Telltale's Choices Matter Festival this week, so we're taking the opportunity to talk about some of the foundational choices for your character in Mandrake. Unusually for our games, in Mandrake a number of things are already determined about your character. You're
We're in Telltale's Choices Matter festival! We're going to be showing 25 minutes of Mandrake gameplay , focusing on meeting some characters in Chandley and a first look at character creation. This is the most of Mandrake we've shown online anywhere, so it should be full of lots
An exciting day for us! We're coming to Gamescom for the first time. Thanks to the backing of IndieArenaBooth, you'll be able to take a look at Mandrake at Gamescom, and meet the team at the IndieArenaBooth stand. It's likely that there will be stickers. We haven't shown at Games
After nearly sixteen years working in the Victorian milieu for Fallen London (and Sunless Sea/Sunless Skies), Mandrake is giving us an opportunity to draw on a whole new swathe of historical and folkloric sources, and we've been making the most of it. Mandrake is set in a village
You are the last of the Mandrakes, a sorcerous line of gardeners. At long last, you’ve returned to your family's abandoned home. Chandley is a small village, carefully kept, where plenty of the residents remember lean times and don't want to see them come to pass again. Everyone
We're stretching our legs after a long winter mostly indoors, and taking Mandrake for its first public outing! Mandrake is among the Official Selection of the London Games Festival, which means we get an opportunity to show it to the public during the New Game Plus show at Exhibi
Here's Hannah (that's me) giving a demo of conversation in Mandrake! In Mandrake, your choices (at character creation and in gameplay) will change the tenor of conversations with your neighbours. Will you be a haughty Doubter, or a good Neighbour? We'll never lock you out of stor
After so many years with Fallen London , one of the pleasures of working on Mandrake is getting to explore things that are barred by the lore of that setting. The first thing that comes to mind there is weather – Mandrake can have real rain, and snow that is not (usually) superna
Watch on YouTube Here's Mandrake's art director Toby Cook with a behind the scenes view of Chandley, showing how we've converted it from pure 2D to true 3D! This allows us to do so much with light and shadow to make the environment seem more grounded and believable; an important
We're in the Wholesome Snack, alongside some other choice delicious morsels. If you found us there, welcome! Our little exclusive in the showcase was a proper introduction to your neighbour, the Yolf. Sometimes it visits the tree outside your lodge. It has business with you, afte
Chris Gardiner - Failbetter's Narrative Director and lead writer on Mandrake - and senior artist Erion Makuo talk about their character design process. Chris: Erion Makuo, we meet again. Erion: Chris Gardiner, my friend in arms! Chris: Last time we talked , we discussed your work
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 questio
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 o
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 h
Yes, there is technically cannibalism in every other game we've made. But you can't eat people in this one. We knew it would disappoint some of you, but we didn't expect the outpouring of anguish at not being able to have a friendly nibble on the other characters in Mandrake. How
Hello everyone, and thank you for the warm reception you've given to Mandrake so far! We're doing a Q&A on Discord this Thursday if you have any questions for us. Until then, here's Chris Gardiner, lead writer on Mandrake. -- Hannah When you arrive in the village of Chandley