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Amanda the Adventurer

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Amanda the Adventurer
Logo of the first game
Genre(s)Horror
Developer(s)MANGLEDmaw Games
Publisher(s)DreadXP
Platform(s)Windows
Nintendo Switch
PlayStation 4
PlayStation 5
Xbox One
Xbox Series X/S
First releaseAmanda the Adventurer
2023
Latest releaseAmanda the Adventurer 2
2024

Amanda the Adventurer is a horror video game series partially inspired by the children's show Dora the Explorer, developed by MANGLEDmaw Games and published by DreadXP, the video game publishing arm of Dread Central. The series started as an entry into a game jam and was developed into a full game after it was acquired by DreadXP. The game's latest release is titled Amanda the Adventurer 2.

The series centers upon the protagonist Riley, who has become involved with the mystery surrounding the fictional children's show Amanda the Adventurer.

Gameplay

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During both games, players must solve puzzles and locate VHS tapes containing episodes from the children's series Amanda the Adventurer.[1] While screening the tapes, players can interact with Amanda and her companion Wooly the Sheep, which can in turn impact the player's environment and game endings.[2] The player assumes control of Riley, a non-gender-specific character who is tasked with investigating the mystery surrounding the show and the sinister company, Hameln Entertainment.[3] There are a few secret tapes to unlock such secret endings. Each decision players make can affect how the game ends.[4]

Synopsis

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Amanda the Adventurer (2023)

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Riley Park receives a goodbye letter from their Aunt Kate, who bequeaths her home in Kensdale, Ohio to Riley while mentioning a VHS tape in her attic. After arriving at Kate's house, Riley discovers that the tape contains an episode of Amanda the Adventurer, a children's series which started out as a live-action show before it became a 3D cartoon after it was acquired by a studio called Hameln Entertainment. During its run parents became concerned about some of the show's plots and messages. Several children also went missing while watching the show, which caused Kate to investigate it.

As Riley plays the tape they found, they are introduced to the show's protagonist, Amanda, and her sidekick, an anthropomorphic sheep named Wooly, who are both able to fully interact with Riley. By completing various puzzles, Riley discovers more tapes of Amanda the Adventurer, each one being darker than the last. Depending on the player's choices, Riley can discover additional, secret tapes that give out more information about the series, HameIn Entertainment, the series creator Sam Colton, and his adoptive daughter, Rebecca, who played Amanda.

The game has several different endings which depend on the path that Riley takes. One ending in particular shows Riley getting killed by a demonic entity bearing Amanda's hairstyle. In the game's true ending, Riley plays the final tape, where Amanda tells Riley that she is "out there somewhere" before causing the TV to violently glitch, forcing Riley to destroy the TV. If the player found all five secret tapes before achieving the true ending, Riley will discover a masked figure entering the attic.

Amanda the Adventurer 2 (2024)

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Picking up where the first game left off, the masked figure reveals herself to be a friend and associate of Kate's. She takes Riley to Kate's former workplace, the Kensdale Public Library, where Riley is again tasked with finding more VHS tapes while the masked figure stays outside to keep watch and uses a radio to communicate with Riley, informing them of whatever activity is occurring.

As Riley finds and watches all of the tapes in the library, they find more episodes of Amanda the Adventurer, where Amanda and Wooly's adventures are frequently disrupted by a new possum character. Riley also must avoid the wrath of Amanda's Entity, who will attack them if Amanda is unsatisfied with Riley's actions. After Riley finds all of the tapes, the masked figure begins to destroy each of them before the Entity attacks her. Finding a blank VHS tape, Riley flees through an escape tunnel that Kate had installed in the library.

If the player found all four of the game's secret tapes, Riley watches an alternate version of the last Amanda the Adventurer tape in the library, where the possum hears the masked figure's voice calling out to Riley and cries "JOH" before Amanda and Wooly dispose of him. After this instance, the player can obtain a secret audio cassette tape which recorded Kate's last words to Riley, warning not to watch the tapes, but rather destroy them before she was killed in a car crash. Overhearing this, the masked figure reveals herself to be Joanne Cook, whose younger brother Jordan was one of the children who disappeared while watching Amanda the Adventurer. Convinced that Jordan was trapped in the tapes and that destroying them was the only way to bring him back, Joanne took advantage of Kate's trust in Riley in order to smash the tapes, which indirectly led to Kate's death. As Joanne vows to set things right, she is suddenly killed by another demonic entity resembling Wooly while Riley escapes with the blank VHS tape.

Amanda the Adventurer 3 (2025)

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Picking up where the second game left off, Riley escapes the Kensdale Public Library through a hatch and continues to investigate in an abandoned Hameln Entertainment facility.[5]

Development

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The first Amanda the Adventurer game was released in 2022 as part of DreadXP's Found Footage Jam on Itch.io.[6] The game, which has been referred to as Amanda the Adventurer: Pilot Episode, was developed by Ontario-based[7] developer MANGLEDmaw Games, along with Arcadim and SinsterCid.[8] In October 2022 DreadXP made an announcement that they had acquired the title for Amanda the Adventurer and would work with MANGLEDmaw to create a full game.[9] A demo of the full game was premiered at PAX East in early 2023.[10]

The first full Amanda the Adventurer game was released on April 25, 2023, via Steam and featured localized subtitles for multiple languages.[11][12] The game was given a release on the Nintendo Switch in September of the same year and, in 2024, Amanda the Adventurer released to the PlayStation and Xbox.[13][14]

A sequel entitled Amanda the Adventurer 2 was released to Steam on October 22, 2024.[15]

A third game entitled Amanda the Adventurer 3 was announced on April 25, 2025, which will serve as the finale of the series.[5][16][17]

Reception

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After its release the first Amanda the Adventurer game became popular with online gaming streamers and per PCGamesN, videos relating to the game received approximately 1.5 billion views on YouTube.[18] Vice.com praised the game for its aesthetics and puzzles, as well as the choice to make the game start off "disarmingly sweet and wholesome."[19]

GamesRadar+ reviewed the first game, warning readers that some of the game's visuals could be disturbing and that it did not end with any definitive answers while also noting that "Otherwise, Amanda the Adventurer is a startlingly effective horror game deceptively wrapped in the aesthetics of an old analog horror game and retro children's TV shows."[20] Prima Games was also critical of the game ending with too many unanswered questions; they also praised the game's writing, world building, and puzzles.[21] TouchArcade reviewed the first game's port to the Nintendo Switch, stating that it was an overall good port but that "I feel like the change to how you interact with preset options rather than inputting on a keyboard like in the PC version holds this back from its true potential."[22]

Hardcore Gamer reviewed the second game, stating that it was "a fun adventure title that delivers solid puzzles, great performances and a nice mixture of dread and humor, but a few sloppy decisions and a lack of anything substantial in either the gameplay or story areas hold it back."[23]

Other media

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Music video

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On 17 December 2024, the X account of Amanda the Adventurer 2 published a tweet announcing the release of a song for the game, which released on December 20 2024.[24] In the song, Amanda is voiced by her in-game voice actress Blair Greene-Osako.[24][25][26]

References

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  1. ^ McMullen, Chris (2023-05-06). "Is Amanda the Adventurer Scary?". The Escapist. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  2. ^ Holthe, Emmy (2023-06-16). "Every Ending in Amanda the Adventurer (& How to Unlock Them)". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  3. ^ Sheehan, Gavin (2024-10-09). "Amanda the Adventurer 2 To Be Released In Two Weeks". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  4. ^ Vincent, Hadley (2024-10-22). "All Amanda the Adventurer 2 endings and how to get them". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
  5. ^ a b Wilson, Mike (2025-04-27). "'Amanda the Adventurer 3' Announced for PC, Coming Later This Year [Trailer]". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 2025-05-02.
  6. ^ "The DreadXP Found Footage Jam". itch.io. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
  7. ^ "MANGLEDmaw Games". itch.io. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  8. ^ "Pilot Episode and Brand New Demo! - Amanda the Adventurer". Itch.io.
  9. ^ Korngut, Josh (2022-10-27). "DreadXP Now Aquire Horror Games 'Amanda the Adventurer' and '[I] doesn't exist'". Dread Central. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  10. ^ Wilson, Mike (2023-03-27). "DreadXP Confirms Found Footage Horror Game 'Amanda the Adventurer' Release Date With New Trailer [Watch]". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  11. ^ Korngut, Josh (2023-04-25). "'Amanda the Adventurer': DreadXP Unleashes 90s-Nostalgia Nightmare Onto Windows PC". Dread Central. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  12. ^ Sheehan, Gavin (2023-03-27). "New Horror Title Amanda The Adventurer Slated For April Release". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  13. ^ Wilson, Mike (2024-10-04). "Edutainment Horror Title 'Amanda the Adventurer' Comes to PlayStation, Xbox on October 10 [Trailer]". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  14. ^ Wilson, Mike (2023-09-12). "Edutainment Horror Game 'Amanda the Adventurer' Heads to the Nintendo Switch September 19th". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  15. ^ Wilson, Mike (2024-10-10). "'Amanda the Adventurer 2' Launches on Steam on October 22 [Trailer]". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  16. ^ Romano, Sal (2025-04-25). "Amanda the Adventurer 3 announced for PC". Gematsu. Retrieved 2025-04-25.
  17. ^ Sheehan, Gavin (2025-04-25). "Amanda The Adventurer 3 Has Been Announced For Steam". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 2025-04-25.
  18. ^ "Viral horror game boasting 1.5 billion views gets surprise sequel". PCGamesN. 2024-05-10. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  19. ^ Jenkins, Dwayne (2024-10-21). "Hey, Sequel to Horror Classic 'Amanda the Adventurer' Is Coming out Tomorrow". VICE. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  20. ^ Gerblick, Jordan (2023-05-19). "I played viral horror game Amanda the Adventurer and I want my full nights of sleep back". gamesradar. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  21. ^ Fama, Daphne (2023-05-05). "Amanda the Adventurer Review | Childhood Nostalgia meets Demonic Mystery". Prima Games. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  22. ^ Musgrave, Shaun (2023-10-03). "SwitchArcade Round-Up: Reviews Featuring 'The Legend of Nayuta', Plus 'Disgaea 7' and Other Releases and Sales – TouchArcade". TouchArcade. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  23. ^ LeClair, Kyle (2024-10-25). "Review: Amanda the Adventurer 2". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  24. ^ a b "@AmandaAdvnturer's remarks about "Play My Way"'s release". x.com. 17 December 2024.
  25. ^ "Amanda the Adventurer 2 credits (Windows, 2024)". MobyGames. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
  26. ^ "BlairGreeneOsakoVO". BlairGreeneOsakoVO. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
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