What can possibly go wrong if you decide to watch some nostalgic kids show on your old tape recorder? Well, you have to play Amanda the Adventurer to find out! This thrilling and quirky game will break the fourth wall and pull you into a whimsical and somewhat creepy world of rag dolls, paper mache decorations, cute fun puzzles and some unexpectedly grave events alike.
Be careful what you put into your VCR!
The whole story revolves around a girl named Riley. One day she gets a weird letter from her Aunt Kate who is actually dead. How creepy is that? The letter says something about the attic, there is something in there, and as alarmed as she is, Riley still decides to visit her aunt’s house and investigate. Upon climbing the ladder and rummaging through all the rubbish a bit, she finds a bunch of old VHS tapes for a show called, you guessed it, Amanda the Adventurer. So, she pops in a tape, and the entire thing starts to unfold.
If you try to pinpoint the genre of this game, it probably makes sense to go with a term that can be coined as analog horror. You know, like those old VHS tapes with all the glitches and static? Yeah, that kind of stuff. And normally, if you try to use that kind of thing in a game, it’s gonna feel weird and out of place. But not here. Because you’re literally watching old VHS tapes as part of the gameplay. It’s genius, really.
Get through the scary kids show and enjoy the creeps!
Anyway, the game is pretty straightforward.The controls are as simple as it gets. You use the good old WASD keys to move around, click stuff to pick it up or interact with it, and there is one more separate button to crouch. And then you just explore the attic, watch tapes, and try to figure out what happened to Aunt Kate and what’s up with all the weird stuff going on.
As you go through the game, you’ll start to notice patterns. Like, you watch a tape, and then you gotta use some object you found to unlock the next tape. And it’s not only the attic where the events take place – the girl from the show, a cute funny-looking puppet called Amanda, will actually be talking to you from the screen and asking you for help navigating her doll-animated world. There will be all sorts of puzzles, and challenges, and dangers, and some not quite child-appropriate eerie stuff. And if you’re smart, you’ll be able to finish the game in like, thirty minutes or so. But come on, who wants to do that? Keep playing Amanda the Adventurer, and see if you can figure out all the secrets!
