Who knows what it is about kids shows and old video tapes. But they work perfectly for horror games and are effective as hell at conveying creepiness. Haunted children’s shows are clearly a trope that you can be sure to go with if you want to make a game that would merge the cute and cozy with the brute and eerie. Amanda the Adventurer is just the kind of a thing.
Old tapes, puzzles, jump scares!
This is a story that has all the signs of being a charming, harmless tale for kids. But once you dig deeper into it, you’ll realize it’s really about a rather disturbed little girl who fancies knives and seems to have some murderous inclinations, and her best buddy, Wooly the Sheep that is quite smart for his species and is fully aware that they’re caught up in a sequence of analog signals. The way the whole thing unfolds, with flicking cuts, surreal imagery and rapid transitions instantly catches your eye and captures your mind.
So, the show starts. At first, it’s nothing – Amanda is standing at the oven, her apron on, and walks the young audience through making an apple pie. And you’re right there to repeat after her. Only you have to do it using the actual food – when, actually plastic apples and phony flour – and a toy oven. Once you’re done, you can go to another tape aka another episode. But before you relax and start thinking this is all it takes, the attic door is blown open and you’re faced, a sudden wave of dread washing over you, with something truly out of place and horrible.
Dreadfully cute and charmingly creepy!
These shocks and jolts are basically what moves the game forward and hooks you up on the whole thing. Amanda and Wooly gain ever more spooky depth and rough edges which get into more and more contrast with the kiddish silliness and puppet innocence of the show’s steady parts. Plus their storyline gradually intertwines with the subplot of your own attic investigation, as you start to uncover strange and alarming things about your own house, and your family, and things that have happened to your dead relatives. So embark on this jarring horror quest and see what else Amanda the Adventure 2 has in the attic for you!
