Analog horror Horror puzzle Short horror Mascot horror Horror

Amanda the Adventurer

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Play your aunt's old cartoon tapes. Do what Amanda says.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Stores: Steam, itch.io
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (94% of 7,337 reviews); 4.4 of 5 on PlayStation Store (1,089 ratings); 4.6 of 5 on itch.io (204 ratings)
Length: about 2 hours
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse and keyboard: move, look, pick up and use objects, type answers for the tapes
Made by: MANGLEDmaw Games
Released: 2023

No. 10 of the toy horror games · No. 3 of the VHS tape horror games · No. 7 of the kitchen horror games · No. 6 of the television horror games

Get it on Steam PlayStation Store Xbox Nintendo eShop itch.io

What frightens Alone in your late aunt's attic, you play old VHS tapes of a cheerful children's cartoon, and Amanda and her shy sheep Wooly start talking to you through the screen and asking you to do things in the room; the friendly 90s-style CGI slowly turns wrong around the edges, and Amanda seems to need something from you.
Content: blood, violence, mild language, disturbing images of a distorted body.

Amanda the Adventurer is a short first-person horror puzzle game by MANGLEDmaw Games. Riley inherits their Aunt Kate's house and finds VHS tapes of an old children's cartoon in the attic, starring a girl named Amanda and Wooly the Sheep, who seem to be talking directly to whoever is watching. You solve escape-room puzzles with clues hidden in the tapes to find out what Amanda wants.

About Amanda the Adventurer

Amanda the Adventurer was made by MANGLEDmaw Games and published by DreadXP. It began as an entry in DreadXP's Found Footage game jam in 2022 and was released as a full game on Steam in April 2023, then on Nintendo Switch in September 2023 and on PlayStation and Xbox in 2024. Two sequels followed.

Riley Park has inherited the house of their reclusive Aunt Kate. In the attic, next to an old TV and VCR, sits a stack of tapes of a children's cartoon Riley has never heard of: a low-budget, locally made show about a little girl named Amanda and her shy best friend, Wooly the Sheep. The episodes look charming, in the blocky CGI of the late 1990s, but Amanda and Wooly seem to know someone is watching, and they talk straight through the screen.

You explore the dark attic in first person, play the tapes one after another and answer Amanda when she asks you to name things, find objects or spell words. Between tapes the attic itself becomes an escape room, with clues for its puzzles hidden inside the episodes. The fear builds from the gap between the bright, friendly show and the dim room you are sitting in, and from the moments when the cartoon stops being friendly.

A first play takes about two hours. Your answers to Amanda shape how it ends, and there are secret tapes and endings, so seeing everything means playing it more than once and solving the puzzles again. The tapes stutter and distort as they play, and you can rewatch a tape when you miss a clue. In the US it is rated Teen for blood and violence.

It is a short game, and it suits players who liked analog horror videos, Poppy Playtime or Indigo Park's cheerful mascots turned sinister, and anyone who enjoys escape-room puzzles more than chases.

How to play Amanda the Adventurer

Buy it on Steam, itch.io, PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo Switch; Steam also has a free demo.
Explore the attic and put the first tape in the VCR.
Watch each episode closely and answer Amanda when she speaks to you.
Search the attic for objects, codes and notes, and use clues from the tapes to solve its puzzles.
Unlock each new tape to go deeper into the mystery of Amanda and Aunt Kate.

Screenshots

A tape playing on the TV: in a bright cartoon kitchen with a smiling fridge and oven, Amanda holds a knife toward a nervous Wooly

An old TV with a built-in VCR in the dark attic, the screen blue with PLAY and CH 03, a VHS tape beside it

Amanda and a smiling Wooly in the cartoon kitchen, a pie on the stove and a word to complete, MU and four blanks, along the bottom

The dark attic at night under a hanging bulb, with a bookshelf, a table, a toy piano and a window

A green toy piano with lettered keys from C to B and a digital clock beside it in the dim attic

The length of the dim attic, with a teal toy oven and its timer on a table under the bulb, fruit beside it

Tips

Watch the tapes closely: the clues for the attic puzzles are hidden in what Amanda and Wooly show you.
Keep notes of words, colours and numbers from the episodes.
Search every corner of the attic between tapes.
If a clue goes by too fast, rewatch the tape.
Try different answers on later playthroughs to find the other endings and secret tapes.

Questions

Is Amanda the Adventurer scary?

It is unsettling more than violent: a cheerful cartoon that talks back to you in a dark attic. There is some blood and a few disturbing images, and it is rated Teen in the US and 12 by PEGI.

How long is Amanda the Adventurer?

About two hours for the main story, and about four hours to see everything, including the other endings.

Does it have multiple endings?

Yes. Your choices change how it ends, and there are secret tapes and endings to find on later playthroughs.

Are there sequels?

Yes, Amanda the Adventurer 2 and Amanda the Adventurer 3 continue Riley's story.