Brilliantly taps into nostalgia with puzzles inspired by beloved childhood toys and themes. Its charming retro aesthetics and intriguing story initially drew me in, however, the actual gameplay doesn't quite live up to this promise.

The puzzles, while nostalgic, often feel more obligatory than engaging. A significant frustration is the need to rewatch tapes and replay entire segments if you miss a clue or make a wrong choice. This repetitive loop turns what could have been a fun exploration of alternate endings into a tedious chore.

The game's concept and nostalgic vibe are its standout features. But the cumbersome replay mechanics and less-than-satisfying puzzles made it more frustrating than enjoyable at times for me as I’d waste my time replaying bits I shouldn’t have to due to a misclick.

On the internet, there are always various short films, A.R.G.s, and horror games where the main reason they are good is precisely the mystery around them, the lack of explanation about what is happening. However, this same mystery and lack of explanation is also what can "kill" this type of content. Some A.R.G.s, for example, end up losing their charm and becoming oversaturated very quickly when many explanations start to emerge around them. It's always much better and scarier when you don't know what's going on; after all, fear always comes from the unknown, right? (sorry) Expanding a mysterious horror story can be a mistake because explaining it might reveal that nothing significant was actually happening. But what if you do it in the right way? Well, that's where Amanda the Adventurer comes in.

Amanda the Adventurer had its first version released between 2021 and 2022. One day, you go to clean your attic and suddenly find some lost tapes of a 'bizarre' cartoon. This cartoon is like a strange version of Dora the Explorer. You could interact with these tapes, and as you interacted, you could also discover hidden things in them. As far as I remember, this demo only had one possible ending where Amanda turns into a demogorgon and comes to kill you. The idea was really cool because at no point did it explain the story or what was actually happening, and when it ended, it was like: 'What? I didn't understand anything.'

Then recently, the complete game was released, and despite explaining the story, it leaves you with more questions than answers in the end, and that's why this game is so good! Even with explanations, the game manages to maintain all the mystery until the end. This complete game was a great expansion of the original version, expanding that bizarre and mysterious little game in the best possible way. You have to solve puzzles to unlock new tapes, and if you solve these puzzles in specific ways, you change the ending. There are also tapes that explain the story, but at the same time, they explain nothing. The game captures a lot of attention and is very interesting. I genuinely felt a real sense of fear playing this damn game, and it had been a long time since that happened.

i'm fond of the lost children show creepypasta bit and this feeds into that hunger pretty well

i enjoyed the puzzles, i liked that it was short and easy to get to all the stages once you'd figured out the codes and whatnot, i am very happy that it didn't answer questions

i liked it! i have no complaints

This game is currently in the Humble Choice for May 2024, and this is part of my coverage of the bundle. If you are interested in the game and it's before June 4th, 2024, consider picking up the game as part of the current monthly bundle.

A spooky puzzle game.

Amanda the Adventurer has a great spooky vibe. The game is played in an attic filled with tons of stuff, and every time I was done watching a video I quickly looked at a doll expecting that doll to move. The entire game has this dark daemonic feeling towards it, and after viewing a tape, different devices are placed on the center table for the player to use and solve puzzles to get additional tapes.

However, the puzzles here are a mixed bag. I think I had a solve rate of maybe 50 to 75 percent without assistance . There are at least a few Steam guides, but there’s very little help in the game and even a minor hint system or at least the main player talking to give the player a hint would have been appreciated. Also, I’ve heard from horror fans this is not that scary, and that’s probably why I’m ok with this.

Pick this up if you want a horror-puzzle hybrid. The entire game is based on a spoof of Dora the Explorer, but it doesn’t even try to pretend it’s normal. This gets pretty wild, though I would recommend trying to make the wrong choices because watching what happens when you make the wrong choice is the most entertaining part.

If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/jybN_eME28o

A construção da atmosfera é até que bem ok e o jogo é relativamente bem bolado por design. A falha é onde a maior parte desses jogos de puzzle falha mesmo, que é em tornar tudo aquilo narrativamente plausível. Quer dizer, o puzzle pelo puzzle em si beleza, mas por que as coisas são daquela forma? Por que a fita aparece se você colocar uma maçã no forno numa temperatura e tempo específicos? Por que molhar o robô leva ao desfecho da trama? O que faltou foi um esforço nesse sentido, mas até que funciona, vai.

It's a short game that was developed after a game jam project and it's pretty well done. The game is certainly functional and isn't really lacking in any department: it looks okay, plays okay, the sound and animation qualities are there.

It could help if it had a few more improvements such as being able to get out from the zoom mode by using the left mouse click, making it less tedious to turn the clocks or having the cooking pan always land in the right direction instead of flying around but those are minute details in a game that's about two hours long.

Amanda is your typical horror game that tries to take advantage of childish things, here it’s obviously Dora. It doesn’t really hold any surprise but it’s fun enough to play. I do wish it went further with its themes or it focused better on one of them instead of multiple ones, I think there are a few good ideas such as a child being stuck in a TV world which turns into some kind of hellish place: it’s an interesting concept that doesn’t try to make the player scared for their lives, instead it’s just as scary as hearing about what a killer could have done to a kid. You’ve got a kid right in front of you, suffering, and you can’t do anything about it. There are vague hints of this but ultimately the game stays at a surface level with everything. It seems more like a mix of ideas and jump scares than something cohesive, which is a shame.

It’s a very good parody of Dora on the other hand. The presentation is really top notch.

The puzzles can also get really cryptic. One thing I didn’t understand personally is that at some points in the story where you hit a game over, I wasn’t experiencing a bug where the game didn’t save but it was intentional.

Ignoring my sheep bias, Amanda the Adventurer expands upon the demo/"Pilot Episode" with its compelling use of childhood nostalgia for pseudo-interactive kids media (Dora the Explorer, Blue's Clues) as actual interactive media, terrifying with notions of choice which disintegrate upon the whims of the eponymous antagonist. Wooly is right in his terror when unnamed, unspoiled horrors await him in the artificial light of the animated television show featuring his lovely, adorable, not at all scary friend, Amanda. The game has its clear production issues in terms of a rapid development (taking only about a year to create) which lessens the scope of its puzzles and environmental scares, but, in all, this is a wonderful time most suited for myself as it accomplishes what could never be conceived of when watching (and mocking, as older viewers will) children's TV shows of the late '90s and early '00s.