Draft:Amanda the Adventurer

Amanda the Adventurer is a 2023 indie horror puzzle game developed by MANGLEDmaw Games and published by DreadXP. The game was first released as a demo on April 8, 2022 on Itch.io as a part of the DreadXP Found Footage Jam, followed by a full release on Steam on April 25, 2023. The game later received a port onto the Nintendo Switch on September 19, 2023.

A sequel to the game titled Amanda the Adventurer 2 was announced in October 2023 by DreadXP and is currently in development. A demo released on June 10, 2024 on Steam. The full game is set to release later in the year.

Cast and characters

 * Riley Park is the protagonist of the Amanda the Adventurer game. She inherited the home of her now deceased aunt Kate.
 * Katherine Park (also known as Aunt Kate) is Riley's now deceased aunt. She is mentioned in the second tape as Amanda's 'friend'.
 * Amanda the Adventurer (voiced by Chelsea Lecompte in Pilot Episode, Blair Greene-Osako in full release ) is a young woman presented to be the title character, protagonist, and host of the children's television series Amanda the Adventurer, and the antagonist of the game. She is portrayed as an innocent and adventurous girl who goes on adventures alongside her trusty sheep companion Wooly, but has a darker backstory. Amanda's character was inspired by Sam Colton's adoptive daughter Rebecca Colton, who also provides the voice for said character.
 * Wooly the Sheep (voiced by James Pratt), originally referred to as Woolie, is an anthropomorphic sheep and the deuteragonist of the children's television series Amanda the Adventurer. He is aware that he is locked inside the VHS tapes and repeatedly attempts to cryptically warn Riley about Amanda's suspicious behaviour without being harmed himself.
 * Blabbot (voiced by Patrick "pd" Flattery) is a robot that Riley interacts with to progress in a puzzle.

Live-action cast

 * Rebecca Colton (portrayed by Lucy Brown) is a child actress, the adoptive daughter of Sam Colton, and the inspiration for the children's television series Amanda the Adventurer. She provides the voice of Amanda.
 * Sam Colton (portrayed by Troy Jennings) is a television producer and the original creator of Amanda the Adventurer, which was later purchased by Hameln Entertainment. He is the adoptive father of Rebecca Colton. Eventually, Sam mysteriously disappeared for an unknown reason and was later reported on the news as missing.
 * Lauren's Mom (portrayed by Melissa LaMartina) is the mother of Lauren.
 * Lauren's Dad (portrayed by Chris LaMartina) is the father of Lauren.
 * Lauren (portrayed by Lily Wissig) is a young girl and a victim of Amanda the Adventurer.
 * Hameln Director (portrayed by Aran Keating), the unnamed head of Hameln Entertainment who acquired Amanda the Adventurer from Sam Colton.
 * Erin Fox as Scientist
 * Joseph Mitra as Security Guard
 * Kim Le as Newscaster
 * Joey Malinski as Concerned Parent
 * Caitlin Rife as Sadie

Additional cast

 * Michael Arcadi as Happy Birthday Singer #75
 * James Pratt as Happy Birthday Singer #69
 * Patrick Flattery as Happy Birthday Singer #7A
 * Samuel Guglielmo as Happy Birthday Singer #6B
 * Bubberoni as Happy Birthday Singer #63
 * Sean Parson as Happy Birthday Singer #61

Gameplay
The gameplay of Amanda the Adventurer mainly on its puzzle element; each tape is unlocked after completing a puzzle by looking around the attic for the necessary object and using a hint or instruction given in one of the tapes. Tapes can be played on a CRT television, and the player will sometimes be prompted to pick an option or type an answer. Depending on what the player chooses, events in the episode or the game may change or cause the characters to react, such as the player being forced to type the correct answer after failing several times, Amanda and Wooly breaking the fourth wall, Amanda removing all wrong answers, or her losing her temper and the television screen corrupting as she gets angry.

Synopsis
The game's playable protagonist, Riley Park, has inherited the house of her deceased aunt Kate, who was presumably a parapsychologist. Riley looks in a box only to find a VHS tape in the attic, containing the first episode of a children's television series titled "Amanda the Adventurer". The series stars a young girl named Amanda and an anthropomorphic sheep named Wooly, performing day-to-day activities such as making food and doing errands in a similar manner to Dora the Explorer. However, as each tape goes on, things start to get more and more suspicious and frightening as Amanda begins to lose her temper while Wooly attempts to warn Riley several times, not wanting anyone to get hurt.

Endings
The game has multiple endings, which can be achieved after completing one ending or avoiding the aim in a present scenario.
 * The first ending, titled "A Gruesome End" has Riley (the player) be killed by a demon resembling Amanda after she asks the player if they think "everything rots".
 * The second ending, titled "A Fateful End", has Riley be trapped inside one of the tapes, being a piece of meat in a butcher shop prepared to be chopped up.
 * The third ending, titled "The End", considered to be the true ending, occurs when a secret tape is played on the television which has Amanda ask if she can share a secret with Riley. If they respond "yes", Amanda reveals she is "out there somewhere" before the TV becomes possessed, prompting Riley to throw a brick at it which, in turn, destroys it and the tape as the sun soon rises.
 * If the player responds by saying no, the "A Hollow End" ending will trigger, in which Amanda says "I thought you were different" before the first ending plays out.
 * If, when aiming the brick, the cursor misses the TV, a secret ending titled "The End?" will trigger in which the brick will still hit the TV, but a mysterious silhouetted figure appears behind the table in the middle of the room.

Reception
Amanda the Adventurer currently has an "overwhelmingly positive" rating on Steam, with over 1,000 reviews. Ariel Chloe Mann of GameGrin rated the game a 6 out of 10, describing it as a fun game, mostly filled with positives. Megan Cooke of GameLuster rated the game an 8 out of 10, describing it as a unique and enjoyable game. William Worrall's review on TechRaptor was positive, stating that the game "will not please everyone, but it's a very niche experience."