Amanda the Adventurer for Windows

Free-to-play simulator

Amanda the Adventurer is a free-to-play simulation from indie developer James Pratt. Don’t be fooled by its supposedly child-friendly premise and its retro, low-quality 3D graphics. It’s a horror game that doesn’t rely on jumpscares. Instead, it uses a slow-burn approach to bring you a quick yet memorable fright. It also effectively uses a found-footage trope to complete this experience.

Amanda the Adventurer is a definite must-try for fans of indie, horror, or retro games despite its use of dated design choices and its simplistic gameplay approach. It’s a worthy competitor for Our Lady of Sorrow or Harmful.

Don’t lower your guard

The first thing you’d notice with Amanda the Adventurer is its use of dated graphics. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it caters to retro players who grew up playing first-generation consoles a few decades back. It uses low-poly 3D graphics and solid colors. In terms of premise, it’s quite misleading. What looks like a children’s educational show is actually a cursed videotape.

Without spoiling the game, it’s important to warn that the game contains mature references that young players might find frightening, or worse, disturbing. It looks accommodating and fun at first. You get to experience your run-of-the-mill child-friendly animated episodes showing everyday stuff. Still, it doesn’t take away anything from the fact that it turns into a nightmare. How it happens is for you to find out.

Lastly, it delivers a legitimate scare, but it has limited replayability. There are only two paths you can take, each takes about 15 minutes to complete. After this, there are no more secrets or easter eggs to unlock. Still, the endings are wildly different and make the entire experience worth it. It manages to leave an impact on players despite being an indie game with limited content.

Misleading yet satisfying

The best value that Amanda the Adventurer offers is in how it transitions from a seemingly innocent child program into a full-blown nightmare—and it’s for the player to find out. It uses low-poly graphics that takes away from the realism of the found-footage genre but caters to players after nostalgia. If you’re after a quick scare, then this game is for you.