Amanda the Adventurer’s mysteries go far beyond the attic you find yourself in. There’s a whole backstory, rooted in an increasingly unsettling children’s program. And the more you dig, the more disturbing things get. So, what’s really going on in this game? Here’s Amanda the Adventurer explained.
Who or What is Amanda the Adventurer?
In this indie horror game from MANGLEDmaw Games, Amanda the Adventurer is a computer-animated TV show, named after its main character. However, it has a rather disturbing history. The fictional show was created by TV producer Sam Colton in the early 2000s and was originally live-action, put out on a local cable network.
While we never actually see the live-action version, it featured his adopted daughter, Rebecca, as the titular character Amanda. And it would have stayed a small but well-received cable show if not for the intervention of a company known as HaMelN.
HaMelN approached Sam with a view to taking the show worldwide and, with their “help,” the show became a national and possibly global smash.
So What’s the Real Story?
However, what really happened was that HaMelN kidnapped Rebecca and almost certainly killed her father. One in-game tape suggests she was being used as part of some kind of system, perhaps eventually integrated into an AI.
In the tape we hear Amanda reading out nonsensical strings of words. That suggests that, at the very least, she’s training some 2000-era ChatGPT-style AI. So the “Amanda” heard in the TV show isn’t a little girl sitting in a recording booth but something much, much worse.
Sam objected to Rebecca’s treatment and was killed by the company, though they painted him as a neglectful father. While there are various letters and clippings featured in the game, it appears his body has never been found.
Is HaMelN Evil, Greedy or Both?
It’s tempting to see HaMelN as the game’s Umbrella Corporation but the truth is likely much worse and they are, in fact, evil. They likely dabbled in the supernatural and, while it’s not clear if the show is still running, had disturbing designs on the nation’s children.
The clue is in the name. HaMelN is a reference to the Pied Piper of Hamelin, the folk tale where a disgruntled piper stole away the town’s children. If you’ve ever watched Halloween III: Season of the Witch, you’ll get serious Silver Shamrock vibes from the game.
What Happened Next?
After Colton’s “disappearance,” the show continued to be produced. However, while it initially featured lessons about friendship and so forth, it became less wholesome as its run continued. It’s implied that this was Rebecca’s influence, giving the show a much more cynical tone.
Many children also became addicted to the show and its young viewers started to disappear. It’s not clear whether Rebecca/Amanda took them through the show, or whether they were kidnapped by HaMelN. Maybe they wandered off in a trance, Pied Piper style. But it’s these disappearances that lead your Aunt Kate to investigate.
Here’s What Happens in the Game
The game begins with you, Riley, inheriting your Aunt Kate’s house. She leaves a letter to you, explaining that she’s not sure how much time she’s got left. It’s implied but not confirmed that her investigations into the Amanda the Adventurer children’s show got her killed.
You discover VHS tapes of the show in the attic and, watching them, uncover some of the story behind the show. How much lore you uncover depends upon which puzzles you solve. The first ending has you killed by a spindly creature that loosely resembles the on-screen character of Amanda.
There are other endings, but most end with you escaping. There’s no ending in which you definitely beat Amanda, though the “final” ending has a trenchcoat wearing figure joining you in the attic.
So What Actually is Amanda?
Going by the game’s first ending, you might think that she’s some kind of demon, that the thing with her hair buns is actually her. But we’re not convinced. Instead, and we’re just theorizing here, it seems more likely that this is a manifestation of Rebecca/Amanda. Though she could also have been bound to or been used to channel some supernatural entity.
Our take is that the real Rebecca is actually imprisoned within HaMelN, plugged into some machine, all tubes and wires. And, as the game confirms, she’s aware and reaching out through the show. She may drift in and out a little but she’s trapped in a living nightmare.
As for Wooly, he could be Amanda’s handler, sent in to keep her making the show. It’s tempting to think he’s some fragment of her personality but that doesn’t necessarily bear up. For example, in the first tape he’s disturbed by how non child-friendly the show has become.
That makes us think he’s trying to turn it back into something that won’t have parents complaining. And if he genuinely is meant to be wrangling what’s left of Rebecca’s mind, her antagonism towards him makes perfect sense. We’re hoping that a sequel, if we get one, will let us either free Rebecca or, if she’s dead (as a line about her rotting implies), give her peace.
So if you wanted Amanda the Adventurer explained, that’s what you need to know.
