Confetti’s Cozy Corner: Amanda the Adventurer 3 leaves a lot to be desired
Amanda the Adventurer 3, by MANGLEDmaw Games, is the final instalment in Amanda’s story and the conspiracy surrounding the mysterious Hameln Entertainment company. In 2023, we began our journey with Amanda, the host of the Amanda the Adventurer television series, and her sidekick Wooly. Many secrets have been buried in the bowls of Kensdale, and in this chilling conclusion, most will be revealed.
Amanda the Adventurer 3 begins right where Amanda the Adventurer 2 concluded, in the Kensdale Library, in a secret elevator hidden behind Kate’s [Reily’s Aunt] office. After Joanne hands Riley a VHS tape, she is attacked by a large, monstrous form of Wooly. The elevator leads down into the sewers beneath Kensdale, Ohio, with the path leading to the offices of Hameln Entertainment.
Taking a moment to reflect on the previous games, Amanda is not just a creepy little girl who hosts a grim version of Dora the Explorer. As we move through the VHS Tapes, we get small glimpses into who Amanda is and become acutely aware that Amanda knows what Riley is doing in the real world. The more we learn about Amanda, the more we see that she and her sidekick Wooly are not as close as the TV show tries to sell the audience.
The lore of Amanda the Adventurer is layered and full of motifs. There are hidden and obvious clues outside of the VHS tapes that point to how deep the mystery of Hameln Entertainment goes. But, it feels that no matter how aware Amanda is in the tapes of what is going on, she is powerless to do anything except to go along with the predetermined adventures the VHS tapes have.
The mechanics are the same as other Amanda the Adventurer titles: find a VHS tape, look for clues as the tape plays, solve the puzzles IRL, move on to the next VHS tape, and eventually a new area. But now we are in the belly of the beast, and the stakes are more dire than ever.
Throughout the series, we discover that Hameln Entertainment is not just a production company but also a mysterious cult that leans into strange rituals and studies on children. The ambient noises in Amanda the Adventurer 3 create a tense atmosphere, where you always feel like something is watching you. While there are some jump scares, the intense suspense in the Hameln Entertainment office keeps you on the edge of your seat.
The puzzles in this installment feel bigger and offer more of a challenge than previous titles. But with bigger puzzles, there are times when solutions go beyond the point of obscurity. For example, the Healthy Foods tape is a puzzle where you must feed the rats ‘slop based on the nutrition pyramid provided within the tape and Amanda’s directions.
In the first arc of the game, there are times when viewing a tape, Amanda or Wooly will tell the viewer to stop and look for something in the real world to solve the puzzle. Those directions are mostly clear on what Riley should do or be looking for, with this particular puzzle being the exception. In other cases, when viewing a tape, sometimes the pause button would flash yellow, indicating to pause the video and solve a portion of the puzzle.
This mechanic is inconsistent throughout the game, and especially confusing when faced with puzzles that require the player to stop and look around the environment. If you are viewing the tape and happen to pause at the wrong point, you can miss a puzzle entirely and have to start over. The yellow flashing mechanic should be a consistent thing throughout the game, not just for the clarity of solving the puzzle, but also as an accessibility resource.
There is a creepy robot toy that follows Riley from area to area that can give hints on how to solve the puzzles, but sometimes those directions can also be unclear.
Once you solve all the puzzles in an area and move to the next, you will not be able to go back to solve any more mysteries, particularly regarding the ‘secret tapes’. My advice is to make sure you solve all the puzzles you can before moving on through an open door that leads to an entirely different area, because once you do, you cannot go back.
This is not something I personally cared for in Amanda the Adventurer 3. There was much fun in going back before the game ended and solving mini puzzles to watch the secret tapes that uncovered more of Hameln Entertainment Company’s corruption, mostly how they went about doing what they do, not necessarily why.
The low-budget TV show vibes are consistent in Amanda the Adventurer 3, like its predecessors. The sound design is incredible at driving up the tension between solving puzzles and discovering new secrets.
The game felt more streamlined than the previous titles, where some plot lines felt more fleshed out. The story is still compelling, and the lore sprinkled throughout the secret tapes, in-game art, and clues gives this story a wonderful conclusion. The Amanda the Adventurer series is a horror series that gives audiences everything: deep lore, jump scares, conspiracy theories, and fun mechanics.
Overall, I’d give Amanda the Adventurer 3 a 6 out of 10. The gameplay is fun, graphics are consistent and the lore will definitely send you into a spiral.
While there were two major puzzles that were a point of frustration, the plot holes are disappointing. If this truly is the finale of the series, that would be upsetting as there are many plot and lore holes that are unanswered.
MANGELDmaw Games are very good at creating lore and suspense around their titles. I hope they agree that they simply cannot leave us fans hanging and spiraling in the ways that they did. So MANGLEDmaw Games, we need one more game, with completed lore.
Amanda the Adventurer 3 is available on Steam for $9.99.
Rating: 6/10
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