After inheriting your Aunt’s estate, you decide to delve into the mysteries of the Attic. A place where those who play Horror Games know not to peruse inside. Although its setting is far more inviting and roomier than if this game was set inside a Basement, everything changes once those VHS Tapes are discovered. With a blend of The Ring and the horrors of nefarious or possessed Children’s Toys, from Fnaf to Poppy Playtime, Amanda the Adventurer is a fantastic Horror Game filled with secrets that will leave you either puzzled or completely mind-blown by the time the credits roll for the fifth and final time. But what do you make of the horrors that are awaiting you inside the Tapes. Who left these here? What happened to your Aunt Kate? Better yet, is Amanda truly out there? This is Vincent’s interpretations of the lore and endings, we sincerely hope you enjoy this read.
What We Know About Amanda the Adventurer TV Show
What Started as Something Wholesome
It is hard to know where to begin when talking about this Horror Game but starting at the TV Show’s creation would probably be the best. Amanda the Adventurer was created by Sam Colton, a man who moved into the Neighbourhood in search of a new beginning, where upon adopting his daughter, Rebecca, the ideas of Amanda the Adventurer flourished. Becoming a hit in Town, Amanda the Adventurer was picked up by Hameln, a TV Production Company with an intriguing name and logo. Whilst my original concerns of this story were on whether or not Sam’s actions were genuine from the get-go, being that the interview for Coffee Break appeared very fake and forced as Sam positively described the outcome of his creation.
I initially thought that something sinister was going on with Sam Colton himself. Perhaps he had signed a deal with the Devil to be rewarded with a popular, fan-favorite TV Show that would blow up around the world, giving him all the success he desired, but at the price of his adopted daughter, Rebecca (who Amanda is based off of). But as more Secret Tapes were uncovered, things began to shift towards a more sinister threat being right underneath our noses: the TV Company. We learn that Sam has disappeared without a trace, but no news on how his disappearance had affected his daughter and no news on her whereabouts although she was not labelled as missing like Sam was. My original thinking was correct, but the antagonist was not.
Turned into Something Wicked
My interpretation of the Amanda the Adventurer TV Show is that the TV Company Hameln, signed some sort of deal themselves with the Devil for the rise and success of this Kid’s Show to reach new heights never seen before. The Secret Tapes show a sinister side to the Company where they invite Rebecca in (star of the Show) to sign some sort of Contract. No lawyer or father, Sam Colton present at the time. Later, we see them enter a room that is guarded. I am unsure what this room could be but due to the fact that it is guarded I cannot help but see it as some kind of holding cell for Rebecca, perhaps designed as a Children’s Room inside to trick her into staying.
The Rise to Fame is Harder Than you Thought
In another Secret Tape, we overhear Rebecca reciting a list of words, supposedly speech training. But the words chosen by the Company are unsettling. She repeats three sets of words – Bye Yell, Pie Man and Baa Lamb. From initial inspection there appears to be nothing wrong. However, these simplified words actually say Bael, Paimon and Baalam, being Demons or devotees to the Devil itself. When these words are said, she then hears a man talking to her through the headset. However, it does not seem like whoever is talking to her is through the headset but is actually telepathically connected to Rebecca through the incantation she just performed without knowing.
With the deal done and Rebecca successfully linked to the Demons, Amanda the Adventurer gets the go ahead to be made into a Cartoon Show instead of a Live-Action Show. But we quickly learn that whilst the Show is adored by children in Town, parents are worried that their children are being brainwashed, being told things like “parents are not always right”. The children watching the Show are shown in a trance, not hearing their parents when they call them and disappearing from the house without a trace. To return to Hameln and their logo being titled Hamelin and being an image of a mouse, there is a link to the Pied Piper as the Show lures children when the mice could not be lured away. For the success of the Show, children likely had to be sacrificed to the Devil, now residing in Rebecca/Amanda.
Related: How to Get All Endings in Amanda the Adventurer.
What Happened to Rebecca and Sam Colton?
Now that we have explained the basics of the Cartoon TV Show, let us discuss what we think has happened to the Colton family. We see on a Newspaper Clipping that Sam has disappeared and with no mention of Rebecca, you have to wonder what happened to her. Any mention of Sam’s name to Amanda in the Tapes results in her sounding confused, concerned and scared. She regularly forgets information such as Kate’s name and has to be reminded by Wooly of what they are doing and which path to take. There are many moments in the Tapes where Amanda seeks reassurance from you to express your friendship and in a way, cover the truth so that Amanda does not have to see it.
Loving Father Until the Bitter End
From all of the information we have, I believe that Sam Colton was murdered by Hameln for trying to get his daughter, Rebecca out of the Show. But it was too late, she signed the Contract, both for the Show and with the Demons. Rebecca was connected and there was no way out for her. The sad part is, Rebecca is still in Amanda, clearly possessed by the Devils. We believe that her real body was chosen as a vessel for the Demon to reside in as when you see the monster appear in the game for Bad Endings, it clearly has her hair. Not only this but, when you deny helping Amanda with the lost kitten, you see Amanda morph into the creature herself, linking the two entities together.
If Sam Colton was murdered, the question is when did it happen? The only link we have is within the VHS Tapes when Amanda shows the dead fox and asks how he died. The real answer here is the hidden Bear Trap behind the Rose Bush. We believe that the fox is Sam and that he was tricked by the Company, likely using Rebecca as bait but it ended in the worst way possible. We even see in the News of Police searching the Woods as the Caster talks about Sam being missing for 3 weeks. Amanda having this knowledge however and to hide her father’s identity using a fox is interesting as we wonder if Rebecca in real life witnessed the events or if she in some way had to murder her father, in the form of the Demon. The lost kitten has to be Amanda’s choice for herself, wanting Riley to save her from the possession.
An Abandoned Kitty
This was included in the Demo also where you would visit the Woods and attempt to dig someone up. So clearly, Amanda knows something that we do not. However, we also see that the kitten is either alone (demonstrating Amanda) or entrapped in a cage (demonstrating Rebecca). So perhaps, Rebecca’s real body is buried in the Woods alongside her father as Amanda tells you in the True Ending that she is “out there somewhere.”
Amanda has clear abandonment issues which is highlighted by her behavior throughout the Tapes. But another interesting point is made by Hameln themselves when addressing Sam’s disappearance in that they describe it as abandonment of the program and of Rebecca, not of a ‘disappearance’. This word choice is incredibly interesting and further detaching Rebecca from her father. Also the choice to call his disappearance disturbing when referring to Rebecca dealing with it implies that they maybe know more than they are letting on.
What Happened to Wooly?
Wooly is definitely the most interesting character in Amanda the Adventurer due to the fact that his identity and true motives are unknown. He has some semblance of power with the Tapes as he often tries to communicate with us before Amanda appears. The Secret Tape revealing another TV Show titled ‘Herd of Mouth’ appears as a failed attempt of a previous possession gone wrong where whoever Wooly was in real life did not engage the target audience of children as his episode showed him sitting at a table, doing nothing. Whilst Wooly belongs on Gogglebox, because of his link to the Demons himself, his body was cast aside but his mind remains intact, to stay beside Amanda forever.
A Past Host for the Demon?
In the True Ending, Wooly is removed from the Show forever, his fate completely unknown. The last we see is Amanda taking a knife to his head but can Wooly even die in the Tapes? In theory, if you saw him die and then went back to The Kitchen, would he not be here anymore. I know that this was subtly in effect in the Amanda the Adventurer Demo, but with no true confirmation aside from his face being blurred out in the TV Show cover, we cannot assume that Wooly has died. Also, what is with the Show and fruit? When thinking about this game I remembered the random fact that Wooly is allergic to Apples. But on the front cover of Amanda the Adventurer, the two characters can be seen on top of an Apple. Coincidence? Doubtful. Not just this but, Wooly’s Show ‘Herd of Mouth’ has him on top of a Peach in the cover.
The Strange Recurrence of Fruit
What if, now bare with me here because it is a weird one. But what if the fruits on the front cover are there to represent the amount of Shows tried to find an appropriate vessel for the Demon. In the Attic, everything is placed purposefully to match what is in the Tapes. But what is super interesting is that the Peach is not on the table when you are making an Apple Pie but can be found in the Attic, thrown to the side like a cast-away. As the Peach is Wooly’s fruit, does this mean that the Peach is representative of Wooly’s current fate in the Tapes or is there four other versions of the Show with different characters/ children trapped inside, represented by the number of fruit and types on the table? Or worse, what if these are all of the children that have been stolen and placed into the Television as part of Hameln’s plan?
What Happened to Aunt Kate?
So, Kate is dead.
That much we know for sure as it is literally said in her letter to Riley at the beginning of the game. But what is odd is that Kate gives her niece the cursed object that killed her, the VHS Tapes. I imagine the reasoning to this is that Kate hoped Riley would be able to put a stop to Amanda and figure out what was going on. Aunt Kate was known for solving paranormal investigations on the low and was introduced by Joanne Cooke after her brother, Jordan disappeared as a result of Amanda the Adventurer. It appears that Jordan had received complaints for his behavior at school before his disappearance so it looks like Amanda has an effect outside of the Show after brainwashing Jordan. It looks like prolonged periods spent watching the Show results in the child vanishing without a trace, being lured by Amanda to another destination.
Back on Fruit Gate Once Again
As Aunt Kate used the words “see you in the next life” we can assume that Kate was not placed inside the Show but rather the creature paid her a visit and took her out of the equation. The only thing that could perhaps suggest to another fate is if there is a definite link between the fruits being one of the kidnapped victims. Let us look at who has been taken and how many fruit are available in the game. We have Rebecca (Apple), Wooly (Peach), lets assume Lauren is (Banana) and Jordan is (Pear), we would still have Strawberry and Orange. If we guess that Sam and Kate were not killed in real life, these could account for the final fruit.
Finally, we know that Aunt Kate had some kind of link to the Show before her investigation, showing that Sam Colton was aware of her existence. Supposedly, Kate spoke about the Show at all of her readings in the Library. As writing this I have a strong belief that Kate may in fact be Wooly. My reasons for this is threefold:
- Wooly has similarities with Kate being that Wooly’s Show was titled: Herd of Mouth similar to Word of Mouth in that Kate was spreading stories about Amanda the Adventurer.
- Kate works in a Library where the Wooly’s Read-a-Thon was cancelled after Sam’s disappearance.
- Both times you send a present to Amanda’s friend was to Kate or to Wooly.
What Happens to the Missing Children?
As we see in ‘Fateful End’, you can be taken into the VHS Tape and turned into the hanging meat in the Meat Shop. As you look around you there are other hanging meat in the shop that have googly eyes. Do these also represent past victims that Amanda has lured into the Show so that she feels less lonely? You receive this Ending after you say you will help the kitten out of the inescapable cage but as we previously outlined that the kitten is Rebecca herself, promising her this will all of her abandonment issues sees her add you to be another faceless, nameless item in the Show simply distinguishable as a pair of googly eyes. This is not the only time we see googly eyes either as both the Butcher and the Barn at the Petting Zoo have googly eyes too. More creepily, the Barn can be seen breathing in the background.
The missing children appear to get transported into the Show, not as a replacement of Wooly but as inanimate objects, with their thoughts kept, their eyes intact, simply put into the set to watch Amanda forever. As all victims are placed into a trance in which they are lured into the Show, it is to no surprise that all Amanda would really need from you are your eyes.
What is important to note however is that the children do not go into the Television itself. Whilst we see in the Endings that various ways of leaving or entering the Show is through a unnaturally placed door, in the Secret Tape where Lauren disappears, she uses the front door. Whether or not this means that the front door at the time was replaced by the TV Show door or not is uncertain but as we see the creature must come out of it to attack, we assume that the front door in real life was temporarily altered into an imaginary door to the TV Show realm. From the parent’s POV however, it just looked like Lauren run away from the house.
Who is the Detective?
The final part of the puzzle we want to talk about is the Detective’s identity in ‘The End?’ Ending. This can only be achieved if you locate 5 Secret Tapes and see ‘The End’ through where you need to destroy the Television. In this Ending, a Detective dressed in red, with unidentifiable features due to the black mask they are wearing appears at the centre of the Attic. Now, a lot of people theorise that this character is a real life Detective that either knew Kate or was performing their own investigation into Amanda the Adventurer but I do not agree. Their placement in the Attic is purposeful, being that they are standing over the central table where things from the Show appear for you to interact with.
If the Detective simply arrived at the time you destroyed the TV, how did they get in? I believe that the Detective was released into the real world by you destroying the Tape upon finding their Secret Tapes. This character is most likely either Kate as she was performing an investigation of her own or the Cameraman in the Secret Tape where he is recording Rebecca reciting the Demon’s names. These characters were likely taken by Amanda, meaning that finding the Tapes and destroying the TV likely released this person back into the real world.
There is another question I have regarding the Detective’s appearance which is their lack of eyes. If they were a human taken from the Attic, more than likely being Kate in that she returned to where she would have been taken, her eyes may be removed due to the fact that we only see googly eyes in the TV Show. The only other option is that the Detective purposely hides their eyes so that they do not have to watch the Show, thus avoiding the effects of Amanda. But from the little we can see of this character, it really looks like their eyes were removed from the model, appearing as gaping holes instead. This strengthens the theory that the Detective was turned into one of the objects in the Show, most likely the Barn in Petting Zoo as this appear the most ‘lifelike’ out of the objects.
Who is Amanda?
Finally, we wonder about the Demon itself as Amanda. Whilst they are linked to the real world via the vessel of Amanda, the fact that they are able to communicate and lure children into the VHS realm is strange due to the cursed object being something modern such as VHS. However, on the back of the Newspaper Clipping about Sam’s disappearance, we see that some Celtic Relics were stolen. Is this the source of the Demon’s power? Did Hameln steal the Relics, harness the power to possess tape and use this to possess Rebecca to do the Demon’s bidding. If we compared the Demon to the Show as parts of living organism or more specifically the Pied Piper; Rebecca appears to be the Body, Wooly the Heart, the Tapes are the Pipes luring the children and the door is the Mouth to feed. I will leave you on that thought.
That was the Gamer Journalist full interpretation of the awesome Indie Horror Game, Amanda the Adventurer. We really hope you enjoyed this article. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read this. For more Horror Game content, be sure to check out Gamer Journalist as we have so much more to offer you.
