What is The Amusement?

The Amusement is a narrative VR adventure developed by Hamburg-based studio Curvature Games and published by ARTE France — the European cultural broadcaster responsible for some of the most artistically ambitious VR experiences ever made, including A Fisherman's Tale. Released on April 16, 2026, it is a story-driven puzzle experience set in Germany in the 1920s, in the aftermath of the First World War.

You play as Samantha Burkhart, a 19-year-old woman sent by her English mother to inspect the family's abandoned amusement park in Germany — a park owned by her father, who disappeared during the chaos of World War I. What begins as a practical inspection becomes a deeply personal excavation. Each fairground attraction — a twisting labyrinth, a flooded ruins-of-Atlantis ride, a roller coaster — gradually transforms into a fragment of Samantha's childhood memory, replaying the turbulent relationship between her parents Bridget and Hans.

The game's defining feature is its redirected walking technology. Rather than using a joystick for locomotion, your actual physical steps are translated directly into the game world — the architecture is cleverly designed so that a 2×2 metre real-world space is enough to feel like you are genuinely wandering through the park. Narrow corridors, winding paths and compact chambers curve back on themselves so that players always stay within their physical play area without realising it. Teleport and smooth locomotion options are available for those who prefer seated play.

The story is told through a beautiful combination of hand-drawn stop-motion interludes between chapters, shadow-puppet animations cast against the park's walls, and voice-acted conversations. The aesthetic is deliberately cinematic — rooted in 1920s European visual language, with an art style inspired by the actual Luna Parks of the period.

The 1920s Post-War Setting

The Amusement is set in Weimar-era Germany, in the bruised, disoriented years after the end of the First World War. The game doesn't treat history as a backdrop — it is the emotional engine of the story. Samantha's father Hans, German, disappeared in the chaos of the war; her mother Bridget is English. Their relationship — a marriage across the lines of war — becomes the lens through which the game explores grief, memory, identity and the fracture lines that conflict draws through ordinary families.

The amusement park itself is historically grounded. Curvature Games drew inspiration from the real European Luna Parks of the early 20th century — a genuinely fascinating piece of cultural history. Luna Parks were a specific form of immersive entertainment that swept Europe and America between roughly 1900 and 1930, combining spectacular architecture, themed rides, illusions and theatrical performance into a single venue. The dilapidated, overgrown version Samantha walks through carries all the melancholy of a once-joyful place now hollowed out by loss.

How Does It Play?

What Space Do You Need?

How Well Does It Fit?

Strongest curriculum fit is KS4 History (WWI, inter-war Europe, Weimar Germany), GCSE English Literature (narrative perspective, memory and trauma as themes), and Drama/Media Studies (mise-en-scène, storytelling technique, atmosphere). The experience is also valuable for PSHE discussions around grief, family relationships, and the human cost of conflict. The USK 12+ rating (equivalent to PEGI 12) makes it suitable for secondary school use from Year 8 upwards.

What Are People Saying?

Is It Worth It for Schools?

The Amusement occupies a distinct space in the educational VR landscape — it is not a structured lesson with learning outcomes and exam modes. It is an experience, in the truest sense. What it offers is the feeling of being present in post-WWI Germany, inside a family story told with genuine emotional intelligence, in a medium that makes it feel personal in a way no film or textbook can.

For a History teacher covering the aftermath of the First World War, or an English teacher working on themes of memory, loss and unreliable narrative, The Amusement offers something rare: a primary-feeling encounter with the emotional texture of an era. Students who experience it will have something concrete and visceral to write about — the specific feeling of walking through a ruined maze and hearing a child's memory of a father who never came home.

The short runtime (2–3 hours) is actually an advantage in a classroom context — it can be experienced in a structured session or across two lessons. The teleport option means it works in any space, and the 12+ age rating makes it appropriate for secondary school from Year 8.

15% off until April 30, 2026 — bringing the price down to $18.69 on Steam. A free demo is also available on Steam to try before buying.