# American Arcadia

American Arcadia is a 2023 puzzle-platformer game developed by Out of the Blue and published by Raw Fury. The game follows Trevor Hills (Yuri Lowenthal) as he tries to escape his simulated hometown, Arcadia, with the help of stage technician Angela Solano (Krizia Bajos).

## Gameplay

American Arcadia is a 2.5D puzzle-platformer game that takes place during the 1970s. Throughout the game, the player controls Trevor Hills and Angela Solano.

## Plot

Before the events of American Arcadia, six Arcadia-born citizens escaped from the city in January 1992, known as The Arcadia Six Breakout.
The game presents the plot as a documentary, focusing on the experiences of Trevor Hills, a 28 year old man who lives a normal life, and Angela Solano, a stage technician within Walton Media.
Nine days before the events, his friend Augustus Rainey is missing as he is selected as another Edge Travel Grant winner, where winners are sent to vacation to holiday places outside of Arcadia. In the following days, Trevor is repeatedly reminded through hijacked devices to "Don't be a fool".
On the day of the events, Trevor Hills is selected as another winner in the travel grant. As he enters an elevator, an unknown person under the pseudonym Kovacs from the screens warns him to not accept the travel grant and run towards the backstage of Arcadia. There, Trevor discovers that every citizen within Arcadia, including himself is part of a reality television show that thousands of cameras track and record to every digital streaming platform, led by the current host Vivian Walton. Individuals who do not receive positive reception from a lack of viewership are presumably killed, through the Edge Travel Grant. Trevor navigates the backstage and skyscrapers, but travel agents find him and chase him down. He flees through many obstacles and jumps into a pool, before escaping through the cities' monorail, where he arrives at Grand Hotel Cygnus.
Three days before the events, Kovacs smuggles an access badge inside a suitcase for Trevor to use in the hotel. With the help of Kovacs, he navigates the hotel to a suite room where he obtains the badge. Trevor returns to the surface to enter a bus towards the Arcadia Central Station, but it breaks down at the last minute where travel agents chase Trevor down. As Kovacs tries to help Trevor, a phone call from the pseudonym Number Six warns that the chief of security, Marcus Javert will be entering their office. Trevor evades the travel agents through hiding behind crowds, whilst Kovacs is interrogated by Marcus. During the interrogation, Trevor discovers Kovacs' name to be Angela Solano, and Trevor leaves in a replacement bus towards the Arcadia Central Station.
Trevor arrives at the station, where visitors enter and exit from Arcadia for tourism purposes through a train. However, "The Jingle" plays as he attempts to leave, which immobilises him. Marcus finds him and sends Interceptors to chase Trevor down. With the help of Angela, he escapes by going outside the station and enters a mall, hiding inside an arcade. Meanwhile, Walton Media is under lockdown due to Trevor's escape; All employees must have their phones scanned for security purposes. Inspired by steganography, Angela transfers her phone's data into a VHS tape retrieved from a storage room, and wipes the data from her phone. She returns home and reconnects with Trevor, leaving the mall with a rental car.

## Development and release

American Arcadia is developed by Spanish indie studio Out of the Blue, which previously developed Call of the Sea.
Out of the Blue released a trailer in April 2022, and a demo was presented at the Tribeca Festival Games Spotlight. On November 15, 2023, American Arcadia was released.

## Reception

Aggregate scores :
| Aggregator | Score |
| Metacritic | 75/100 |
| OpenCritic | 95% recommend |
American Arcadia received a "generally favorable" rating on Metacritic. On OpenCritic, the game has a "strong" approval rating of 94%.