Introduction

I’m proud to be a gamer even in 2026. Despite a myriad of Call of Duty games and a plethora of battle royale titles, there’s still creativity flowing from indie developers out there. Developer Panache Digital Games enforces this logic with their game 1666: Amsterdam. What do you get when you spin a tale involving witches, guys being turned into spirit cats, and a young woman searching for clues about her past from ancient letters and incantations from her father? You get…well, 1666: Amsterdam, which flows rich with magic and witches. Is this magical yarn worth playing in its early access stages, or should you incarnate a spell to pretend this title doesn’t exist? I dive into the strange world of 1666: Amsterdam to find out in our early access review. Big thanks to the developers for their kind review copy for us to use!

Gameplay

1666: Amsterdam throws players into a strange witchcraft world, with some real themes and lore within, where you assume the role of two very different protagonists. You’ll often be in the shoes of Noa, a woman given the title of Collector who must gather a powerful magic called Nux and use it to save her kind and possibly stop an ancient threat. Meanwhile, a young man named Aaron (he has my name so bonus points for that) ends up thrust from his world of 1999 into the body of a cat that acts as Noa’s ally. Let’s discuss how each protagonist works and the good and bad about them.

Noa is your primary controlled character, she moves about the world of Amsterdam and fights the various threats, both human and non. Mostly, Noa turns the game into a typical action title with some cool little twists. Noa can obviously cast magic to make items explode around her enemies and instill fear into them, or she can beat them down with her magical staff and well timed dodge mechanics. When you’re in a fight, 1666: Amsterdam feels smooth and silky, usually. Dodging gracefully allows Noa to make quick movements and fight back efficiently. Likewise, causing mayhem can often make enemies run instead of continuing a fight, so there’s a nice mix of choice in 1666: Amsterdam’s battle mechanics. Bosses obviously must be beaten down, but even they can be handled differently depending on the environment.

Where Noa’s gameplay suffers, and in some ways Aaron’s as well, is exploration. The camera is way too close to Noa, it reminds me of the older adventure game days. This can often mean you miss on where to go or what to do solely because the camera is blocking a view point. This isn’t always the case as some areas are more open and feel traditional, but when entering buildings or tight spaces, the camera is more of a threat than an enemy.

Another annoyance is Noa’s exploration segments can feel a bit boring. Talking with random people or searching for items feels…too traditional. I won’t say it’s downright bad as exploring Amsterdam and its rich culture and design is nice, but I would have liked a tad more to do besides solving simple puzzles and talking to random people.

Aaron meanwhile is all exploration and puzzles with some QTE moments thrown in. Typically Aaron in his cat form must explore areas Noa, for some reason, can’t enter and unlock doors or help her collect items. These sections are fun as being a cat, there’s even a cat button, is different, but I’ve seen plenty of games like Stray where controls feel a bit more intuitive.

Both protagonists offer different gameplay formats to keep the game from becoming too repetitive, but neither one is all that engaging. Still, I do like the mix and I think it helps keep 1666: Amsterdam from getting stale quickly. I won’t deny there are some boring segments and some moments feel…too convoluted, but I’ve seen and played worse. 1666: Amsterdam tries and accomplishes its gameplay well enough for a passing mark.

Graphics

Visually, even on highest settings, 1666: Amsterdam is…good. When exploring various locations or fighting enemies, 1666: Amsterdam looks terrific with high flair and plenty of dynamic designs. Likewise, the environments are quite stunning and really show off some love for the historical mythos that is witchcraft and such. What holds 1666: Amsterdam back a bit is the character models can often look stiff or slightly off, and some minor details like various objects just look dated. Still, I can’t deny I did love the aesthetics that 1666: Amsterdam uses and how Noa’s red and even the magic around her uses red color that just blends perfectly against the other muted colors.

Sound

I have little issue with the sound department in 1666: Amsterdam. The voice talent is quite solid with every character either fitting the time period or sounding as if trying to understand it. Technically there are three main characters, I say two because the third one isn’t used for long, but their voice acting is spot on matching the themes of their respective generations and attitudes. Likewise, the music matches the voice acting with some great tracks and tones. 1666: Amsterdam does a nice job of having this otherworldly sound and battles and events match the tempo quite well. The sound design in 1666: Amsterdam is great and one of the strongest aspects of the game without a doubt.

Story

1666: Amsterdam clearly aims to be a story first game when you really dig deep and that is understandable. A lot of love was put into capturing the concepts of witchcraft, magic, and the various trials many experienced ages ago. The story is…both good and bad to be simple and spoiler free. The tale often feels like a How I Met Your Mother story, not the TV show mind you, with the addition of a strange otherworldly narrative and oddities about. When 1666: Amsterdam works, it delivers a compelling story with some intriguing twists and turns. When it doesn’t, I can admit I was a bit bored by the story. Is it bad? By no means, and just because I don’t love it doesn’t mean others won’t. Yet I feel 1666: Amsterdam could have delivered this tale in some different ways and been a bit less simple, despite how complex and intertwined the tale can be.

Overall Impression

1666: Amsterdam has a lot going for it. There’s some great designs here and also a few questionable ones as well. I think 1666: Amsterdam with some polish and tweaks could be a higher rated game in my mind, but as of right now, and again it is in Early Access, 1666: Amsterdam is good just not phenomenal.

Conclusion

You might notice no final score in this review and that is because we are respecting the developer’s desire to not do scored reviews for the time being. This is an Early Access game, which we mentioned a few dozen times, and that means they are indeed working to make this game perfect before a true final release.

1666: Amsterdam is pretty cool if a bit rough around the edges. This witchcraft heavy narrative works more often than not and I love the ideas it throws at you. The problem is that every aspect of 1666: Amsterdam needs polishing, the visuals, the gameplay, and even the story at times have things I can nitpick and find ways to improve upon. Early access games though always have that ability to see what is working and what isn’t and course correct it before the official release. 1666: Amsterdam is so close to being a fantastic and special indie title that could even compete with bigger action and narrative games. If developer Panache Digital Games just listens to what reviewers and players are saying…this could be one of the better games of 2026!