Addams Family Values is that SNES classic we’d sink into at night just to hear the finger snaps, the floorboards groan, and watch the mansion’s corridors swallow the light. Folks called it everything under the sun—Addams Family: Values, The Addams Family Values, “the game from the movie”—but the cartridge blinked one title and one title only: Addams Family Values. Not just a tie-in, it’s a cozy top-down action-adventure where you roam as Uncle Fester through gardens, crypts, and catacombs, hunt for baby Pubert, trade quips with Morticia and Gomez, and catch Thing quietly waving from the corner. The gothic humor here is warm and playful: less fright, more wink; no gore, just cobwebs and those big organ chords.

Cooked up by Ocean in the mid-’90s and based on the film of the same name, the game surprised by choosing adventure over hurry: chats with neighbors, bite-sized quests, keys and potions, unhurried maze crawls, and boss encounters. It’s one of those times the license elevates the mood—the Super Nintendo pipes out the signature theme while we scribble passwords in a notebook and head back to the manor again and again. Over the years it’s grown its own folklore, from schoolyard tales to fan deep-dives; for more, see our series history and context, and for the paperwork there’s Wikipedia. Most of all, it feels like childhood and a party at the Addamses’, where even danger winks and offers you a dance.

In Addams Family Values you don’t rush—you stalk. Uncle Fester, glowing like a basement lightbulb, steps onto the manor lawn and sets the pace from the first beat: cautious exploration, then a burst of action, a quick pause for a Wednesday quip or a Gomez grin—and back into a top-down adventure. It serves up that rare blend of gothic fairy tale and macabre humor: the swamp reeks of secrets, the graveyard whispers, and your zap lashes skittery critters like you’ve cranked a desk lamp to max. Every area has its own pulse: the grounds invite wandering, catacombs and dungeons twist you around, the forest plays on your nerves. This isn’t a sprint—it’s an action-adventure where the journey matters more than the finish line, and curiosity is the best key.

Addams Family Values nudges you to think and take risks. Doors don’t fold to brute force—you coax them with wit, by heeding hints from Gomez and Morticia, and by conquering offbeat puzzles. When health is ebbing and there’s still a trek to a safe nook and Grandmama, tension spikes and every step feels like creaking boards. Bosses are about rhythm: read the attack pattern and your heartbeat finally exhales. The payoff? New paths, hidden rooms, secrets tucked into wall cracks and crooked corridors; sometimes a shortcut to the maze where Pubert waits. And yes, Addams Family Values rewards coming back: chart a route and it starts to feel like home. More on tactics and routes in our gameplay breakdown.