Save the Addams family mansion from demolition in this 3D platformer for up to four players.
The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem is now available on consoles, PC, and Stadia.
We checked out the PlayStation 4 version of the game.
The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem is a 3D platformer inspired by the CGI version of the Addams Family that was introduced in the 2019 film The Addams Family. A second film called The Addams Family 2 premiered in U.S. theaters on October 1, 2021.
While The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem is inspired by the characters in these films, the game’s storyline is original, meaning you don’t have to watch the movies to follow along with the game’s story.
In The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem, players will need to help Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, and Pugsley prove their home should be preserved as an historical landmark before it’s turned into an escape room and buffet restaurant.
The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem is a 3D platformer for one to four players. This means up to four people in the same room can team up to complete levels together on the same screen (each one can play as a different member of the Addams family).
There are four areas (or “worlds”) to explore around the Addams family mansion, including the dining room/kitchen, a graveyard, and more. Each area has multiple platforming levels to complete, as well as some standalone mini-games that challenge players to collect the most points in each game to win.
Players can enter these levels by traveling through portals that have opened up around the Addams family mansion. Levels are filled with giant teacups, plates, musical instruments, spider webs, and more, which players can use to navigate each area. There are also obstacles to avoid, like swinging blades and meat tenderizers.
These platforming levels also feature enemies to defeat that match the theme of each stage. For instance, in the graveyard levels, you may need to defeat small walking headstones, while the kitchen levels feature spinning octopus tentacles and more.
Platforming levels focus on one or more special abilities associated with each of the four playable characters (Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, or Pugsley). For instance, the kitchen levels give players Gomez’s saber, which they can use to slice into enemies (there’s no gore). Morticia’s spider webs allow players to grab onto switches and move objects, as well as swing around on hooks. Pugsley has bombs that players can roll around on, and Wednesday has a friendly octopus that can squirt ink. While these abilities are themed after specific characters in the Addams family, every character can use them.
Finally, each platforming level gives players the chance to collect three Family Crests by completing specific actions. One of these Crests can be earned by collecting a specific number of silver coins, called dubloons, which are scattered throughout the environment and found in breakable containers (like giant ink vials or wooden crates). Many other Crests can be earned by finding hidden or out-of-the-way areas during levels. These areas may ask players to complete a tricky platforming section, defeat an enemy, and more in order to receive their Crest. Players can also earn a single Family Crest from each mini-game stage.
Players are required to collect a certain number of Family Crests as they progress in order to keep unlocking levels. If they don’t have enough Family Crests to unlock the next level, they can replay stages to earn any Crests they may have missed the first time around.
Finally, the game’s mini-game levels challenge players to earn the most points to win. As a couple of examples, a rafting mini-game challenges players to collect points as their raft automatically moves down a river made of soup, while one of the graveyard mini-games challenges players to collect points as they make their way through an obstacle course.
In addition to this Story Mode, The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem features a MiniGames mode at the main menu where families can play as many mini-games as they’d like.
While The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem can be played by a single person, the game was designed with multiplayer gameplay in mind, so the experience feels a bit boring when playing by yourself. For instance, when you play the game’s mini-games on your own, you’re guaranteed to win, since you have no one to compete against. The levels in each in-game world are also pretty repetitive, featuring a limited number of obstacles and objects to interact with.
These issues are more obvious when playing by yourself. When you team up with at least one other person, the game becomes more fun, since you’ll be able to talk to your teammates about where you should explore next, who should attack each enemy, and so on.
While Mansion Mayhem definitely isn’t a bad game, it has some additional issues worth pointing out.
To start, the game could use better tutorials. While it will teach players how to jump and “bump” (think punch) objects and enemies, there are certain things players have to figure out themselves. For instance, the game doesn’t teach players that they can hover to reach higher platforms when using the saber.
In addition, the game will automatically give you the required special ability as you make your way through levels. The game’s controls change slightly depending on the ability you currently have access to, and it can take a second to get used to these changes when you switch to a different ability (some levels feature more than one).
The game’s storyline is presented through text, rather than voice acting, so players will need to know how to read or play alongside someone who can in order to follow along with the story.
In addition, the game’s camera will automatically zoom in and out as you make your way through each level in order to show you more or less of your current surroundings (we can make a guess that this happens as a way to account for four characters potentially being on the screen at the same time). The farther the camera zooms out, the harder it becomes to gauge your position in the air when you jump, so it’s easy to accidentally fall off of a platform or even fall into a bottomless pit.
Thankfully, there’s no real penalty for dying here. Each character has three hearts. If someone is playing by themselves and they lose all of their hearts by getting hit by enemies, or if they fall off of a platform into a pit or dangerous liquid (like a marsh), they’ll warp a short distance to the last checkpoint they passed and can try again. If two or more people are playing together, the fallen character will respawn into the world as the other(s) continue to make progress.
Finally, the game features some spooky imagery, like walking skeletons and coffins, which may bother younger players. We were also concerned by the text on some of the game’s loading screens, which describes dangerous activities that are perfectly normal for the Addams family, but aren’t appropriate for the real world. For instance, one loading screen talks about Uncle Fester’s habit of sticking a fork in an electrical outlet to keep himself bald. While many players will know this is a bad idea without being told, younger players may not understand that it’s a joke.
If you think your kiddo will only be able to play The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem by themselves, the game is a bit too repetitive and simple to earn our recommendation. However, if your family enjoys playing games together, the multiplayer gameplay is much more fun and you may want to check it out.
The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem is now available for Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia for $39.99. The game is rated E10+ for Everyone 10+ by the ESRB.
Disclosure: SuperParent received The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem for Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC for coverage purposes.
Brandy Berthelson has been writing about video games and technology since 2006, with her work appearing on sites including AOL Games, Digital Spy, and Adweek. When she’s not gaming, Brandy enjoys crafting, baking, and traveling with her husband.
