Video Game / Adventure Time

Boxart for the first video game.

Hey Ice King! Why'd you steal our garbage?!!
Pretty sure we didn't ask to have our garbage
Taken away by some cranky ice janitor
Just who do you think you are?!
You king of ice, it would suffice if you'd be nice
But you're a jerk!
Probably want to build a girlfriend outta the garbage!
Nah, that's just crazy talk, nobody'd be that crazy
It's probably something else...

— Title Theme Tune for Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!! (extended from the show's main theme)

The trope page for the video games of the Adventure Time series.

The first, Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!! is an action-adventure game for the Nintendo DS and 3DS with a story by series creator Pendleton Ward. Finn and Jake awaken from a crazy dream involving the Cosmic Owl to find that the Ice King has made off with their garbage for some sinister purpose. Not just their garbage, in fact, but garbage from people all across the Land of Ooo. Our dauntless adventurers must journey from kingdom to kingdom, fighting weird monsters and learning new abilities in order to get their stuff back and get to the bottom of the Ice King's latest evil scheme.

The second, Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON'T KNOW! (yes, it's really titled like that), was a major console release, being distributed for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U and the 3DS. Once again Pendleton Ward wrote the story. Unlike the last game, this is more of a top-down dungeon crawler ala Gauntlet and allows four player co-op. You can now play as Finn, Jake, Marceline, Cinnamon Bun, Lumpy Space Princess, Ice King, Flame Princess, The Earl of Lemongrab, Peppermint Butler and the King of Mars (the last three via DLC). The plot this time out has Bubblegum calling the selected character to go explore a dungeon beneath Ooo as prisoners have somehow been escaping from it when it's supposed to be inescapable. So she sends you down there to check it out because, in her own words, "I don't know."

Adventure Time Battle Party MOBA has its own page.

Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom was released in 2014 for the PS3, Vita, Xbox 360 and the 3DS.

Adventure Time: Finn & Jake Investigations was released in 2015 for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, and the 3DS.

Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion was released in 2018 for Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC

There are also a number of games available either on the Cartoon Network website or as mobile apps.

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The Adventure Time games contain examples of:

Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!!

• Background Boss: Stage two of the fight with the Ice King.
• Big Good: Lady Rainicorn is the one who ultimately saves the day, not from the Ice King, but from a vengeful Lumpy Space Princess.
• Boss Subtitles: Parodied, much like in Shantae, another WayForward franchise. For example, the Ice King is labeled "Complicated Jerk".
• But Thou Must!: Parodied; whenever Jake shows reluctance in performing a new power, the narrator loudly announces that Jake decides to just roll with it.
• Clear My Name: Finn and Jake must provide alibis for three prisoners being held by Lemongrab as suspects in the stealing of Princess Bubblegum's pantyhose.
• Continuity Porn: The game is loaded with references to episodes of the show. For starters, many power-ups are based on the spells Finn learned in "Wizard" like Tiger Claws, Vorpal Hand, and Beauteous Wings.
• Easily Forgiven: Once she's beaten, Lumpy Space Princess is immediately forgiven for trying to blow up all of Ooo, as compared to the Ice King, who was just stealing trash.
• Flaming Sword: Finn receives one of these, from Flame Princess, it's used to melt the ice cubes in the Ice Kingdom.
• Foe-Tossing Charge: One boss is Ice King using a device to create a hundred Gunter clones. Each clone is able to be taken out with one hit, except for the last one which has more health for some reason.
• Harmful Healing: Royal Tarts will either heal you for a lot of HP, or reduce you to one hit point and leave you slowed-down. creating certain food mixes can also result in this.
• Hyperactive Metabolism: Food power-ups heal you. mixing delicious foods and condiments will yield better healing.
• I Call It "Vera": Finn's sword is called "Scarlet the Golden Sword"
• Infinity +1 Sword: The Enchiridion, it can defeat any enemy in the game in a single hit, and while it's not exactly hard to get, nothing in the game even hints at its existence.
• Konami Code: Enter it at the title screen of the 3DS version and you get the "Secret Screen".
• Metroidvania: The game is pretty much Zelda II: The Adventure of Link with Adventure Time characters.
• New Game Plus: You beat the game once and you get to play the whole thing again. If you maxed out Finn by finding all the level up stars, the chests that had them will instead contain a bomba. It also doubles the health of every enemy in the game, including the bosses.
• Rambling Old Man Monologue: Finn and Jake are on the receiving end of one from an old well guy living in the village of the House People.
• Save Point: Provided by the Water Nymphs from "Power Animal".
• Shout-Out:
  • If you try to go into the Tree Dungeon before getting Finn's sword, Jake will warn him "It's dangerous to go alone!"
  • In the Badlands Dungeon, right before the boss, the Ice King's parting words are "But enough talk! Have at you!". Also, examining Ice King's latest attempt at a Garbage Princess will have Jake describe it as "A miserable little pile of garbage."
    • For extra bonus points, said boss is Marceline, a vampire.
  • Jake residing in Finn's backpack is highly reminiscent of Banjo-Kazooie.
• Step Up to the Microphone: After spending the whole game with instrumental songs, save for the title theme, two boss songs have lyrics to them. Marceline has "Who's in Charge Here", sung by Jessie Seely, while the Final Boss, Lumpy Space Princess, has "A Hero is Made", sung by Cristina Valenzuela.
• Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum: Lumpy Space Princess tries to destroy the world because Finn threw away the home-made ashtray she gave him for his birthday.
• Unexpected Shmup Level: The final boss, Lumpy Space Princess, is fought with the help of Lady Rainicorn, in a vein similar to the final boss of Kirby's Adventure.
• Zero-Effort Boss: Bliblob, the Cutest Warrior, dies from charging into you.

Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON'T KNOW!

• Action Girl: Marceline and Flame Princess. Lumpy Space Princess... not so much.
• Boss-Only Level: Every 10 levels. Some of them are fights, some you have to avoid fights.
• But Thou Must!: Princess Bubblegum asks the player to make a royal promise not to move her "science table", and will tell the player they must no matter how many times they refuse.
• Charged Attack: Every character has one, some are status attacks, some do damage.
• Checkpoint Starvation: Only every 5 levels, which doesn't matter so much at first, but becomes more annoying as you progress into multi-room floors.
• Clown-Car Grave: The enemy generators keep spawning enemies until they're destroyed, though its only one every five seconds or so.
• Continuity Porn: Like Why'd You Steal Our Garbage, there are nods to the series all over the place, from Marceline floating around the courtyard with her parasol, to finding a crystal apple in a quest for Tree Trunks, to Ice King making Fionna and Cake ice robots.
• Deadpan Snarker: Marceline. Notably, sometimes when picking up food items(which technically shouldn't restore her HP, her being a vampire), she will sigh and mutter "Game logic."
• Downer Ending: Bubblegum's "parents", who she's been keeping safe in the dungeon for centuries, disincorporate and die at the end, although they manage to tell her "We love you, Bonnie!"
• Drop-In-Drop-Out Multiplayer: Except in boss levels, which can't be joined.
• Dungeon Crawling
• Dynamic Difficulty: The monsters get tougher and more numerous the farther into the dungeon you go.
• Exploding Birds: The dynamite birds that show up beginning in the Ice Tunnels.
• Gasp!: The entire party gasps at the end of the game when Bubblegum reveals that the giant mass of goop they just defeated was actually her parents. (Except for Ice King. He wasn't paying attention.)
• The Grim Reaper: If you get to the end of a level that has a locked door on the exit and dawdle too long, Death will growl "I see you!", then appear and try to blast you with a golden beam that pulls you toward him. If he touches you, you lose three Thumps.
• Inexplicable Treasure Chests: Really, why Bubblegum left treasure chests in her dungeon prison is anyone's guess.
• Just One More Level!: There's just something so addictive about playing Gauntlet with Adventure Time characters.
• Mana Meter: Imagination, which when full allows you to use a special attack against every enemy onscreen.
• Mascot Mook: The skeletons, which all have old-style prison stripe uniforms and a ball and chain on their ankle.
• Money Spider: Skeletons, tentacles, birds, deer...they're all capable of dropping piles of gold and silver when you kill them.
• Smart Bomb: All of Marceline and Flame Princess's Imagination moves damage all enemies on screen. Finn, Ice King and the Earl of Lemongrab only have one or two each.
• Spiritual Successor: It's basically Gauntlet: Adventure Time Edition.
• Warp Whistle: Bubblegum's holo-pendant, which she can use to send you to any five-increment level (1, 6, 11, 16, etc).
• Wham Episode: While it was already established in the episode The Vault that Bubblegum was very old. This game goes into more detail revealing she's 827 years old. As well as the fact that the blob seen in Simon and Marcy is being kept down in the dungeon and Bubblegum indeed had formed from it.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Princess Bubblegum gets this treatment for trapping Flame Princess and the Lemongrabs in the dungeon, and for protecting the Gum Monster.
• Zerg Rush: All remaining Goo Monsters will charge the player at the end of level 50.

Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom

• Big Bad: Nightmare Princess.
• Chain of Deals: Wouldn't be a top-down Zelda-like game without one. You can start it right after getting Jake's grabbing ability from the dungeon Lullaby Princess is held in. The last item, the Enchiridion, is required to get into the final dungeon.
• Damsel in Distress: The three princesses from the Nameless Kingdom. Subverted with Nightmare Princess.
• Easily Forgiven: Even after causing a lot of trouble for everyone, Nightmare Princess is forgiven by Finn, Jake and her sisters.
• Guide Dang It!: Just like the first Zelda and A Link to the Past, this game can be pretty difficult without a guide.
• Interquel: The events of the game takes place between "Rattleballs" and "The Red Throne", since Rattleballs is present and Cinnamon Bun is still half-baked.
• Minimalist Run: One of the achievements/trophies requires the player to beat the game with no upgrades and only three hearts. Good luck.
• Multiple Endings: Depending on which princess Finn chooses to rule over the Nameless Kingdom.
  • Nightmare Princess: The true ending. Nightmare Princess promises to be a great leader without banishing her sisters and welcoming any adventurer in their quest. Cue the post-credits scene where Princess Bubblegum reveals what kind of bad stuff could happen if Nightmare Princess was chosen as the leader to Finn, since she's a Wish Master.
  • Slumber Princess: BMO wakes up and the game is revealed to be nothing more than a dream. He then cries, thinking he killed the characters after waking up while Finn and Jake ponders what happened before walking away.
  • Lullaby Princess: The game cuts to a music track after Lullaby Princess is chosen. That's it. Credits.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Nice job influencing Nightmare Princess to take over the Nameless Kingdom by force, Finn!
• The Night That Never Ends: Nightmare Princess does this to the Nameless Kingdom after she takes it over by force.
• No Fair Cheating: Subverted. You need to use two shortcuts in order to beat Starchy in his race.
• Puzzle Boss: The fight against the Crab Demon. Since he is immune to physical attacks, the only way to beat him is to redirect his laser beam at him by using the gems scattered in the room.
• Shout-Out: The gameplay is similar to the first Legend of Zelda and Link to the Past
  • Even the boss is a reference to the latter's first boss and the fight against Agahnim in that game
• Suspicious Video-Game Generosity: Played with. The fourth dungeon (simply titled "Totally Freaky Dungeon") is a very easy dungeon with only six rooms, one enemy with a key, no puzzles and the dungeon items are put right in front of your face. Oh, and the boss of said dungeon is an common enemy who dies in a few hits, with your reward being a strawberry instead of a heart piece. Turns out this is a poorly made dungeon made by Lumpy Space Princess in order for Finn to "rescue" her. At least you get a new (and required) move for Jake.
• Take That!: Jake bashes Explore the Dungeon Because I Don't Know during Slumber Princess' ending.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Trying to collect a pie fairy with Jake's grab move will instantly kill it instead of putting it inside a baggy. The game will call you out on this via an achievement/trophy.

Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion

• Big Bad Ensemble: Gumbald, Lolly, Chicle and Fern.
• Call-Back:
  • Finn says in the beginning that he's not emotionally ready for another experience with a comet while watching the stars with Jake and BMO.
• Go Mad from the Isolation: Peppermint Butler goes absolute nuts after being stuck in the Evil Forest for four hours during the flood.
• Interquel: Set between the episodes "Seventeen" and "Gumbaldia". However, the game isn't considered part of the official canon by the developers, making it a "side story."
• Level Cap: 10.
• Nintendo Hard: OH YES. Enemies can hit your characters like a truck and you're going to die quite often. Better stock on healing items as soon as you can.
• Sequel Hook: Fern breaks out Gumbald and Chicle from the Candy Kingdom's dungeon, allowing him to continue his plans to conquer the Candy Kingdom.
  Gumbald: Bubblegum...this is not over.
• Shout-Out: The entire game was inspired by The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Even the developers admitted it during interviews.
  • Peppermint Butler gets stranded in the Evil Forest during the flood, goes mad and makes a friend called Watson for company. It's Todd, actually.
• Take Your Time: You have the choice to do all the sidequests or restore Ooo to normal after Gumbald is defeated. Even the game warns you if you want to go to the ending whenever you approach the drain plug.

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