Five Nights at Freddy's

Five Nights at Freddy's (FNaF) is a survival horror video game. It was made by Scott Cawthon and produced using the Clickteam Fusion game engine. The game was first released on August 8, 2014. It takes place in the fictional pizza restaurant, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. The player acts as a security guard named Mike Schmidt, who must keep safe from animatronic animal characters which are "malfunctioning" (not working properly). To complete the levels of the game called nights, the player must keep the animatronics away from the guard office, using mechanical doors, lights, and security cameras with a limited battery life.

The game received mostly positive reviews from critics. Reviewers said that it was a very scary game. They praised the game play and story but some said the game was too short. Five Nights at Freddy's inspired a media franchise starting with a sequel called Five Nights at Freddy's 2. A movie adaptation of the same name was released in 2023 and a following movie released later in 2025. 

 Game play 
Players of Five Nights at Freddy's control Mike Schmidt, a guard watching the pizza restaurant “Freddy Fazbear's Pizza" for five nights. Mike must finish his job while being hunted by four animatronic animals. These animatronics are "malfunctioning" (not working properly) and will kill Mike. The player sits in an office and cannot leave. They have security cameras used to watch the building and animatronics. The animatronics move in the restaurant and can come to the office. Mike has lights for the dark hallways to his left and right. Steel doors can be used to lock the animatronics in the hallways. Using the doors, cameras, or lights takes away electricity. Losing all the electricity causes the doors, lights, and cameras to not work. The player is jumpscared and killed if the animatronics come to the office. The video game has five levels (stages of the game) called nights, and a special sixth level.

 Plot 
Mike Schmidt listens to a phone voicemail from the guard who worked at the restaurant before him. Other voice messages play at the start of the next four nights. The guard tells Mike about the restaurant and its history. He explains that the four animatronic animals – Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy – move around at night. They are allowed to move because their servomotors (engines that allow them to operate) will break if they are turned off. The guard warns Mike that the animatronics are malfunctioning and will kill people at night. 

The player is told about the violent history of the restaurant. Newspapers in the hallways say that a man murdered five children in a back room. The man was arrested by the police, but the dead bodies of the children were never found. Other newspapers say that the animatronics were leaking blood and had a bad smell. The guard before Mike is killed while recording the voice message for the fourth night. The message for the fifth night is only electronic noise. Mike is paid for his job after the fifth and sixth nights.  

 Development 
Scott Cawthon had created video games for Christians that made very little money. He did not want to make another Christian video game, and began to create Five Nights at Freddy's. Cawthon wanted to make a scary experience after his earlier game Chipper & Sons Lumber Co. received negative reviews. Players said that characters in the game were unsettling and looked like scary animatronics, but not by intention. This made Cawthon want to make a horror game. He developed Five Nights at Freddy's over six months, and his sons and friends tested the game. The programming was made with the Clickteam Fusion 2.5 game engine and the Autodesk 3ds Max computer program was used for the graphics. The audio was produced with sound effects that Cawthon created himself, and some that he bought on the internet. Five Nights at Freddy's was first released for Microsoft Windows on August 8, 2014. It was later added to Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.

 Reception 
Five Nights at Freddy's received mostly positive reviews on Metacritic. GameRevolution said in its review that the game was the scariest the reviewer had ever played. It rated the game a 9 out of 10 and said that "It's terrifying, panic-inducing, and completely fun, so by the time the end is reached, the game leaves you wanting more." Nintendo Life rated the game a 7 out of 10, and wrote that the gameplay was simple and fun, while saying that the sounds increased the tension. The reviewer also liked the jumpscares made by the animatronics, but said that they would become less scary over time. GameSpot praised the story for being "delivered in small but terrifying background details." and liked how it created fear without using graphic violence. The review was not entirely positive because the critic called the game too short. Gamezebo said that Five Nights at Freddy's was "brilliant at inducing a fear of the unknown" and felt mysterious.

 Other media 
Five Nights at Freddy's inspired a video game series and gained a fan following. The next game in the series, Five Nights at Freddy's 2, was released in late 2014. Five Nights at Freddy's became popular after being featured on YouTube by Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, PewDiePie, and other internet personalities. The series became a media franchise with the release of books starting with Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes. Blumhouse Productions acquired the rights to make a movie adaptation of the game in 2017. After delays, the movie was launched on October 27, 2023.

Cawthon retired as a game developer in 2021 after a controversy over donations he made to the Republican Party. He intends to change ownership of the franchise in the future. Fans of the video game series have made predictions on the meanings of the games and their storyline. This story has been looked at by fans through social media and wikis. The community is influential on several internet platforms including TikTok and YouTube. Five Nights at Freddy's inspired many fangames, and other creative works, such as songs.

See all of Five Nights at Freddy's titled media here.

References

Other websites
FNAF 

Category:2014 video games
Category:2010s horror video games

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Category:Indie video games
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Category:Point-and-click adventure games
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Category:Survival horror video games
Category:Video games developed in the United States
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