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. 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." *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.

## 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. 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