FNAF 1
Five Nights at Freddy's (often abbreviated to FNaF) is a media franchise based around an indie video game series created, designed, developed, and published by Scott Cawthon for Microsoft Windows, iOS, and Android.
The series is centered on the story of a fictional restaurant named Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a pastiche of restaurants like Chuck E. Cheese's and ShowBiz Pizza Place. The first three games involve the player working as a nighttime security guard, in which they must utilize several tools, most notably checking security cameras, to survive against animatroniccharacters, which become mobile and homicidal after-hours. The fourth game, which uses different gameplay mechanics from its predecessors, takes place in the house of a child who must defend against nightmarish versions of the animatronics by closing doors and fleeing on foot. The fifth game takes place in a maintenance facility owned by a sister company of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. In this game, the player character is a technician instead of a night guard, who must do different tasks each night as told by an AI voice heard in the game. The sixth game takes the genre of a business-simulation game, where the player acts as the owner of a pizzeria which they must decorate with payable items. The player must also work the night shift for their pizzeria, which plays similarly to previous games.
The series has gained widespread popularity since its release. Two novel adaptations, Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes and Five Nights at Freddy's: The Twisted Ones, were released on December 17, 2015 and June 27, 2017, respectively. A guidebook for the series, The Freddy Files, was released on August 29, 2017.
A horror attraction based on the series was featured in the Adventuredome in Halloween of 2016. Additionally, the series appeared in the Guinness Book of Records: Gamer's Edition, breaking the record for the largest number of sequels released in a year.[1]
Contents
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History and development[edit]
The idea for Five Nights at Freddy's stems from the negative reception towards Scott Cawthon's previous game, the family friendly Chipper & Sons Lumber Co., as players commented that the main character (a young beaver) looked like "a scary animatronic animal", with reviewer Jim Sterling calling the game unintentionally "terrifying".[2][3] Although initially discouraged by the poor reception to Chipper & Sons, Cawthon, who had previously mainly developed Christian-oriented games, eventually used it to inspire himself to make something intentionally scarier.[2]
Timeline of entries
2016FNaF World
Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location
2017Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator
The first Five Nights at Freddy's game was released via Desura on August 8, 2014. On August 20, 2014, after it was approved by the service's crowdsourcing platform Greenlight, Five Nights at Freddy's was also released via Steam.[4] The games that followed were released on November 10, 2014; March 2, 2015; July 23, 2015; October 7, 2016; and December 4, 2017, respectively. A spin-off of the series, FNaF World was announced on a Steam post by Cawthon in September 2015,[5] and was released in January 2017. Cawthon releases most pictorial teasers of his games to his website, "Scott Games",[6][7] and releases teaser trailers on his YouTube channel.[8]
Cawthon uses Clickteam Fusion 2.5 to create the Five Nights at Freddy's games and Autodesk 3ds Max to model and render the 3D graphics of the games.[9] For the enhancement of FNaF World and Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, Cawthon hired professional voice actors.[10]Cawthon has announced that all titles will be remade by third-party companies for release on consoles.[11]
Cawthon posted a teaser on his official website in 2015 that announced he had plans to release his first novel called Five Nights at Freddy's: The Untold Story (that would later be renamed to Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes) sometime in the near future, and that it was to be written separate-canon to the games.[12] On June 20, 2016, Scholastic announced that it would be collaborating with Scott Cawthon on a multi-book deal.[13] Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes, was to be re-printed in paperback on October that year. It was then rescheduled for release on September in the same year. The next two novels were scheduled for release in 2017 and 2018 respectively.[13] A guidebook based on the series was also scheduled for release in 2017.[14]
Gameplay[edit]
The main Five Nights at Freddy's series consists of horror-themed video games, in which the player usually takes on the role of a night-time employee at a location canonically connected to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a fictional children's-oriented restaurant similar to Chuck E. Cheese's and ShowBiz Pizza.[15] The restaurant uses life-size animatronic characters that sing and dance for children's parties. These animatronics wander in the restaurant at night, and the guard is instructed to keep watch on these, as the restaurants have had "incidents" of previous guards being attacked and killed by the characters. To progress through the games, the player must guard themself from the animatronics by using various tools to their advantage.[16] For the most part, however, the player must remain stationary in their defence. In the first game, the player can control the two security doors that connect the office to the adjacent hallways, and may close them to provide a barricade against any animatronics in the vicinity. Each night, the player has a limited power supply that depletes quicker when a tool is used; if the player exhausts the power supply, the doors permanently open, allowing any animatronic to breach the office.
The player's office from Five Nights at Freddy's 2
Five Nights at Freddy's 2 provides different tools to work with. Protective doors are not present in the office, and the player must instead defend themselves with an empty Freddy Fazbear head, which fools most animatronics. The power usage is also removed, instead being replaced with a limited flashlight, which is used to ward off one animatronic. Lights may also be used to brighten darker areas of the pizzeria. The game introduces the music box, which must be kept wound to prevent an attack from a certain animatronic. 8-bit minigames make their inauguration, in which the player can interact with randomly after death.[17]
Five Nights at Freddy's 3 replaces these tools with a monitor panel, where the player must keep certain systems from malfunctioning, so as not to hinder the player's ability to successfully complete the night. These malfunctions can be triggered randomly, or by hallucinations of past iterations of the animatronics. The ability to seal vents is also added, and must be used to prevent the sole tangible animatronic from entering the office. The player can also use an audio-based function as a means of defense, which triggers a childlike voice to play, luring the animatronic away from the player's office.[18] The 8-bit minigames return, and are activated via completing certain side-tasks, such as clicking on a poster or inputting a code into the wall. If the player fully completes all minigames, they unlock a secret ending.
Five Nights at Freddy's 4 reintroduces removed tools, specifically the doors and flashlight, albeit with slightly altered usage.[19] The doors can only be closed when the player is next to them, and will re-open if the player moves away. However, if the player shuts the doors too early, the animatronics will jump scare the player when the door is opened. The flashlight can no-longer run out, but only alerts player to the presence of animatronics as opposed to warding them away, excluding the miniature Freddies that appear on the bed. If the player flashes the flashlight while an animatronic is in the doorway, the player will be jumpscared. There is one new mechanic, where the player must listen for breathing audio. This can determine whether to use the flashlight or close the door.
Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location once again keeps the doors, albeit for the secret ending.[20][21] The flashlight returns, but now loses all functionality, only being stuck permanently on when in certain rooms, and permanently off in others. An elevated control pad is introduced in the game, with the ability to light up rooms and/or shock the animatronics. Other mechanics include another control pad inside the "breaker room", controlling the power to the whole facility, and a flash beacon, which allows the player to see in the darkened "Funtime auditorium" and avoid the sole animatronic in that room. Sister Location is also the only game where the player is able to move between rooms.[22]
Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator provides a very different gameplay style, where the player must spend in-game money to buy features for their pizzeria in a tycoon-style gameplay. A series of minigames can be played by testing attractions used in the establishment. Once a player has completed this portion of the game, they must sit in a room and complete tasks while fending off hostile animatronics they have "salvaged” previously. The gameplay of this portion shares many elements with Five Nights at Freddy's 3, such as the importance of ventilation and the ability to distract the animatronics using audio.
Each game requires the player to survive five nights, with each night increasing the difficulty.[23][24] There is an unlockable sixth night present in all games (excluding Sister Location), with further additional nights varying between games: the first two games feature a customizable seventh night which allows the player to customize the AI level of each animatronic.[25][26] A custom night DLC is also available for Sister Location.[27] The third game does not feature any night after the sixth, while the fourth game includes a seventh and eighth night, neither of which are customizable. The fifth game is currently the only game with only five nights, if the custom night DLC is not included.
The spin-off game, FNaF World, has the player explore a light-hearted RPG world battling for experience points. The player unlocks different areas as they continue on their adventure. Eventually, after completing certain tasks, the player wins one of eight different endings, all of which will unlock a trophy on the title screen once completed.[28] The game also received an update titled "Update 2" which introduced the animatronic characters in Five Nights at Freddy's 4's Halloween DLC and some characters from Cawthon's older games. The update also introduced another boss character which the player must defeat as well as minigames to unlock the aforementioned new characters.[29]
Common elements[edit]
Security cameras[edit]
The security camera mechanic, used to keep track of the animatronic characters.
The ability to use a security camera system is found in all of the main games except the fourth, and is used to observe the positions of the animatronic characters through security cameras that are set throughout the location. However, only one location can be viewed at a time, and some areas are not visible on the aforementioned cameras.[15] Most camera feeds are dull, sometimes close to black and white in color, and covered in static. In the third game, cameras become dysfunctional if the associated system fails.[30] Security cameras are only used in Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location as a mechanic in the "Fake Ending" and custom night DLC, not in the main game.
Lights[edit]
The lights, and, by extension, the flashlight and flash beacon, are found in all main games, excluding the third. While use varies per game, lights are generally used to ward off animatronics, or warn the player of their presence. Lights in the first game and second games are activated via buttons mounted into the walls, and light up the player's 'blind spot', being the doorway or vent exit, respectively.[15] The fifth game has the lights work similarly, however, they are now mounted onto a control pad, and serve no purpose other than the ability to see the animatronics, due to the different gameplay style. The flashlight in the second and fourth game works in the same fashion as its real life counterpart, in the sense that it has a limited battery life, albeit only in the second game, and must be toggled on and off.[31] The flash beacon was introduced in Sister Location, and is used to quickly gather bearings in the pitch black room seen on the third and fifth nights.[23]
Jumpscares[edit]
Jumpscares are present in all of the series' main games, and occur when any animatronic manages to reach and attack the player-character.[32] Most jumpscares involve an animatronic character suddenly appearing in the player's view, followed by a loud, bellowing sound. Some jumpscares, including those of Golden Freddy, Nightmare, and Nightmarionne, consist of a single screen supplemented with shrill, distorted audio. These jumpscares usually crash or restart the game. The player can utilise the tools listed above to prevent attacks, thus preventing any jumpscares from occurring.[19]
Minigames[edit]
An example of a minigame from the series, usually portraying significant lore points as the player progresses.
In all games from the second onwards, the player will gain access to a series of (predominantly 8-bit) minigames, sometimes randomly after death, as in the second game, and sometimes once the player has completed a specific task.[33] These minigames usually tell a story or event relevant to the game's lore, although mostly presented in a cryptic way.[34] For example, minigames in Five Nights at Freddy's 2 are speculated to portray the homicidal incidents previously mentioned in the games.[17]Minigames in Five Nights at Freddy's 4 tell the story of a character, possibly the player character, who dies in a tragic accident.[34]
Phone calls[edit]
In all main games except for the fourth and fifth, the player receives a telephone voice message from a previous worker, or owner of the location. These "phone calls" act as a tutorial to the player, and usually go through several gameplay mechanics, and outline the backstory of the players' location.[35] In the first and second game, the voice heard in the messages remains the same, while in the third game, it holds a strong Californian accent. Sister Location uses something similar, an A.I. voice which acts as a tutor for the player, although it is not from a telephone. Phone calls from the first game can be heard in Five Nights at Freddy's 4, albeit only as an easter egg.[36]
Closing of location[edit]
In the first three main games, the location in which the player character is based in closes down shortly after the end of the game. In the first Five Nights at Freddy's, the location is said to close by the year's end, due to a "tragedy that took place there many years ago".[35] The location of Five Nights at Freddy's 2 closes down due to malfunctions of the animatronics.[35] Five Nights at Freddy's 3's location closed down after it was unexpectedly burnt down.[37] In Sister Location's case, the location in which the game's story is centered around, "Circus Baby's Pizza World", was closed down prior to the game, apparently due to gas leaks.[38]
Characters[edit]
Humans[edit]
The main characters in the Five Nights at Freddy's series are generally security guards working at a Freddy Fazbear's Pizza or related location. None of them have distinct personalities and most of the gameplay takes place from their point of view. In Five Nights at Freddy's, the guard's name is Mike Schmidt. In Five Nights at Freddy's 2, the guard is named Jeremy Fitzgerald for all of the main five nights and the bonus sixth night, though he is replaced in the custom seventh night by another guard, Fritz Smith. The security guard for Fazbear's Fright: The Horror Attraction in Five Nights at Freddy's 3, is unknown. The main character of Five Nights at Freddy's 4 is an unnamed boy, who experiences nightmares of the animatronics. The player in Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location is a technician who has their name jokingly autocorrected to Eggs Benedict. The technician's name is assumed, although not confirmed to be, Mike.
Apart from Mike Schmidt, Jeremy Fitzgerald, Fritz Smith, and Michael (a character whose voice is heard in Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location), none of the other human characters in the series have any real, or at least confirmed, names. In the first three games, a man simply identified as "Phone Guy" leaves a recording over the phone at the beginning of each night which serves as advice to the player on how to deal with the animatronics. Phone Guy is present through all five nights of Five Nights at Freddy's 2, four of the main nights in Five Nights at Freddy's, and four of the main nights in Five Nights at Freddy's 3 (as well as in Night 6 for the second and third games.) He is not present in the fourth and fifth games, though his first night recording from the original game is sometimes played backwards as ambiance in Five Nights at Freddy's 4.[39] His call at the start of Night 4 in Five Nights at Freddy's implies that he was killed by the animatronics. In the third game, he is heard over archival recordings discovered by the creators of Fazbear's Fright. Sister Location instead features a human A.I. named "HandUnit", who like Phone Guy, acts as a tutor to the player. The first two nights of the third game also feature "Phone Dude", one of the creators of Fazbear's Fright.
The main antagonist of the series is "Purple Guy", who is presumably a former Fazbear Entertainment employee who murdered at least five children, whose spirits now inhabit the animatronics. In mini-games from the second game, he murders a child, whose spirit is largely believed to inhabit the Puppet. In the third game, it is revealed that he returned to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza after it closed down to dismantle the animatronics. This released the spirits of the children he murdered, scaring him into hiding inside a spring lock suit, where he was crushed to death by the suit's springlock mechanisms. It is believed that his body resides in Five Nights at Freddy's 3's main antagonist, Springtrap.[40] In the novel adaptation of the series, Purple Guy receives a possible identity, with the name William Afton.[41] It was also revealed that he was the co-owner of Fazbear Entertainment. Scott Cawthon has stated that although "the book is canon, just as the games are[, t]hat doesn't mean that they are intended to fit together like two puzzle pieces".[42] Most of the gaming community accepts it as Purple Guy's true name and work. A certain "Mr. Afton", mentioned in Sister Location's prologue, is thought to be Purple Guy, creating the possibility of him being the creator of the animatronics seen in game. A character named Michael was introduced in Sister Location, whose is assumed to be the son of Purple Guy. The character was introduced in a cutscene, in which he seems to be speaking to his father.[43]
Animatronics[edit]
There are four main animatronics in the first game: Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie the Bunny (referred to as "Bonnie the Rabbit" in copyright catalogs), Chica the Chicken, and Foxy the Pirate Fox. A fifth animatronic, Golden Freddy, occasionally appears, albeit in the form of a hallucination.[25] His jumpscare is capable of crashing the game. The animatronics return in various forms throughout the following games, except in the fifth installment, in which Chica is completely absent.
Despite being a prequel, the second game introduces upgraded versions of the original characters called Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica, and Mangle, along with old, ripped, and worn out versions of the original animatronics. Mangle is meant to be a "toy" version of Foxy, but was ripped apart so much by children that the staff got tired of reassembling it and left it as a "take apart, put back together" attraction, according to Phone Guy. He also mentions that the employees nicknamed it "the Mangle". Two new characters are also introduced: BB (known as Balloon Boy), who has no jumpscare and can only disable the players' lights, and The Puppet (also known as The Marionette), who must be quelled by constantly winding up a music box.
A jump scare from the first game. Most jumpscares involve an animatronic suddenly popping up in front of the protagonist's view.
The only true animatronic in the third game is Springtrap, who looks like a decayed golden version of Bonnie.[44] Additionally, Freddy, Chica, Foxy, Balloon Boy, Mangle, and The Puppet return as hallucinations (or "phantoms"),[45] and although their jumpscares don't kill the player, they can disable certain features that are essential for the player to complete the night easily.
In the fourth game, nightmare versions of the original four animatronics- Nightmare Bonnie, Nightmare Chica, Nightmare Foxy, and Nightmare Freddy – appear, haunting a small boy. A nightmare version of Golden Freddy is also featured, identified as Nightmare Fredbear, who replaces all animatronics on the fifth night.[19] Two new animatronics also make their debut: Plushtrap, a finger trap toy version of Springtrap,[46] and Nightmare, a version of Nightmare Fredbear whose jumpscare causes the game to reset. The "Halloween Edition" of the game also features Nightmare Balloon Boy (who replaces Plushtrap), Nightmare Mangle (who replaces Nightmare Foxy), and Nightmarionne, a nightmare version of the Puppet, who replaces Nightmare. Nightmare Bonnie and Nightmare Chica also receive reskins in the Halloween Edition, giving them a resemblance to Jack-O'-Lanterns.[47]
In the fifth game, Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, “Funtime” versions of Freddy and Foxy appear as well as multiple new characters: Circus Baby, a female humanoid and the main animatronic, Ballora, who appears to be a dancing ballerina animatronic, BonBon, a miniature rabbit animatronic, Electrobab, a small animatronic capable of draining power in the game’s “custom night”, a bear-like endoskeleton named Yenndo, Lolbit (an alternately coloured Funtime Foxy), and Ennard, who is a hive-mind animatronic and is a hybrid of the endoskeletons of other animatronics from the game. Three of these animatronics are accompanied with smaller companion animatronics: Funtime Freddy, who is accompanied by "Bon-Bon", a hand-puppet version of Bonnie; Ballora, who is accompanied by Minireenas (small, ballet-dancer like animatronics); and Baby, who is accompanied by multiple baby-shaped animatronics called Bidybabs.
In the spin-off game, FNaF World, there are up to 30 characters the player can unlock, consisting of characters from the first four games, as well as Coffee from The Desolate Hope, Chipper from Chipper and Sons Lumber Co, Funtime Foxy from Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, and Animdude, the character in Scott Cawthon's logo. Lolbit (a character from Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location's custom night) is also featured in its debut appearance, but is only an NPC, and thus is not playable.[48] Enemies in FNaF World either resemble original characters in some way, for example "Ballboy" to Balloon Boy, and "White Rabbit" to Toy Bonnie, or are designed and named to match their home location, for example "Chop 'N Roll" in the wood predominated forest, and "Chillax" in the snowy fields.[49][50]