I generally don't pay that much attention to smartphone games since they tend to be pretty disposable, but when I started noticing kids wearing Five Nights at Freddy's t-shirts (not to mention the huge amount of other merchandise, including toys, figurines, board games, and even books!) I figured it was probably time to find out what all the fuss was about. I'd also seen Star Fox Guard compared to it, which was another motivation for checking it out. I picked up the Android version, although it's also available on iOS and PC, including Steam.
I wasn't expecting much, so I was pleasantly surprised that the game is actually well designed. You're tasked with keeping watch over security cameras and not get attacked by a group of possessed and bloodthirsty animal mascots, and the gameplay is simplistic but addictive, and the setup is fun. The story, such as it is, is entertaining, and the graphics and sound effects are also good (although the jump scare when you lose is rather too loud, especially since you'll be seeing it a lot). The game goes by at a decent pace for the first four nights, but even though I felt like I had more or less mastered the game mechanics, the fifth night seemed too luck-based and I ended up having to abandon it. I enjoyed the rest of my time with the game, though, and I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the game, so it didn't drop in my esteem too much overall. It seems like the follow-ups add more variations to the game mechanics at the expense of simplicity. I'm not too interested in checking them out, but I have a free copy of the second game so I'll probably play through that one at least... eventually!
Two nights of fun with these two Five Nights at Freddy's links:
- Entry on Wikipedia
- According to an analysis by YouTube the game is one of the most popular video games around the globe