Five Nights at Freddy’s is one of the most popular horror games to date. This series of games follows an unfortunate soul who has to survive attacks by frenzied animatronics until 6 a.m. Typically, the player is a night guard who remains immobile in a room, halting a vicious mauling by these fluffy multicolored robots by spying on their movements through the camera, stopping them in their tracks with an animatronic mask, various doors, and sometimes, sounds of children, if you can believe it and your flashlight. On the surface, Five Nights seems like any other jump-scare game, what with little apparent story, a number of creepy creatures stalking you and your limited ability to fight back. At first glance, or even first play-through, the Five-Nights series seems pretty cut-and-dry. For those who have the temptation to nitpick and dig a little deeper, however, they will be rewarded with a deep, if vague story involving murder, ghosts, possession, vengeance, and, of course, animatronics.

The basic story of the first game is that 5 children were murdered in the Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria and their bodies were stuffed into the 5 animatronic suits, Freddy, Foxy, Chica, Bonnie, and Golden Freddy where their souls possessed the robotic shells during the night. Shortly after this event, the customers complained of foul odors radiating from the animatronics and various bodily fluids oozing from their mouths and joints. This series of events results in the restaurant being shut down at the end of your character’s work week (or week of survival). Then, in a prequel inside bigger Fazbear’s Pizzaria with malfunctioning “Toy” versions of the original animatronics, a sequel in a horror attraction, Fazbear’s Fright, with one old, rotted, but just as crazy animatronic and his hallucination brethren, and, as is the logical progression of things, a hospital room in child’s nightmare versions of these already dangerous animatronics.

This series has one of the most dedicated fanbases, who theorize about and defend the games viciously. Around Bob Jones High School, however, not many people appear to hold a strong opinion of the game. As Daniel Swinney stated, “The game could definitely be better.” Although he does not dislike the game, there is obvious room for improvement.

So, are you willing to take your time and unlock the hidden lore of a haunted pizzeria? Are you willing to sit in a room and battle ghost-possessed robots and duel them in a battle of wits? Do you have the fortitude to watch and wait as various animatronics stalk you for many hours? Can you last 5 Nights at Freddy’s?