The Five Night’s at Freddy’s franchise, also known as FNaF for short, is one of the most popular indie games, with its games available on both computer and mobile. The first and second games start off with the player being a night guard for a pizzeria, oblivious to the danger and dark secrets of the seemingly harmless animatronics, until they seek out to kill him. The third game introduces the spirit of a vengeful serial killer who was killed when the spring-lock rabbit exoskeleton he wore unwinded, causing the locks to tear into his body. The fourth game tells the story of the crying child who seems to be connected to the rage of the animatronics. The fifth game is, surprisingly, from the perspective of a mechanic working late at night on the animatronics he made, and reveals the events that turned him into the serial killer from the previous games.

Over time, the games built on to the storyline, describing the past and revealing what turned the somewhat shady mechanic into the serial killer who triggered the events of the franchise. However, the story is concluded with the final game, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator. The game was released on December 4; a few months before, Cawthon stated that he stopped working on FNaF 6, which leads many people to believe that Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator is, in fact, FNaF 6. The game is available on Steam.

The game has been postponed by Cawthon a few times. When explaining his decision, Cawthon said, “Yes, I need a break… No, it’s not a troll. (Would I ever troll you guys?)”

There are many great things about the game. Let’s start off with the biggest one- it’s free. Yes, you read it right. The latest game in the indie horror franchise is free. I’m pretty surprised, since the only other FNaF game that is free is FNaF: World, which was pretty much a complete flop, even by the FNaF fanbase’s standards. Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator starts off as “cutesy,” since all you have to do is create your own pizzeria and make sure everyone is happy. Cawthon stated that it is a tycoon game, which is understandable as the player alone is in charge of keeping the place running. He said he wanted to make “something more lighthearted just as a way of relaxing,” but he is known for pranking his fans, so it’s pretty clear that the game isn’t what he claims it is.

It wouldn’t be a FNaF game without the scares. Just like every game in the franchise before it, the main priority of the player is to survive the night. However, instead of simply stopping the animatronics from entering the room the player is in, the player also has to prepare for the next day by restocking food, cleaning the ovens, ordering new supplies, etc. The night ends only when all tasks are completed. However, there are some flaws. The jumpscares aren’t the best, and are a bit too similar to previous games. Additionally, the animatronics only slide into the player’s view while making a metallic screech, which is far less terrifying than the first game, where the animatronics would pop out and grab onto the player while screaming wildly.

If that wasn’t enough, the player has to choose between two choices; whenever an old animatronic is found, the player has to choose whether to get rid of it or salvage it. If the player chooses to salvage it, then they must run a series of tests on the animatronic, which will move whenever the player looks away until it finally attacks the player, resulting in losing the salvage and the animatronic being loose in the pizzeria. However, if the salvage is successful, then the player makes more money to improve the pizzeria. However, the animatronic will attempt to hunt down the player at night no matter if the salvage was successful or not.

I’m honestly surprised that Cawthon did this, since it is the second FNaF game to have two endings. If the player chooses to salvage all the animatronics, then they will receive the true ending when they pass. If all animatronics are thrown away, then there is a false ending, in which the pizzeria is shut down and the player is oh-so-subtly insulted for doing the minimum work needed. It’s pretty funny when I think about it. This is the first game I’ve ever known about that insults you for not getting the true ending.

Even though I’m not a fan of scary things and I just can’t handle horror, this is a game I might try. There are already many gameplay videos on YouTube, and gamers are giving good reviews.

Admittedly, I’m a gamer, and I’ve only played two horror games in my life- I’ve already completed one with both endings and I only have one achievement to unlock, and I gave up on and deleted the other game not even ten minutes in since my “NOPE” instinct went off after the first scare. I’m not proud to admit that I don’t do well with scary things, but Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator is one horror game I’m willing to try.

compiled by Rich Wang