Is Poppy Playtime The New Five Nights At Freddy’s?

Survival horror game Poppy Playtime has hooked many fans with a creepy environment and gameplay highly reminiscent of Five Nights At Freddy’s. Poppy Playtime quickly gained popularity when it released chapter 1 of the story in October. With its resemblance to FNAF in toy-like things coming to life, and with FNAF taking a different course with a new developer and how its version of FNAF: Security Breach compares to previous games, Poppy Playtime seems like it could well be the new Five Nights at Freddy’s. Poppy Playtime seems to be on the same path as Five Nights at Freddy’s with vent chases, videotaped audio, and jump scares.

Poppy Playtime is the first game release from developer MOB Games. A teaser trailer dropped for chapter two on October 30, 2021, and the indie developer plans on releasing more of the game in early 2022.  The last episode of Poppy Playtime left players hanging after opening Poppy’s case.

In an abandoned toy factory, the player takes on the role of a former employee of Playtime Co. As the player explores the vacant factory to discover what happened to Poppy Playtime’s employees, the toy Huggy Wuggy quickly comes to life. With a terrifying visage as it stands over nine feet tall, Huggy Wuggy begins to stalk the player through the game.

Poppy Playtime’s VHS Tapes Resembles FNAF Phone Calls

Since the beginning of the franchise, Five Nights at Freddy’s has utilized sarcastic humor throughout its games. The phone calls and mocking cartoon cutscenes are a hallmark of the FNAF humor. Poppy Playtime adds similar levity when an old VHS tape is found and the player is sarcastically told that they are trespassing. Similar gameplay methods to FNAF, such as the VHS tapes, are also used in Poppy Playtime. The player can find a variety of these tapes scattered throughout the factory, allowing them to discover clues as to what may have happened before their arrival. If a player can find every VHS tape in Poppy Playtime, things start to become more clear.

Poppy Playtime’s Huggy Wuggy Chases The Player Through Vents

Another thing that feels reused from FNAF is vent chasing. In Poppy Playtime, Huggy Wuggy chases the player through the vents in the facility, creating a spooky chase in the dark. FNAF builds a lot of its gameplay on animatronics crawling through vents to get to the player, and while the idea is made different through the player’s increased movement and agency in Poppy Playtime, the idea remains thematically very similar.

In the final scene of chapter 1 in Poppy Playtime, once the case is open, Poppy uses a voice that sounds like that of the animatronics in Five Nights at Freddy’s. Hearing Poppy’s voice in the dark will certainly call back to the creepy FNAF feeling for many fans, and the suspense created around what Poppy will do in the next chapter is what’s likely to keep players coming back.

What really sets Poppy Playtime apart from the FNAF experience is its puzzle-solving mechanics. The Poppy Playtime GrabPack hands are extendable arms used throughout the game to distribute electricity, collect items, and move things through the factory. The GrabPack is a different and fun addition to the game, and one that does a great deal to set the game apart from its clear inspirations.

Despite the lack of ongoing information on Poppy Playtime, its first chapter has generally received positive reviews. Many gameplay mechanics are reminiscent of FNAF, but Poppy Playtime still has its own unique twist, one that could potentially prove to resonate with players in a different way than FNAF’s latest incarnation, and ultimately, it will be up to the players to determine if Poppy Playtime truly is the new Five Nights at Freddy’s. 

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