Reasons The First FNAF Game Is A Horror Masterclass

The Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise has grown by leaps and bounds since the release of the first game in 2014. What began as a humble indie game with subtle, spine-chilling horror has expanded into a sprawling fictional universe of video games, books, and movies. Fans can spend hours watching lore videos on YouTube and still not get a complete picture of the story and timeline. People are still trying to solve the mysteries of murdered children, trapped souls, and the animatronics’ creation, all while enjoying the scares that these horror games are known for.

With how complicated this franchise has become, it’s worth taking a step back to reexamine Scott Cawthon’s original game. It may have been a simpler time, but the storytelling and game design of the original FNAF is a textbook example of indie horror done well. Its short runtime and simple mechanics can’t compare to the likes of Security Breach or Secret of the Mimic, but the game is tense, creepy, and deeply unsettling. The franchise never would have become what it is today if not for the incredibly effective horror of the first game.

The Player Is Stuck In One Place

Immobility Makes Players Feel Trapped

Isolation is a classic horror trope, and for good reason. Being truly alone is scary. In Five Nights At Freddy’s, the player is trapped in an office, pursued by haunted animatronics. They cannot run, hide, summon help, or fight back. All they can do is try and keep Freddy and friends from getting into the office. The only tool they have is to watch the animatronics and learn their behavior, reacting accordingly to save themselves.

This is also what makes the jumpscares in this game so effective. Jumpscares have often been criticized as a horror trope, sometimes used as a cheap way of eliciting a strong reaction without any real substance. However, it’s possible to use them skillfully. In FNAF, the real terror is the immobility and isolation. That’s what puts players into a fight-or-flight state, and when one of those creepy characters does appear onscreen, it’s the straw that can break the camel’s back.

The Subtext Of Phone Guy’s Messages

He Hints That There’s More Going On

The “Phone Guy,” as named by fans, is an icon of the franchise. In the original FNAF, the player receives a pre-recorded message on the office phone at the beginning of each night from the person who worked in their position before them. Phone Guy seems affable enough, but his messages are unsettling, to say the least. It’s through him that players learn the main mechanics of the game: watch the cameras, close the doors when necessary, and don’t let the power go out, or they’ll be fatally stuffed into an animatronic costume.

However, the most sinister parts of Phone Guy’s messages aren’t really the hazards he describes. It’s the way he tries to downplay and brush over the danger. On the first night, he reads a message from the company essentially stating that if an employee suffers death or bodily harm, authorities will be notified within three months, once all the evidence has been covered up. This tells players that not only is this a dangerous job, but it’s run by wildly unethical employers.

Phone Guy’s graphic description of the player’s potential demise suggests that he (or someone at the company) has seen this happen before. Meanwhile, the company’s specific policies on what to do in the case of “death or dismemberment” suggest precedent for such events. This lets players know the danger they’re in without showing them directly, letting them picture the gory details for themselves while the animatronics stalk them. Some things are scariest when left to the imagination.

Atmosphere & Sound Design

The Game Puts Players On Edge

Atmosphere is an essential part of any horror game, and Five Nights At Freddy’s nails it. Obviously, the setting is dark and creepy, reinforcing the sense of isolation. The animatronics themselves are unsettling to look at, creating an uncanny valley effect with their blank, bulging eyes. But beyond that, the camera setup feels janky and outdated, even in 2014. The static on the screen makes it feel like the images are unreliable, or like players could be missing something. And when Freddy stares directly at the player through the camera, it reinforces the feeling that this is no ordinary animatronic.

As players flick through the cameras and check their door lights, they’ll hear metallic scraping and shuffling, as if someone is digging through trash or dragging furniture. Yet, none of the animatronics move when caught on camera (save Foxy running for the office). Players might hear Foxy singing his “dum-diddle-um” shanty, a distorted laugh, or echoes of Freddy’s song. All of this adds to the feeling that something sinister is lurking in the building, and the uncertainty about where the sounds are coming from makes it worse. The game’s audiovisual design creates the expectation of danger, and the jumpscares deliver it.

The Subtlety Of The Underlying Story

Players Have To Dig For Hints About The Missing Children Incident

Almost every gamer knows the basic plot by now. The original FNAF features an underlying story about a murderer who, at some point in the past, wore a mascot suit to lure five children away from the pizzeria, kill them, and hide their bodies inside the animatronics. This caused their souls to possess the characters, leading to the murderous nature they display in the game. But for someone playing the game for the first time, with no prior knowledge, that information is not immediately obvious. To learn what happened at this haunted pizzeria, players must examine the changing newspaper articles pinned to the walls, describing what is now known as the Missing Children Incident.

Perhaps the most chilling detail in these events is that the victims’ bodies were never found. The details in the articles make it clear to the player exactly what happened to them, but either the animatronics were never investigated, or the company played a role in covering things up. This latter idea is indirectly reinforced by how little the story comes into the actual gameplay. If players simply blaze through, they’ll only get the vaguest idea of what happened. The horror here isn’t just about a depraved killer, but a company obstructing justice to try and save their image.

Audiovisual Disturbances

Players Feel Like They Can’t Trust Their Eyes

Another famous aspect of the original FNAF is the hallucinations that can occur throughout the night. Players can see flickering images when they take down the camera, and hear distorted audio whose source is unclear. They might see Freddy, or even Golden Freddy, accompanied by the words “it’s me.” A hallucination of the mysterious Golden Freddy might even appear in the office, slumped and lifeless, crashing the game when he jumpscares the player. There are more subtle examples too, such as the disturbing childlike drawings that appear on the walls, presumably depicting the victims’ fates.

Are these hallucinations, or supernatural manifestations? Are the ghosts trying to torment the player, or are they calling out for help? In a game where players have to be on high alert, sudden visual changes or unexpected audio cues are startling in and of themselves. FNAF uses this not only to get players’ attention, but to reinforce the underlying narrative and prompt players to speculate about what’s going on in this haunted place.

Lack Of Resolution

There’s No Real Ending To The Story

The first Five Nights at Freddy’s game is elegant in its simplicity, and that simplicity actually adds to the game’s horror. The player isn’t doing any investigating or trying to solve the Missing Children Incident; they’re just trying to survive. Ultimately, the player character is a bystander, an extra in the greater narrative. There’s no closure to find when it comes to Phone Guy’s grisly fate, caught on audio on Night Four’s recording. The player simply finishes their five nights and receives their paycheck — or, if they finish the bonus nights, they are fired.

The goal in most horror games is to uncover the nature of the threat and get rid of it. FNAF doesn’t give the player that chance. There’s no way to eliminate the danger; the game simply ends once players have evaded it for long enough. Without that resolution, the game stays with players long after they walk away from the screen, with imagery of lifeless Golden Freddy or sprinting Foxy seared into their minds.

This not only adds to the horror factor — it’s also a huge part of why digging into the game’s hidden layers is so appealing. Unraveling the story has always been a part of the franchise’s appeal. After eleven mainline games, that lore has gotten much more dense, but trying to make sense of the games’ horror has been a part of the franchise since its first installment.

Five Nights at Freddy’s

Released

August 8, 2014

ESRB

m

Developer(s)

Scott Cawthon

Publisher(s)

Scott Cawthon, Clickteam LLC USA

Engine

multimedia fusion