Five Nights at Freddy's (FNAF)

From midnight to 6 a.m., survival is the only thing on the menu.

When Five Nights at Freddy’s (or FNaF 1, for the loreheads) crept onto screens on September 2, nobody expected a janky pizza restaurant full of animatronic animals would redefine horror games forever. But Scott Cawthon’s infamous indie darling did exactly that, and jump scared its way into one of the best horror game series ever made.

In this now-iconic survival horror game, you’re cast as Mike Schmidt, a night security guard babysitting malfunctioning animatronics in the Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza restaurant. The catch? Your only tools are security cameras, two doors, and a battery budget tighter than Chica’s death grip. Freddy and his pals don’t walk... they wait. Lurking. Learning. Timing their jumps.

Every gameplay mechanic, from resource management to Custom Night tweaks, feeds into a creeping dread that grows each night. From Five Nights at Freddy’s 1 through Sister Location and beyond, the FNaF series has mutated into film adaptations, fan games, and wild spinoffs like Freddy in Space 2.

Whether you're diving into the first game or dodging Golden Freddy in the fourth game, FNaF is a survival horror masterpiece that still makes turning on the lights feel like a tactical decision.