Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic (2025) Official Steel Wool Studios Teaser
Ten Games in Ten Years - Which ‘Freddy’s’ Game Takes the Cake?
On August 8th, 2014, Scott Cawthon released Five Nights at Freddy’s. Unbeknownst to all gamers, this simple point-and-click survival horror would change the genre for the next decade. It created an entire new subgenre of horror called mascot horror, where players must defend themselves against cuddly and friendly animals turned killing machines. In its tenth year, Five Nights at Freddy’s, often shorthanded to FNaF, is still going strong, with ten mainline games, several spinoff games, nearly 30 books, one movie released and another on the way, plus merchandise as far as the eye can see.
New crossovers and games have been announced for its anniversary. But as of now, there are ten main series Five Nights at Freddy’s games. As with all series, not all of these games are created equal. Scott Cawthon is no longer making these games solo, and production value has changed over time — so which Five Nights at Freddy’s game is the best? Does the new beat out the old? Or do the older games withstand the test of time?
10. FNaF: Security Breach
In dead last is perhaps one of the most popular games in the franchise, FNaF: Security Breach. Security Breach follows a young boy named Gregory as he finds himself trapped inside the Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex, home of the Glamrock animatronics. To survive a single night, he befriends Glamrock Freddy and must contend with the other animatronics, who have become strangely violent. Not only do the Glamrocks roam the halls, but a strange patchwork rabbit named Vanny is on the loose. With multiple endings, Gregory can discover a multitude of secrets hidden in the Pizzaplex.
Security Breach’s release was continually pushed back as it was being developed. Due to fan outcry, it was released in December 2021 when it was set to be released in 2020. It had an extremely rough release, with console players being unable to make it past the first boss fight without the game freezing. Even with two patches, the game still glitches to this day and is one of the quickest FNaF speedruns, with the world record any% coming in at one minute and 53 seconds. A confusing story combined with the glitch-infested gameplay solidifies its spot at the bottom of this list.
9. Ultimate Custom Night
In every FNaF game, if players can defeat all five nights and the extra sixth night, a “custom night” mode will unlock. This allows players to customize their playing experience by setting the difficulty of the animatronics anywhere from one to 20. Ultimate Custom Night, as the title states, is the culmination of all of these custom nights. There are 50 animatronics that players can toggle on and off, once again with the max difficulty of 20. If all animatronics are active at 20 difficulty, six secret characters will also become active. Cutscenes unlock at certain point intervals, allowing players to uncover the reason Ultimate Custom Night exists.
Ultimate Custom Night has an extremely repetitive gameplay loop, which allows for players to learn the mechanics of the animatronics but also makes for gameplay that can grow incredibly monotonous. The last cutscene is unlocked at 9800 points, which requires players to beat a night with 49 out of the 50 animatronics at 20 difficulty. Not only is the gameplay tedious, but the skill ceiling is extremely high. Ultimate Custom Night makes for a fun challenge but can become infuriating very quickly.
8. FNaF: Help Wanted 2
FNaF: Help Wanted 2 provides a behind-the-scenes look into life around the Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex and other various Fazbear locations. Players experience life as staff around the Pizzaplex and work as a night guard at Circus Baby’s Pizza World. A mysterious arcade cabinet that was seen in FNaF: Security Breach makes a reappearance to show the player the true nature of this VR game. Solve puzzles, collect items, and uncover endings that hint at Fazbear Entertainment’s past and future.
FNaF: Help Wanted 2 is toned down from FNaF: Help Wanted, making it about as scary as FNaF: Security Breach. While the game offers a massive variety of levels and gameplay, it unfortunately falls on FNaF: Help Wanted 2 to try and clean up the mess FNaF: Security Breach left behind. Unlike its predecessor, this VR game cannot stand alone individually. Its endings provide more questions than answers, and the hidden puzzles for the secret ending stumped many players and led to frustration quickly.
7. FNaF 3
FNaF 3 occurs in the now not-so-distant future, in a horror attraction based on the old Freddy Fazbear’s locations. The location is full of memorabilia from the old locations, and as the recordings of the employer put it, they’ve “found one – a real one.” The player must keep the facility running properly while trying to keep a rotting animatronic zombie at bay. This is the first Five Nights at Freddy’s game that introduces a good and bad ending, but either way, this installation always comes to a heated conclusion.
FNaF 3 introduces the present-day iteration of the series’ main antagonist: Springtrap. He is the shell of the Fazbear killer, William Afton, whose body was trapped in a springlock suit for 30 years, one of the most grisly concepts in the game. However, comparatively, the gameplay is relatively simple. Of the seven animatronics, only one can kill the player. In opposition to Ultimate Custom Night, the gameplay loop is extremely easy to learn and becomes monotonous in its own way.
6. Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator
On December 17th, 2017, Scott Cawthon released an 8-bit pizza tycoon game, where players threw pizza at kids to feed them. It was nothing more — or so players thought. As they completed the game, it faded out and back in to a desk with a warped version of Circus Baby sitting across from the player. This icon reveal is Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator. It is still a pizza tycoon where you build your own Fazbear establishment, but each night, players must fend off the remnants of the franchise’s dark history. The game has multiple endings, all with a final sendoff to the original series.
Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator was a hit on release, surprising all players who downloaded the tycoon game. It introduced multiple new mechanics, but even to this day, the fanbase still has no clue how exactly those mechanics work. The jumpscares are still effective but are replaced with PNGs instead of animations. The introduction and endings are the strongest in the series, but everything else about the game pales in comparison.
5. FNaF: Help Wanted
FNaF: Help Wanted is the first game in the FNaF series that is playable in virtual reality. Originally released only for VR, it is now available on PC and mobile devices. Players take on the role of a beta tester, testing a virtual reality game made by Fazbear Entertainment — confusing given the circumstances. There are several levels available, where players can experience the FNaF 1 through FNaF 4 gameplay in VR, as well as levels reminiscent of FNaF: Sister Location and parts and service levels that get up close and personal with the original four animatronics. There are three endings (four if players have the Curse of Dreadbear DLC) to this game — and unlike other games with good and bad endings, all of them are bad.
FNaF: Help Wanted provides a new way of experiencing the original Five Nights at Freddy’s games while also providing its own story and narrative. It re-introduces William Afton, replicated into dangerous code and taking the form of a rabbit called Malhare or Glitchtrap. The levels can be played in any order, and by using a switch in-game, players unlock hard versions of those levels. FNaF: Help Wanted is an extremely versatile game that appeals to fans who enjoy specific aspects of the series, or all of them.
4. FNaF 2
FNaF 2 has players once again filling the role of a night guard to survive five nights with animatronics roaming about. The toy animatronics are fitted with their own security systems and identify the player as a threat, and the withered animatronics rise later in the game to get their revenge. This was the first FNaF game with minigames that explain to the player the tragedy of the “Missing Children Incident” and how the animatronics became what they are.
FNaF 2 introduced the idea of a prequel-sequel to the franchise, as well as different categorizations of animatronics. It also removed doors from the first game, forcing players to be much more resourceful with the items at their disposal, like the Freddy Mask. This game also introduced a vital animatronic in The Puppet, who is responsible for bringing the animatronics to life. The sheer amount of lore from this game and introductions of new animatronics made the small franchise (at the time) grow even larger and excited fans for future installments.
3. FNaF: Sister Location
Instead of taking place in a pizza place or bedroom, FNaF: Sister Location has the son of the animatronics’ creator venture underground to a storage facility, where the animatronics who reside there are rented out for parties. It is the player’s job to keep up their maintenance and make sure they all stay in place before the night ends. The player must trust Circus Baby, who promises to guide them to safety — whether the player believes her or not determines their fate.
FNaF: Sister Location introduced the idea of shiny plastic animatronics as opposed to soft and fuzzy ones, making them creepier. Humanoid animatronics are more common in this game, utilizing the uncanny valley to its advantage. Unlike FNaF 3, the bad ending in FNaF: Sister Location is the canon ending. It also provides insight into the concept of the Purple Guy and reveals there are two of them. FNaF: Sister Location experimented heavily with what a Five Nights at Freddy’s game could be, and the result pleased fans far and wide.
2. FNaF 1
The game that started it all, FNaF 1 is the classic point-and-click horror game everybody knows and loves. The player is situated in an office with access to light and door controls on two sides and a camera, all with limited battery. The player must utilize their limited supplies to protect themselves from four animatronics. Occasionally, a secret fifth animatronic can appear as well. The posters displayed on certain cameras can change, allowing the player to learn about various disappearances that occurred at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.
FNaF 1 was a last-ditch effort by Scott Cawthon to make video games. His previous games, specifically Chipper and Sons Lumber Co., received heavy criticism on how the characters looked like unintentionally terrifying animatronics. Cawthon took this as inspiration for his next game and made something intentionally scary. It got to the point where creating the game gave him nightmares, specifically of the animatronic rabbit Bonnie. The game received positive reviews overall but took off due to YouTube Let’s Players picking up the game, such as Markiplier and CoryxKenshin. FNaF 1 kicked the series off for a reason and holds no small amount of nostalgia for millions of gamers.
1. FNaF 4
Taking the top spot on this list is FNaF 4. This game holds the first major departure for the series — instead of taking place in a security office, it takes place in a child’s bedroom. Players control a scared child, armed with nothing but a flashlight and the ability to close doors against decrepit, fanged monstrosities roaming the hallways. FNaF 4 utilizes sound in its gameplay, requiring players to crank their volume up to hear miniscule sound cues and to punish them with loud jumpscares if they miss anything. The game also delivers a massive amount of lore to its players, revealing the original Freddy’s location and the original disaster that kicked off every unfortunate instance at the Fazbear Franchise.
FNaF 4 is the epitome of a horror game. It keeps its players in suspense, which makes the jumpscares hit even harder, combined with the aforementioned use of sound. This game was also meant to be the final installation of the series, which made the game all that more important.
In conclusion, FNaF 4 is the top Five Nights at Freddy’s game due to how it uses audio to its advantage, terrifying animatronic designs, and how much information about the series it provides.
The FNaF series is continuing strong, with the recent releases of spinoffs like Five Laps at Freddy’s available on PC and FNaF: Into the Pit on PC, XBox, PlayStation, and Switch. The next mainline game, FNaF: Secret of the Mimic is set to release in 2025. Stay tuned to Steel Wool’s social media sites for more information.
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Author
Cailen Fienemann is a current student at Le Moyne College pursuing her BA in English and Communications with a film studies minor and a creative writing concentration. Though uncertain about her career end-goals, any job that allows her to write is a cherished one indeed.