There are few things scarier than the Chuck E. Cheese animatronics. However, it wasn't until 2014 that someone made it a horrifying reality. That is, the reality of the Five Nights at Freddy’s horror games.

Created by Scott Cawthon, the original indie game spawned an entire multimedia franchise, culminating in 2023’s live-action Five Nights at Freddy's film and its sequel, produced by Blumhouse. The games largely take place in pizzerias and family fun centers that are populated with haunted animatronics that stalk the player after-hours with murderously unrelenting fury.

One of the most appealing things about the franchise is its extensive lore, with fans piecing together the wider narrative from clues and other details left by Cawthon across each of the main games in the series. More than just crafting an expansive backstory for the games, this lore establishes that the games’ narrative doesn’t unfold chronologically in the titles’ release order, but rather in a timeline that jumps back and forth across its in-game history. Across all these mainline games, there is a visible throughline.

Here is how to play all the Five Nights at Freddy’s games in both release and chronological order.

The story of Five Nights at Freddy’s

The center of the FNAF mythos is William Afton, an entrepreneur and inventor who opens Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. After William’s youngest son Evan is accidentally killed by an animatronic in 1983, William’s psyche snaps. He embarks on a twisted endeavor as a serial killer. Wearing a purple Spring Bonnie costume as he hunts his prey, William gains a nickname as the Purple Man, stuffing his victims' bodies in animatronic suits.

For unknown purposes, William harvests a supernatural substance from the haunted animatronic suits where he stores his victims. But he vanishes in 1987 after a second incident occurs in one of his pizzerias. The animatronics remain haunted even after William’s departure, and when he resurfaces in the ‘90s, he is stuffed by his ghostly creations in a spare Springtrap costume. It's then that he becomes the most murderous animatronic of all. By the 2020s, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria has grown into a full entertainment center, with its creations similarly haunted.

How many FNAF games are there?

There are 12 mainline FNAF games and 6 FNAF spinoff games. 

FNAF games in chronological order

Here are all the mainline Five Nights at Freddy’s games in chronological order:

• Five Nights at Freddy's: Secret of the Mimic (2025)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 (2015)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (2014)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location (2016)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s (2014)
• Five Nights at Freddy's: Into the Pit (2024)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 (2015)
• Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator (2017)
• Ultimate Custom Night (2018)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted (2019)
• Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted 2 (2023)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach (2021)

The Five Nights at Freddy’s games start in 1979 and continue on through the 1980s. By Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator, the games are very much set within the digital age, including modern communications technology. Likewise, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted goes full-on virtual reality. Chronologically, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach is currently the latest game within the franchise’s timeline, with the ending confirming it takes place after the events of Help Wanted. With this revelation, Five Nights at Freddy’s covers approximately four decades of in-game history, with lore stretching back even further.

FNAF games in order of release

Here are the mainline Five Nights at Freddy’s games in release order: 

• Five Nights at Freddy’s (2014)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (2014)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 (2015)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 (2015)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location (2016)
• Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator (2017)
• Ultimate Custom Night (2018)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted (2019)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach (2021)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 (2023)
• Five Nights at Freddy's: Into the Pit (2024)
• Five Nights at Freddy's: Secret of the Mimic (2025)

There are currently twelve main installments in the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise. Most of these mainline games retain the same basic premise of a player character stuck overnight in a pizzeria and hunted by lethal animatronics, often relying on security camera systems to monitor the robotic enemies’ locations. The initial games in the series featured a story that progressed over the course of a week, with the difficulty escalating as players endure each night until the sweet safety provided by the dawn.

What are the 12 main FNAF games?

The mainline FNAF games are Five Nights at Freddy's games 1 through 4, Sister Location, Into the Pit, Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator, Ultimate Custom Night, Help Wanted, Help Wanted 2, Security Breach, and Secret of the Mimic. 

Who is the freakiest FNAF character?

The freakiest FNAF character is Springtrap, of course, because it contains the corpse of William Afton after he was crushed inside of the animatronic suit. 

Spinoff Five Nights at Freddy’s games

Here are the spinoff titles from the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise in release order:

• FNaF World (2016)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s: Special Delivery (2019)
• Freddy in Space 2 (2019)
• Security Breach: Fury’s Rage (2021)
• Freddy in Space 3: Chica in Space (2023)
• Five Laps at Freddy's (TBD)

Not every game in the franchise fits seamlessly within the generally accepted timeline, with the series boasting a number of free-to-play titles and mobile spinoffs that have been released over the years. Fans have tried to come up with their own ways to place the games within the established canon, either as hallucinations by previously introduced characters or other scenarios to integrate them. However, these titles are a significant departure from the gameplay in the main titles and often venture far outside of the horror genre.

The spinoffs began with FNaF World in 2016, a turn-based sprite-animated RPG in the style of Squaresoft RPGs for the Super Nintendo in the ‘90s. The Freddy in Space series is a side-scrolling shooter similar to Gradius, whereas Security Breach: Fury’s Rage is beat’em-up like Double Dragon or Streets of Rage. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Special Delivery is an augmented reality experience, bringing the signature jump scares to mobile devices. For the sake of brevity, we've only included the spinoff games that have been released, as some spinoff games have been canceled, and thus never released. 

Is Five Nights at Freddy's kid-friendly?

The answer to this question really depends on the player. The Five Nights at Freddy's games are rated 12+, an age rating that means kids younger than pre-teen age should proceed with caution. However, it didn't get that rating because of gore or sex, which are the reasons so many parents keep their younger ones away from horror content, so parents who are ok with giving their kids a fright might find it acceptable.

By the way, Popverse's Trent Cannon has a handy guide if you're wondering about what ages should be watching the Five Nights at Freddy's movie.

Is the Five Nights at Freddy's game series over?

Even though there's no official confirmation of an upcoming FNAF game, the answer to this is almost certainly a 'no.' Popverse wrote that creatives involved in the Freddy's film were discussing a Five Nights at Freddy's sequel even before the first movie came out. That, combined with the loads of new fans that the first movie inspired, opens the door wide to the possibility of far more games.

The Five Nights at Freddy's phenomenon is lasting longer than five nights. Get up to speed, with how to play all the FNAF games in order, why Five Nights at Freddy's is the ideal starter kit for a kid wanting to get into horror, details on the characters and lore, getting to know the FNAF movie animatronics, how the movie fits in the canon of the games, and how Chuck E. Cheese is responding.

Can't get enough? We have recommendations for five movies to watch after Five Nights at Freddy's.