The Five Nights at Freddy’s series is infamous for two primary reasons. First, they are some of the most terrifying games ever made. Second, they tell one of the most compelling stories in video game history, and they do it without most players even knowing it.
The story at the heart of Five Nights at Freddy’s is a macabre tale of betrayal, murder, and vengeance that tells itself in an indirect way that rewards observant players. One of the easiest ways to unravel the mysteries of Five Nights at Freddy’s narrative is to play the games in the order they fall on the series’ official timeline. Here’s how to play Five Nights at Freddy’s in timeline order for those wondering.
How to Play the FNAF Series in Timeline Order
The Five Nights at Freddy’s series’ official timeline can be hard to read because none of the games tell you when they are set. However, each game does feature at least one hint regarding its position on the timeline, which means it is possible to deduce which order to play the games in if you want to watch Fredbear’s Family Dinner become a front for one of the most prolific child-killers in media history in real-time.
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While there is still some debate about the finer details, Five Nights at Freddy’s massive and inquisitive fandom has managed to craft what is (almost) universally agreed to be an official timeline, one that uses the few concrete facts presented within the series lore to place the games in chronological order.
Here’s how to play the Five Nights at Freddy’s games in the order they fall on the series’ timeline.
- Five Nights at Freddy’s 4
- Five Nights at Freddy’s 2
- Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location
- Five Nights at Freddy’s
- Five Nights at Freddy’s 3
- Five Nights at Freddy’s Pizzeria Simulator
- Five Nights at Freddy’s Help Wanted
- Five Nights at Freddy’s Special Delivery
- Five Nights at Freddy’s Security Breach
- Five Nights at Freddy’s Security Breach: Ruin
What Are The Five Nights At Freddy’s Games About?
If the details provided in-game are accurate, the story of Five Nights at Freddy’s begins sometime in the 1980s. Seeking to enter the restaurant business together, longtime friends William Afton and Henry Emily worked to create Fredbear’s Family Diner, utilizing state-of-the-art technology to build animatronic mascots that could move and act independently. However, unbeknownst to Henry, William was a psychopath who began murdering children and stuffing their bodies into the animatronics to cover his tracks.
William’s killing spree would go unchallenged for decades, even after two of William’s children, Elizabeth and his youngest son, became victims of their father’s morbid obsession. The spirits of Afton’s victims would go on to haunt the animatronics their bodies were stuffed in, pursuing and killing nighttime security guards, whom they mistook for William. Eventually, the spirit of William’s victims would have their revenge, but William survived his gruesome fate and became the human/animatronic hybrid Springtrap.
After Five Nights at Freddy’s Pizzeria Simulator, the series would undergo a time skip, beginning a new storyline that sees Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria grow into a franchise. Unfortunately, William’s legacy continues to cling to the restaurant, with an artificial intelligence molded after Afton’s personality rising to continue its predecessor’s murderous crusade.
