Five Nights at Freddy’s

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, Windows (Steam Deck OK), macOS, Android, Meta Quest, Google Stadia
Current goal: Make it through night two
Buy it from: Amazon | GameStop

I’d like to believe that I always thought Five Nights at Freddy’s was stupid, even when I was a 15-year-old obsessed with Markiplier, but I was a 15-year-old obsessed with Markiplier, so probably not. In revisiting the lo-fi survival horror game after watching the new, boring, but financially successful movie adaptation, I was surprised to find that I don’t even think FNaF is stupid now.

It’s the slack-jawed embodiment of “simple, but effective.” All you need to do is survive a series of five increasingly dangerous nights, checking a network of security cameras, flicking on the lights in the hallways, and making sure your power never runs out. If it does, you’re more susceptible to the game’s homicidal Chuck E. Cheese animatronics. And, if you’re like me, you’ll scream so loud it hurts your throat.

Like FNaF’s simple gameplay, I have a simple goal in playing it this weekend; I’d like to safely make it through night two. I know there’s an easy way around it, but I’m trying to avoid jogging my memory by looking at guides—I want to savor the pure horror. — Ashley Bardhan