Scott Cawthon probably didn't expect a game about a creepy pizza place to become a decade-long obsession for millions of people. Honestly, back in 2014, the first game felt like a self-contained nightmare. You sit in an office. You close doors. You try not to get stuffed into a suit. Simple, right? But then the sequels happened. And the prequels. And the "mid-quels." Suddenly, figuring out five nights at freddy's in order became less about playing a game and more about digital archaeology.
Most people start at the beginning. They play FNaF 1 through Security Breach and think they’ve seen the story. They haven't. Playing by release date is great for seeing how the mechanics evolved from 2D stills to full 3D environments, but the narrative? That's a different beast entirely. It’s a jigsaw puzzle where the pieces are scattered across 80s-themed arcades, underground bunkers, and even a VR experience that might actually be canon.
If you're trying to make sense of the timeline, you have to look at the details that matter—like why the animatronics look "high-tech" in one game but like clunky garbage in another. It's weird. It's messy. Let's get into it.
Chronological Chaos: The Real Timeline
To get five nights at freddy's in order chronologically, you have to ignore the numbers on the boxes. If you go by the actual events, Five Nights at Freddy's 4 is the real starting point. This isn't even a debate among the hardcore theorists like MatPat or the folks on the FNaF subreddit anymore. We see the "Bite of '83." It sets the stage for everything. You aren't a night guard here; you're a kid in a bedroom dealing with "Nightmare" versions of the classic crew. It feels personal and raw.
Next up is Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location. This one is tricky. Some fans argue it happens later, but the prevailing theory puts it early because it establishes William Afton’s robotics company, Afton Robotics. We see the Funtime animatronics. They aren't just creepy; they are designed for "kidnapping." It’s dark. It explains the origins of Michael Afton, who basically becomes the protagonist of the entire series.
Then we hit the 1987 era. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is actually a prequel to the original game. You can tell by the paycheck at the end. It introduces the "Toy" animatronics with their facial recognition software. Spoiler: the software didn't work. This is followed by the original Five Nights at Freddy's (set around 1993), where the budget is lower, the building is rotting, and the stakes feel oddly intimate.
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The Long Gap and the Horror Revival
After the original game, there is a massive jump in time. We’re talking decades. Five Nights at Freddy's 3 takes place thirty years after the first game closes its doors. It’s set in a horror attraction called Fazbear's Fright. This is where Springtrap—the remains of William Afton—finally comes back to haunt us. It was supposed to be the end. It wasn't.
Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator (FNaF 6) follows this. On the surface, it’s a goofy management sim. In reality, it’s a trap designed by Henry Emily to burn the entire franchise to the ground. Literally. He tries to end the "remnant" cycle.
But Fazbear Entertainment is like a cockroach. It just won't die.
The Modern Era: Help Wanted and Security Breach
This is where the timeline gets "meta." Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted is a VR game within the world of the games. The company hired an indie dev to make games about the rumors to "discredit" them. It’s a brilliant way to acknowledge the earlier games while moving the plot forward. This leads directly into Security Breach and its DLC, Ruin. We are now in the era of the Mega Pizzaplex. It’s a massive, neon-soaked mall. The animatronics—Glamrock Freddy, Chica, Monty, and Roxy—are more sentient than ever.
Why Release Order is Better for Beginners
While the chronological path is fun for lore hunters, playing five nights at freddy's in order of release is how most people should experience it. There’s a specific "aha!" moment when you see a character in FNaF 4 and realize they were referenced in a phone call three games ago. Scott Cawthon is a master of the "retcon"—he takes small, throwaway details and turns them into major plot points later.
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If you play chronologically, you lose the mystery. You know who the killer is before the games even mention him. That sucks. Part of the fun of FNaF is the feeling of being a detective. You’re looking at pixelated minigames and trying to figure out why a purple sprite is holding a hand-crank.
- Five Nights at Freddy's (2014)
- Five Nights at Freddy's 2 (2014) - The prequel twist is a classic.
- Five Nights at Freddy's 3 (2015)
- Five Nights at Freddy's 4 (2015) - The "Final Chapter" that wasn't.
- Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location (2016)
- Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator (2017)
- Ultimate Custom Night (2018) - Basically Afton's personal hell.
- Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted (2019)
- Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach (2021)
- FNaF: Help Wanted 2 (2023)
There are also spin-offs like FNaF World, which is a weird RPG. Most people ignore it for the lore, but it actually has some strange connections to the "clock" ending that theorists still argue about. Then there’s Into the Pit, the recent 2D adventure based on the books.
The Book Problem
Don't even get me started on the books. The Silver Eyes trilogy is an alternate universe. It’s not the same timeline as the games, but it shares characters. Then you have Fazbear Frights and Tales from the Pizzaplex. These are "anthology" stories. Some of them are definitely canon to the games. Others? Probably not. If you try to fit every single book story into the game timeline, your head will explode. Stick to the games first.
The most important thing to remember about five nights at freddy's in order is that the story is never "finished." Even now, with the Security Breach era, we are still finding secrets about the 1980s events.
How to Actually Tackle the Series Now
If you want to get into this today, don't try to solve the lore immediately. You'll get burnt out.
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Start with the first game. It’s cheap, it’s short, and it’s genuinely scary. The sound design is what gets you—the heavy breathing in the doorway, the pitter-patter of Foxy running down the hall. Once you finish the first three, you’ll know if you’re hooked. If you are, that’s when you start looking at the hidden screens and the rare death animations.
Actionable Steps for New Players
- Play FNaF 1-4 first. This is the "Original Saga." It gives you the foundation of the ghostly possessions and the missing children incident.
- Watch a lore summary. Seriously. Even the best players miss things. Look up videos by The Game Theorists or GiTSE. They’ve spent years deconstructing every frame of these games.
- Don't skip Pizzeria Simulator. People think it’s a joke game because of the art style. It’s not. It contains the most important narrative ending in the series.
- Keep a notepad. If you’re really serious about the five nights at freddy's in order experience, write down dates you see on posters or checks. It helps you piece together the timeline yourself.
- Check the source code. Scott used to hide messages in the HTML of his website. While that’s mostly over now, the community still looks for "hidden" files in the game folders.
The beauty of FNaF isn't just the jump scares. It’s the community. It’s the millions of people arguing over whether a robot is a "hallucination" or a "physical entity." Whether you play for the survival horror or the deep lore, there is no wrong way to experience it—as long as you're prepared to be a little bit confused.
Next Steps for Your FNaF Journey:
Start by downloading the original Five Nights at Freddy's on Steam or console. Limit yourself to playing at night with headphones for the intended experience. Once you hit a "Game Over," look at the newspaper clippings on the walls—they are the first clues to the massive world you're about to enter. After completing the first game, compare your experience with the FNaF 2 mechanics to see how the difficulty spikes when the "doors" are taken away from you. This mechanical shift is the first major lesson in how the series evolves.