The Big Picture

The Five Nights at Freddy’s series has a complex timeline with nine games and 23 books released since 2014, making it a challenge to follow the story in chronological order. The games and books can be consumed either in release order or chronological order, depending on personal preference and desire to theorize and speculate. The plot really starts with Five Nights at Freddy’s 4, which takes place in 1983 and depicts the earliest point in the timeline, and ends (so far) with Tales from the Pizzaplex #8, set in the megaplex from the latest game, Security Breach.

Finally, the release of the Five Nights at Freddy’s film (in theaters and on Peacock October 27) is upon us! Some fans are preparing to be terrified by murderous animatronics and excited to see one of their favorite franchises on the big screen. Then there are a lot of people unfamiliar with the series who are interested as well, especially since the movie stars Josh Hutcherson of The Hunger Games fame, and is coming out just in time for Halloween. With this huge milestone happening for the series, is there a better time to look at the franchise’s timeline?

With nine (official) games and 23 books released since 2014, Five Nights at Freddy’s has a timeline that is anything but straightforward. Some may be content to play the games and read the books in release order; this is totally understandable because it’s the path that allows you the most opportunity to theorize and speculate. Others, though, may want to play and read in chronological order to see the story unfold from start to finish. No matter which order you want, you’re in luck! Both will be covered here.

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Five Nights at Freddy’s Games and Books in Release Order
If you’d like to avoid spoilers by diving into chronological order, or if you would just prefer to consume the series in its release order, this is the best place to start.

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: The Silver Eyes (2015) Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location (2016) Five Nights at Freddy’s: The Twisted Ones (2017) Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator (2017) Five Nights at Freddy’s: The Fourth Closet (2018) Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted (2019) Five Nights at Freddy’s: Special Delivery (2019) Fazbear Frights #1: Into the Pit (2019) Fazbear Frights #2: Fetch (2020) Fazbear Frights #3: 1.35 AM (2020) Fazbear Frights #4: Step Closer (2020) Fazbear Frights #5: Bunny Call (2020) Fazbear Frights #6: Blackbird (2020) Fazbear Frights #7: The Cliffs (2021) Fazbear Frights #8: Gumdrop Angel (2021) Fazbear Frights #9: The Puppet Carver (2021) Fazbear Frights #10: Friendly Face (2021) Fazbear Frights #11: Prankster (2021) Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach (2021) Fazbear Frights #12: Felix the Shark (2022) Tales from the Pizzaplex #1: Lally’s Game (2023) Tales from the Pizzaplex #2: Happs (2023) Tales from the Pizzaplex #3: Somniphobia (2023) Tales from the Pizzaplex #4: Submechanophobia (2023) Tales from the Pizzaplex #5: The Bobbiedots Conclusion (2023) Tales from the Pizzaplex #6: Nexie (2023) Tales from the Pizzaplex #7: Tiger Rock (2023) Tales from the Pizzaplex #8: B7-2 (2023)
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Five Nights at Freddy’s Games and Books in Chronological Order
Alright, so you’ve done it all in order of release now…or you skipped that step to do it all chronologically. Here’s every Five Nights at Freddy’s game and book (so far!) in chronological order; beware of spoilers.

‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 4’
Taking place in 1983, Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 depicts the earliest point in the timeline so far. This game takes the player through multiple minigames that tell the story of a young boy who had a series of traumatic experiences at Fredbear’s Family Diner leading up to a party where he’s teased by bullies and his older brother. This game shows the Bite of ‘83 as the boy is lifted up to Freddy’s head and crushed by the animatronic’s mouth. The boy is implied to have died from the incident.

There are easter eggs regarding the Purple Guy in two of the minigames; he is also seen in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and Five Nights at Freddy’s 3.

‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 jumps forward a few years to 1987. Players assume the role of Jeremy Fitzgerald, a security guard at a Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza location. The location is currently under investigation due to a string of child murders carried out by the Purple Guy, though the police are mostly working based on rumors at this point. This is the first appearance of the mysterious purple figure in the franchise, and he returns throughout the series as more about the history of the animatronics is uncovered. This game is also the first appearance of Balloon Boy and The Puppet, whose identity is revealed in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator.

‘Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location’
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location takes place at Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rental, which uses animatronics supplied by Afton Robotics, and is operated by Freddy Fazbear creator William Afton. This game introduces the Scooping Room, where the endoskeletons of the animatronics are ripped out and salvaged for parts. This game also includes multiple endings, one of which reveals the Purple Guy’s identity.

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‘Five Nights at Freddy’s
We’ve made it to the first game! Playing as Mike Schmidt, players will continue to learn about the troubled past of the restaurant, including the child murders mentioned in the second game. This game mentions that a suspect was arrested for the murders, but that no bodies were ever found. When the animatronics begin to smell awful and leak blood-like fluid, it sparks the rumors that lead to the police investigation from Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. This occurrence also aligns with what the Phone Guy says will happen if the guard is caught by an animatronic: he’ll be stuffed into a suit and killed.

Five Nights at Freddy’s Novel Trilogy
Five Nights at Freddy’s takes place sometime in the early ’90s, as it’s after the Bite of ‘87, and both Sister Location and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 have The Puppet in them, which puts the novel trilogy after these titles. It includes The Silver Eyes, The Twisted Ones, and The Fourth Closet, which take place between 1995 and 1996. The novels follow Charlotte Emily, the daughter of William Afton’s former business partner Henry Emily. They involve Charlotte trying to uncover the mysteries of her father’s death and the incidents of a Fazbear’s Pizza location, but it is revealed that she was murdered by William Afton and her soul has possessed an animatronic.

While the novels don’t perfectly align with the games, this is the best spot to read this trilogy to fill in some gaps on Henry Emily and The Puppet.

‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 3’
This game takes place roughly 30 years after Five Nights at Freddy’s and takes place in an entirely new location: Fazbear’s Fright, a horror attraction based on the Fazbear’s Pizza characters. Unlike previous games, there’s only one animatronic the player has to fend off, a bunny called Springtrap. However, hallucinations of other deteriorated animatronics will haunt the player and cause equipment malfunctions. One of the minigames in this entry reveals that William Afton is possessing Springtrap, and the game has both a good and a bad ending that reveals the fate of the murdered children possessing the other animatronics.

‘Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator’
This game follows Michael Afton (son of William Afton) at his job as the manager of a Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Guided by the Cassette Man, Michael has to salvage the broken-down animatronics in a back alley, including Springtrap and Circus Baby. The ending reveals that Cassette Man is actually Henry Emily and that salvaging the animatronics was a trap so he could burn down the restaurants, killing himself and freeing all the spirits in the process.

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Fazbear Frights Novel Series
This series has 12 novels (Fazbear Frights 1-12), each containing three short stories and an epilogue. While many of the stories have no clear time they’re set in, they do contain characters shown throughout the aforementioned games and books (such as Springtrap) and are titled after Five Nights at Freddy’s 3’s setting. Reading this series after Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator is a good way to end what is colloquially known as the “Clickteam Series,” a term sometimes used for the first six games, as they were made with Clickteam Fusion 2.5. These novels are also set before the more modern games. These should be read by their release date to keep the epilogues in order, as they have an overarching story.

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted’ & ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s: Special Delivery’
Help Wanted recreates a number of scenes from the first three games under the guise of “undoing the bad press that Fazbear Entertainment has had over the last few decades,” so it is most likely after the damning events of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator. Special Delivery is done in a similar style to Help Wanted and serves the same reputation-fixing plot, so these two games should be paired and played at the same time.

‘Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach’
The latest installment in the series, Security Breach, is set after Help Wanted and Special Delivery, which is evident by the fact that the restaurant has grown into a megaplex and seemingly overcome its former infamy. This is the first free-roam game of the series and it contains six endings. The canon ending sees the return of William Afton in a charred Springtrap suit in an underground location that’s suspiciously similar to ones seen in earlier games. In the end, we still don’t see Afton’s demise, so there’s a chance he’ll be back!

Tales from the Pizzaplex Novel Series
The Tales from the Pizzaplex series (Tales from the Pizzaplex 1-8) are similar in structure to Fazbear Frights. Each novel contains three short stories and an epilogue, and while they don’t provide much to give a specific timeframe, they all take place in the megaplex from Security Breach, which would set them during and after that game. These should be read by release date to keep the epilogues in order, as they have an overarching story.

Five Nights at Freddy’s Can you survive five nights? The terrifying horror game phenomenon becomes a blood-chilling cinematic event, as Blumhouse — the producer of M3GAN, The Black Phone, and The Invisible Man — brings Five Nights at Freddy’s to the big screen. The film follows a troubled security guard as he begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through. Release Date October 27, 2023 Director Emma Tammi Cast Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, Elizabeth Lail, Mary Stuart Masterson Rating PG-13 Runtime 110 minutes Main Genre Horror Genres Horror