“What’s the time? Playtime,” is a saying many Poppy Playtime fans hear from the narrator in the promotional VHS tapes at the start of each game. Poppy Playtime is a horror puzzle game with over 52 thousand players worldwide.
The game follows the player (the protagonist) as they navigate Playtime Co. trying to find their co-workers who disappeared during The Hour Of Joy, an incident that occurred at the factory on Aug. 8, 1995 at 11 a.m. and was orchestrated by the Prototype, or experiment 1006.
Chapter One, “A Tight Squeeze,” was released in 2021. At the beginning, when the player enters the factory, a VHS tape is on the welcome desk, and a locked door to the left. On the other side of the hall, an overstock room contains the code for the locked door. The other room also contains another VHS tape and a “grab pack,” which the player uses for hands since it’s a first-person game.
The player uses the grab pack and code to open the locked door behind the welcome counter and sees Huggy Wuggy, who was Playtime Co.’s security measure back when the factory was still up. With Huggy watching, the player starts trying to restore power. At the end of chapter one, Huggy chases the player into the vents where the player sees a box and pulls it down on Huggy’s head. (Link to spoilers)
Chapter Two, “Fly In A Web” was released in 2022. It starts where Chapter One left off: after the player meets Poppy, a doll who was locked up. In this chapter, the player is at the game station, where they meet Mommy Long Legs, the main antagonist in this game. Mommy Long Legs was in charge of the game station back when Playtime Co. was still up. Mommy Long Legs takes Poppy as she talks to the player in front of a giant hole in the ground. Before the player can open the door to the game station, Mommy Long Legs steals their red hand.
Mommy Long Legs watches the player navigate through three games: Musical Memory, Wack-A-Wuggy, and Statues. Musical Memory is run by a toy called Bunzo Bunny, who is the favorite character in chapter two of Londynn Wells, sophomore.
In this game, the player needs to pay attention to the colors and put them in the right order. After Musical Memory is Wack-A-Wuggy: the player has to hit the miniature Wuggies away. Towards the end of the final game, Statues with P-J Pugapillar, the statue’s game area is destroyed. The player uses the grab pack to latch onto a pole, break through a window adjacent to the area, and initiate the final chase. (Link to spoilers).
“The best part in Chapter Two is when Poppy betrays the player,” said Wells. However, I love this chapter for its mini-games and the lore it contains.
Chapter Three, “A Deep Sleep,” was released in 2024. The player starts after the train crashes at the end of Chapter two. Catnap, the antagonist, throws the player into a trash chute that leads to Playcare, Playtime Co.’s former on-site orphanage, where the orphans lived with creatures called Smiling Critters. As the player enters Playcare, they receive a phone call from Ollie, who claims he wants to help the player.
Playcare consists of seven areas; the player first enters Home Sweet Home, where the orphans sleep. After escaping, the player goes to the School and meets Miss Delight, a toy teacher. Before the player can leave, they meet Dogday, the former leader of the Smiling Critters, whom Catnap imprisoned. After Ollie sends the player the key to the main Gas Production Zone, after the player redirects all the power in Playcare to the main gas production zone, then encounters Catnap, which activates the final chase. (Links to Spoilers).
I love this chapter for the graphics and all the characters. I adore the Smiling Critters, who each have their own personalities and skills, and the whole concept of the on-site orphanage. American music artist CG5 even made a song for this chapter titled “Sleep Well.”
Chapter Four was released in 2025. “Safe Haven” starts off with the player and Poppy going down a conveyor deep into the factory after beating Catnap. Upon arrival in the prison, where most of this game takes place, Poppy, straight up leaves as Kissy Missy, an ally who stayed behind at the end of chapter three, making sure nothing attacked the player and Poppy. As at the end, “In my opinion, the prison was the best location of the entire game. I don’t think we will see anything better in future chapters,” said Evan Escoto, senior.
As the player explores, they see Pianosaurus, a piano-like dinosaur who went viral (due to his short screen time), but he is killed after five seconds by Doey the Doughman. Doey helps the player reach the Safe Haven.
Doey then asks the player to deal with Doctor Harley Sawyer, a scientist at Playtime Co. who ran the main experiment. “The doctor is a really compelling and twisted villain mainly due to his voice actor really nailing his cold, distant nature,” said Escoto, who claims this chapter as his favorite.
Once inside, the player finds a cell with a glass window in the front containing Yarnaby, one of the doctor’s pets. Though Yarnaby can detect sounds in No Man’s Land, the chase eventually leads to its death. (Links to spoilers). Then, Doey asks the player to deal with the Doctor, who deactivates the purple hand that the player obtained in chapter three. The Doctor then makes the player fight Baba Chops, a member of the Nightmare Critters, evil versions of the Smiling Critters.
Once the player beats Baba Chops and deals with the Doctor, Poppy has them place explosives, which accidentally blow up the Safe Haven, killing all the toys inside. Doey gets mad and activates the final chase. (Links to spoilers).
Chapter Five, “Broken Things”, the newest chapter, was released Feb. 18. As always, the chapter picks up where the previous chapter left the player: inside the labs. Huggy Wuggy, whom the player thought they had killed, now angrier than ever, immediately chases the player. The fleeing player falls into an even deeper part of the factory, where they meet Giblet, one of the Wrong Side outimals, as the player sees from the beginning VHS tape. Denysse Soto Verde, sophomore, says the setting of chapter five is “really suspicious” because at the end of chapter four, Ollie is revealed as the Prototype.
Giblet tells the player where to find a new grab pack because Huggy stole the first one during the opening chase. While searching for Poppy, who has gone missing again, the player encounters Huggy Wuggy, triggering another chase. Afterwards, the player heads to Sweet Street and meets Lilly Love Braids, an antagonist who may be delusional. As the story progresses, Lilly Love Braids traps the player and their allies, Kissy and Poppy, in a tea party where The Prototype reveals itself. The reveal “was expected, but overall really intriguing,” said Soto Verde, sophomore.
During this tea party, the Prototype breaks Poppy’s face, causing Kissy to attack the Prototype, which causes destruction that upsets Lilly Love Braids, who begins chasing the player. (Links to Spoilers).
After this, the player gets into yet another chase with Huggy, and runs into Poppy, Kissy, and Giblet. As Kissy and Huggy are about to hold hands, the Prototype appears and stabs them, activating the final chase. (Links to spoilers). “Deep Sleep” artist CG5 made a song for this chapter as well: “Wrong Side Out.”
A survey at this school reveals that students like Chapter Three, “Deep Sleep,” the most. Chapters One, Two, and Four tied with eight votes each, and Chapter Five garnered only four votes. I believe Chapter five is unpopular because of the animations and graphics, while Chapter three is the fan favorite because of the animations.
