The best thing about Five Nights at Freddy’s is the community that it’s gathered over eight years of the franchise. The best Five Nights at Freddy’s fan games exist solely because of the fans. The fans are the reason there were more games, the reason the lore and timeline of Fazbear Entertainment is still talked about and theorized about, and they definitely are the reason that the series is as popular as it is today.
FNaF changed the way a lot of people saw horror games. Indie games haven’t ever been the same since its release; people wanted to capture that feel of Five Nights at Freddy’s original series in their games so much that they began creating fan games for it.
FNaF fan games never quite fit into one category, from 3D to 2D, free roam, and even VR, Five Nights at Freddy’s as a franchise has one of the most involved fanbases I’ve ever seen, enjoying all the sinister turmoil of William Afton and many aspects the universe has to offer This Fazbear Fanverse has found thousands of creative ways to scare us with new and old characters. Having said that, I’ll be judging based on the models of the cast of animatronics, environments, feel, gameplay mechanics, and storyline.
Here are my picks for the best FNaF fan games:
11: Super Five Nights at Freddy’s by LSFDevelopment
LSFDevelopment Presents a Unique Side-Scrolling Adventure: Super Five Nights at Freddy’s, a brilliantly polished pixelated side-scrolling adventure game that puts players in control of the iconic animatronics from FNAF 1, rather than the “helpless” security guard. The game’s objective is to investigate the mysterious cases of missing children – as the missing children themselves.
Super FNAF is meticulously crafted, featuring everything from side quests and mini-games to a free-play mode. It effortlessly captures the nostalgic essence of a fading gaming style, all while maintaining a level of elegance that’s unexpected from a storyline centred around deceased children piloting Chuck E. Cheese-like animatronic nightmares in the Freddy Fazbear universe. Immerse yourself in the captivating world of Super Five Nights at Freddy’s, a unique side-scrolling adventure that masterfully combines mystery, intrigue, and nostalgia.
10: Fazbear Armageddon by Wheattt
Although quite out of place for a Five Nights at Freddy’s Fan Games, with it being an RPG, this one actually plays quite well, although it can be repetitive when you face Golden Freddy’s head in one boss fight and the two in another. The last boss fight you find yourself in a huge ball pit and come face-to-face with The Mangle. He uses his scrapped parts to chase you around as you try to attack her with your gun. The graphics in this game loosely remind me of Super Mario 64, which is why it’s so interesting to play.
9: Five Nights at Freddy’s: Clean Up Crew By Kamigo Game
The fan game has an hour-long demo that is just a quiz on your personality, one that’s intended to freak you out. Truthfully, this demo doesn’t seem like a FNaF game at all. What really landed this game on this list is the trailer. It looks as though there’s actually a skew of exciting things we can come to expect from this game; in fact, the trailer actually creeps me out while watching it, which is something that I no longer expect when jumping into these fan games.
8: Five Nights at Freddy’s: The Untold Story By Freddyfazgamer
The game takes place before the events of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and the enemies we face are the fixed versions of the withered animatronics. The game acts as the original Five Nights at Freddy’s games do, tending to doors and cameras and looking around your surroundings in a 2D world. The time period is based in one of the locations that doesn’t have a canon FNaF game attached to it, which is what this game is so interesting as if fills in the blanks for a game we’ve always wanted to see.
7: Five Nights at Candy’s by Emilmacko
If you’re a fan of Five Nights at Freddy’s fan games or even just Five Nights at Freddy’s in general, it’s incredibly likely that you’ve already heard, seen or even played these games at one point, especially now that they’re a part of the Fan-verse that Scott Cawthon has created. The games play out as the original 4 FNaF games would, but what really sets them apart are their original characters. Most FNaF fan games just create scarier versions of characters we already know, BUT FNaC went all in with new designs for characters none of us had met yet!
6: LEGO Five Nights at Freddy’s By Raulio20
Raulio20 created a universe where all the characters we’ve grown to love over the years have turned into loveable LEGO characters! Though they are still bloodthirsty, at least they’re not creepy anymore. One of my favourite aspects of this game is that if, by chance, two animatronics jump-scare you at once, the game actually plays an animation of both of them going into your office and bumping their heads on each other. Although this is a redesign of the first game, it’s actually quite unique and has some aspects I wouldn’t have thought about for a FNaF game.
5: JR’S by Darroc
This was a highly anticipated fangame upon its release, though some fans are torn. The models of the animatronics are probably the most realistic I’ve ever seen for a FNaF fan game, although I feel they don’t get used to their full extent. If you guess which animatronic is haunted incorrectly, you already know you’re done for, so there’s really no scare. The fight to survive against The Mangle has an unskippable cutscene which is about a minute long with no checkpoint, meaning you get to watch it over again with every new attempt.
4: One Night at Flumpty’s By Jonochrome
It’s only one night, how hard could it be…right? The answer is very hard. One night at Flumpty’s is actually a very entertaining game to play, and it is easy to see why it is one of the most beloved fan games. However, there is a little bit of pressure sitting on your shoulders, as looking at all the characters and paying attention to the owl can prove to be a challenge. The animation of each game is simple and effective, as the cartoon style can still make you jump. The panic that’s induced when you face Grunkfuss the Clown for the first time is something that simply can’t be beat.
3: Baby’s Nightmare Circus By Mixlas
This game actually looks and plays similar to how Scott would design it in the original franchise. The game was created by Mixlas, who is the same person who created Tyke and Sons Lumber Co. The character models look almost like Scott himself created them, and the overall gameplay does too. The game is reminiscent of FNaF 4 but really has features from a lot of different games across the Five Nights at Freddy’s universe. PlainTrace has an incredible video review on the game that I recommend checking out if you want to know more.
2: The Glitched Attraction By PowerLine Studios
This game is actually a FNaF puzzle game. The first night begins with you attempting to solve puzzles in a Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 styled escape room, all while Nightmarionne and Nightmare Balloon Boy attempt to end your run. Once you hide from your enemies and solve the puzzles, your night isn’t quite over as you’re led into another escape room. The nights feature the same refreshing mechanics that The Joy of Creation: Story Mode does; the character models in the game also look as though they were ripped straight from the original FNaF games to chase you until their heart’s content.
1: The Joy of Creation: Story Mode By Nikson
As one of my favorite fan games, The Joy of Creation: Story Mode captures stunning graphic and model designs in a way that even the original games hadn’t upon release, seeing as the release date was July 18, 2017. Pizzeria simulator came not far after it, both the games changing what we define as Five Nights at Freddy’s in lore and gameplay. In The Joy of Creation beta, Freddy and his friends chasing you around was bone-chilling. All the nights feature different mechanics that keep you on the edge of your seat each time, not to mention the meta storyline, with every level having you play as a different family member of the creator of FNaF, Scott Cawthon.
