There is no doubt that Five Nights at Freddy’s Made a splash in the horror genre with the release of the first game back in 2014, and now the many games, books and the movie have cemented the franchise as a household name. Its impact is so strong that mascot horror has become its own video game genre, with many Games still in FNAFS footsteps in hopes of a glimpse of the success of the series.
Bendy and the Ink MachineThe Poppy Playtime Series, and Amanda the Adventurer are just a few of the mascot horrors that followed FNAFBlending kid-friendly aesthetics and characters with jumpscars and deeply disturbing storylines. Five Nights at Freddy’s Pioneered the genre, but now it has become an oversaturated market Which could be doing more harm than good for horror games.
Horror games are losing what makes them fun
The success of FNAF had a major impact
Five Nights at Freddy’s Started as a truly great horror franchise Offering a deep, lore-fueled story that fans are still trying to figure out even a decade later. Great content creators, such as Markiplier And The game theorists MatPat, helped drive the game’s popularity over the years, amassing millions of views on YouTube for their playthroughs and tutorial videos. As popularity grew and grew, Series creator Scott Cawthon was given more responsibility to deliver more.
Over the years, the franchise’s story has become more and more complicated and difficult to follow, possibly due to Cawthon struggling to compete with such impressive and far-fetched fan theories on his characters and world. The situation became infinitely more complicated with the books and the movie, which threw the timeline into disarray and still had Fans argued about what was canon and what wasn’t.
Too many games are trying to be FNAF
Poppy Playtime is one key example
Despite this, the immense success of the franchise has seen many other games try to dominate in mascot horror. Poppy Playtime is perhaps one of the most successful, with three main games, with a fourth release next year. like FNAF, Poppy Is also popular with younger children, and has a lot of goods too. Compare the two series, Five Nights at Freddy’s General premise followed the idea that his animatronics are possessed by murdered children. When looking at Poppy PlaytimeIt becomes clear that the toys at PlayTime Co are children too, But more physically, making the toys organic from their bodies.
It’s hard not to compare Poppy And FNAF With their creepy-but-cute mascot characters and this repeated focus on death and murder. to some extent, Poppy Loses its originality. Today’s horror games are centered on children’s entertainment industries, with Five Nights at Freddy’s As an entertainment restaurant and Poppy Playtime Like a toy factory. Amanda the Adventurer is similar, focusing on a child-friendly setting and child’s perspective. Indigo ParkAnother new horror game, set in an amusement park for children with animatronic mascots, perhaps also took inspiration from the trope.
The future still looks bright for horror games
Indigo Park shows how it should be done
The oversaturation of the indie horror mascot genre is starting to kill the uniqueness in horror space and the enjoyment behind the gameplay. Players encounter similar enemies, jumpscars, and—to some extent—similar story elements. But that doesn’t mean that every new mascot horror is a copy-paste of what came before.
Indigo Park Has been breaking the mold Since its release in May 2024. The free Chapter 1 is currently rated “overwhelmingly positive” on SteamWith users praising the gameplay and scares. On the surface, it may look similar to Poppy PlaytimeBut the developer took a unique approach to the plot, leaving deep mystery. Although the mascots show consciousness, they are different from the in-game humans, resorting to their animal traits. Indigo Park Gives genre fans hope that mascot horror games can bring back their individual uniqueness Without relying Five Nights at Freddy’s.