Summary
TheFive Nights At Freddy’sfranchise has varied greatly over the years, coming from the origins of a simple point-and-click horror game to the most recent entries, which have explored the worlds of VR and more open-world settings that make for complete shifts for the franchise.
The idea ofFive Nights At Freddy’shas been shifting for almost a decade now, and over that time, the challenge of the various games has also shifted. While some games aim for accessibility by lowering the challenge, others raise it further than expected and receive complaints from many players for presenting such a wide array of challenges featuring some ofthe scariest dolls in gaming history.
Updated on August 03, 2025, by Chris Harkin:The Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise is a non-stop ride. Progressing from simplistic indie games into a much wider franchise filled with different types of games, as well as a film that is soon to have a sequel. However, while fans await more games in the franchise, such as the upcoming Secret of the Mimic, it is always invigorating to re-examine the past entries that have helped the series rise to the point it has done already. With plenty of other ideas left in this seemingly endless franchise, we can expect to continue seeing more updates to this article when new FNAF games are released in the future.
Though no longer available on Steam,FNAF Worldwas the first major spin-off from theFNAFfranchise. Filled with colorful, amusing characters from the series, this RPG puts players in the place of animatronics as they try to save their village from some villainous characters.
A complete change of pace for the series,FNAF Worldwas purposefully made a much easier game than others in the franchise. This accessible experience was much more directed at younger fans and, therefore, was made a more suitable difficulty for younger gamers.
Despite being one of the most playedFNAFgames ever, this recent entry in the long-running franchise was a huge departure in gameplay from many of the previous entries. Attempting to update the style of the previous entries to fit a bigger budget game,Security Breachintroduced many new elements into the series.
The free-roaming style of the game changed a great deal about how it worked. It also removed much of the challenge that players found in the earlier games since there was no simple ramping up over several nights of the same mechanics. Though this entry was a huge step forward for theFNAFfranchise, it very much changed the rules when it came to challenging gamers. Players should be especially careful in the West Arcade, as this area is really filled with staff bots, and animatronics have a much larger detection range.
Into the Pitis the latest release in the franchise while players await theSecret of the Mimic, and it is a twisting adventure that moves the series through completely new genres.Into the Pitstars Oswald, who wishes for a more exciting life, and soon finds one when the ballpit at his local Pizzeria moves him through time, forcing him to use this new ability to solve puzzles across time in an attempt to survive five deadly nights.
This adventure-puzzle-style game, including the frights that are common to the franchise, makes for an entirely new sort ofFNAFexperience, as well as a challenging entry that includes difficult puzzles. Although the game is more narrative-focused than some otherFNAFgames, there are harder difficulties, including “Nightmare”, which give fans the sort of brutal challenge they’ve come to expect from the series.
10Five Nights At Freddy’s AR: Special Delivery
Game FAQ Difficulty Score: 3.33/5
Special Deliverywas an augmented reality game that was released for phones in 2019. This was another departure for the franchise from many norms, featuring terrifying animatronics coming into the “real world” through the player’s phone screen.
Players had to fight these various creatures off to win, delivering a unique and terrifying gaming experience. Due to the limitations of this style of game and retaining the audio-visual nature of monster attacks from the other games, Special Delivery was never as challenging as most of the main entries in the series, but players will consistently fear Shadow Bonnie after the first few easy times it is faced, as the difficulty of that particular creature is exponential throughout the game.
The idea of theFive Nights At Freddy’sfranchise entering VR was an absolutely terrifying one, and it was a huge success withHelp Wanted. However, it wasn’t an original story so much as a collection of mini-games, both from previous entries and new ones.
This style madeHelp Wanteda much easier game than many of the other entries in the franchise. The VR nature of the game made it harder to produce challenges since the VR controls aren’t as exact as those in normal games. But players still loved this entry, finding some real challenge in the haste required for some tasks, and fearing certain levels such as the Endo Warehouse.
The third entry wanted to change things up from the first two games in theFive Nights At Freddy’sfranchise, and so in this entry, there was only one animatronic that could actually finish the player. Other animatronics from the previous two games returned in this entry, but they were only ghosts that could hinder the player without ending their game,including the iconic Freddy Fazbear.
There was a significant level of challenge toFNAF 3, even though there was only Springtrap to worry about. He provided plenty of challenge, and the shake-up to the formula made it difficult to get used to the events ofFNAF 3, even for veteran players of the other games. The franchise never returned to a style like this, with only one animatronic capable of killing, but it was a fascinating idea that was well worth exploring. Although this game doesn’t reach the difficulties of earlier or later entries, players will want to be particularly careful to keep track of Springtrap on the cameras for as long as possible, as the real danger begins when they lose him.
One of the most recent releases in theFNAFtimeline is the sequel to the massive VR success,Help Wanted. InHelp Wanted 2, players take control of a Fazbear employee who can adventure around, playing games and taking care of the animatronics at one of the infamous Fazbear locations.
Although there may not be quite as high of a fear factor here as in someFNAFgames, the VR aspect ofHelp Wanted 2makes it absolutely terrifying anyway, and the tasks, particularly those with time limits, make for high-pressure situations and a surprisingly difficult game. Players will find the time pressure the very worst part of the many tasks that must be completed throughout this much-improved sequel, which is filled with time-sensitive events that can be particularly frustrating through the controls of VR, which many players won’t be used to controlling while rushing around.
The original game in theFNAFfranchise wasn’t one of the hardest games looking back now, but it was a surprising level of challenge at the time, which frustrated gamers massively. Being employed as a security guard for the nights at the infamous Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, the player character had to survive five nights to earn their paycheck at the end of the week.
Players must survive against animatronics who come to life and try to get into the security office where the player resides. Using cameras to watch while also listening for sound cues, and figuring out when to close the doors to stay alive. Though harder games would follow, the firstFNAFgame is well-remembered for causing both fear and rage in gamers. It can get especially challenging for players not used to the style of the games who run headfirst into the first couple of nights and experience the turbulent shifting in difficulty by around night 3.
5Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator
Game FAQ Difficulty Score: 3.82/5
Also known asFNAF 6, this entry in the franchise was another switch-up from familiar formulas, and indeed, whereas every other entry up to that point had a similar formula throughout the nights,Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulatorwas completely different. The worst part about this game is that even looking up guides online won’t really help. The difficulty and challenges are too unique to explain.
Players simply have to keep trying, sometimes for a ridiculously long time, if they wish to defeat thePizzeria Simulator. OtherFNAFgames require patience, but this entry requires something more, as the randomization of the animatronics and challenges go beyond almost anything the franchise has ever seen. There are no specific timings or mechanics to save players or help them learn how to win. They have to figure this one out slowly, all by themselves, making it one of themost difficult horror games ever. Fortunately, unlike many of the games in the franchise, Pizzeria Simulator does have some useful ways around certain problems. For example, players can help themselves massively by buying all of the computer upgrades.
The fifth game in the main franchise releases wasSister Location, which shifted from previous entries in some significant ways. Firstly, players were able to move about in a variety of fashions. This was because the style of puzzles and challenges that had to be completed each night changed drastically from the fashion of the first four games but added some ofthe series' most iconic characters.
This left players with a frustrating time as they attempted to figure out how to work within the limits of each puzzle, adding challenge because the previous games only required them to figure out the mechanics and improve upon their skills with each night. In particular, some challenges, like the spring lock suit, made for huge frustration that many gamers couldn’t deal with. In particular, the fourth night is a truly terrible experience for many players, proving to actually be harder than the final night for many.
