Every Five Nights at Freddy’s Game Ranked Best to Worst

An overnight sensation in the indie gaming community, Scott Cawthon’s passion project, Five Nights at Freddy’s, quickly became the hottest thing in the industry, capturing players’ attention through its simplicity, foreboding atmosphere, and heart-stopping jump scares.

A cult favorite among players who love a good fright, Five Nights at Freddy’s influence in the annals of horror reaches beyond the bounds of the video game medium, inspiring later projects like Poppy Playtime. Backed by its glowing popularity among modern gamers, the series has even transitioned into the cinematic landscape, serving as the basis for 2023’s supernatural horror film, Five Nights at Freddy’s, starring Josh Hutcherson.

From its humble beginnings to its initial forays in virtual reality, this is every major game in the Five Nights at Freddy’s series ranked from best to worst.

1. Five Nights at Freddy’s 

The initial entry in the FnAF franchise, Five Nights at Freddy’s, is also without a doubt the best installment of the series to date. In it, Cawthon took an otherwise simple idea and explored it to its fullest, focusing on a lone security guard’s terror-fueled nights watching over the Chuck E. Cheese-esque Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Introducing so many staples that became commonplace in the game – the limited electricity, the hidden lore, the out-of-nowhere jumpscares – Cawthon constructed the ultimate point-and-click survival horror game with this 2014 gaming classic.

2. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2

The latest entry in the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 acts as an ambitious follow-up to the VR-based Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted. Whereas the first Help Wanted offered an endearing homage to the original FNaF games, Help Wanted 2 pushed the series in exciting new directions, perfecting the virtual reality format of its predecessor.

With players advancing through the game based on their performance in all aspects of the food service–from cooking and cleaning to maintenance and design–Help Wanted 2 felt like a generally more well-rounded game than FNaF’s initial VR game. With its experimental new format too, the game came loaded with a ton of new, unsettling surprises around every corner.

3. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted

As if Five at Nights at Freddy’s weren’t terrifying enough, Cawthon and company decided to adapt the game to virtual reality – the general idea behind the haunting V.R. game, Five at Nights at Freddy’s: Helped Wanted. A metafictional story that sees the owners of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza trying to reassure players that there’s nothing ominous about the eponymous pizzeria, players are forced into face-to-face encounters with some of the game’s most infamous animatronic antagonists.

With callbacks and references to each of the main games that preceded it, Help Wanted utilizes its V.R. components to a masterful degree, ensuring a game that’s as bone-chilling as the original Five Nights at Freddy’s.

4. Ultimate Custom Night

The second spin-off game from the main FNaF continuity, Ultimate Custom Night, grants players a whole new level of customization when designing their ideal Five Nights at Freddy’s experience. In the game, players create their office setting and choose up to 50 different animatronic villains to compete against, their difficulty setting ranging from one to 20.

Ultimate Custom Night is a mash-up of every game released before it allows players to create the FNaF experience they always dreamed of having (or, more accurately, had recurring, sweat-soaked nightmares about).

5. Five Nights at Freddy’s 3

Another meta-fictional installment of the FNaF franchise, Five Nights at Freddy’s 3, places players into the horror-themed attraction, Fazbear’s Fright. Once again, acting as a lone security guard working the night shift, players must slow the progress of a single animatronic character – the wild-eyed rabbit, Springtrap – as it maneuvers towards the player’s office.

While some fans might be disappointed by the absence of Freddy, Bonnie, or Foxy as primary antagonists (the developers relegated them to a relatively minor role as meddlesome ghosts sabotaging the player), Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 contains enough innovation to compensate for its meager weaknesses.

6. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location

As its name might suggest, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location transported players to the new setting of Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rental, a themed restaurant populated by another large cast of hostile rogue robots bent on human destruction. Changing up the gameplay style of its earlier sequels, Sister Location also sees players wandering from room to room without being anchored to a single office setting, with their missions and objectives changing as the game draws on.

Pushing the boundaries of the prototypical FNaF game towards new heights, Sister Location is a startling sequel that continues to demonstrate the series’ evolution as the years go by. With smoother gameplay, an intriguing roster of new villains, and even some off-kilter humor, it’s one of the best sequels to FNaF yet.

7. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach

The most ambitious sequel in the Five Nights at Freddy’s universe yet, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach also became the first game to move beyond the bounds of the standard FNaF format. Rather than portraying a security guard protagonist monitoring the hallways and vents of an animatronic-infested venue, players instead step into the role of Gregory, a young boy trapped in a Freddy Fazbear-themed shopping mall.

Though it should receive credit for abandoning the same tired gameplay of its predecessor, Security Breach’s overwhelming technical difficulties (including significant bugs, glitches, and lagging issues) prevent it from being the exciting FNaF game it tries so hard to exist as.

8. Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator

Perhaps the most underrated sequel in the FNaF saga, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator, is very similar to its immediate sibling title yet contains plenty of new features. Alternating between multiple game types, Pizzeria Simulator is an inventive cross between an ‘80s arcade game, a customizable business simulator, and a traditional FNaF survival horror game.

Though it failed to receive the same attention as its predecessors, Pizzeria Simulator (like Security Breach) deserves praise for attempting something new in the FNaF narrative, ushering in a game unlike any other in the franchise’s library.

9. FNaF World

The first spin-off title in the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, FNaF World, is an oddity even by Five Nights at Freddy’s standards. Breaking from the series’ original horror roots, FNaF World instead transposes its lead characters into an average role-playing game.

With its adorable characters and simplistic gameplay, it’s a far cry from the horrifying nature of the original Five Nights at Freddy’s games. As with Pizzeria Simulator and Security Breach, FNaF World should be praised for its originality and creativity, even if frequent tech issues hindered the game’s critical success.

10. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Special Delivery

The third and most recent spin-off in the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, Special Delivery, is also the first entry in the saga to utilize an augmented reality format, building a game of unique quality that adapts to endless settings. Available on mobile devices, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Special Delivery has players navigating their houses with their devices, using them to find the demented animatronic characters who have snuck into their homes.

An enjoyable novelty that might not have very much replay value, Special Delivery is yet another decent if forgettable outing for the FNaF games, demonstrating the series’ ability to adapt to new technologies and formats.

11. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2

Following the positive reception of the initial Five Nights at Freddy’s, Scott Cawthon began work on a prequel continuation of the game, which came to fruition with 2014’s Freddy Nights at Freddy’s 2. Retaining the same gameplay mechanics of the original, players once again helm the office chair of a security guard working the night shift at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, warding away the rogue robotic creatures lurking through the restaurant’s halls.

A bit too repetitive for its good, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 owes too much to Cawthon’s initial game, doing little to set itself apart from its first entry in the series. However, one shouldn’t overlook the inclusion of new characters that menace the player throughout, nor should they discount the intricate backstory the game reveals via easter eggs, minigames, and other subtle clues.

12. Five Nights at Freddy’s 4

Planned by Cawthon as the final installment of the FNaF series, Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 transposes its anxiety-riddled narrative to an average household, with players assuming the role of a young child attempting to make it through five nights without falling victim to the monstrous villains invading their bedroom.

Though not an altogether terrible game by any stretch of the imagination, Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 fails to build the same cohesive gameplay as any other entry in the FNaF series. Still, its inventive storyline, downbeat ending, and suspenseful atmosphere outfit the game with one of the most unique storylines in FNaF to date.