Poppy Playtime

Poppy Playtime is a 2021 episodic survival horror video game developed and published by American indie developer Mob Entertainment. The game is set in the fictional toy-making company named Playtime Co. The player controls an unnamed protagonist, a retired employee who receives a note inviting them back to the abandoned toy factory after the company's staff mysteriously disappeared. In the game, the player navigates through a first-person perspective and must solve puzzles, such as requiring a gadget named the GrabPack, to progress while avoiding various monsters in the factory.

The first chapter was released on Steam for Microsoft Windows on October 12, 2021, and later ported to Android and iOS on March 11, 2022, the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on December 20, 2023, and the Nintendo Switch on December 25. The second chapter was released for Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android 2022, and the third chapter was released on Windows in January 2024; a fourth chapter is planned. All chapters after the first are premium downloadable content.

The first three chapters of Poppy Playtime garnered positive reviews for their horror, gameplay, story and animation, although they were criticized for their numerous bugs, particularly in the second chapter. The game faced several controversies, mainly due to its aesthetics and character design's similarities to that of children-oriented media resulting in popularity among younger-than-intended demographics. The announcement of in-game non-fungible token content in December 2021 received harsh criticism, resulting in the developers reversing all profits from the tokens to charity.

Gameplay
Poppy Playtime is a first person survival-horror video game where the player plays as an unnamed protagonist, a retired employee of a toy-making company named Playtime Co., who returns to the company's abandoned toy factory after its staff mysteriously disappeared a decade earlier. There, they discover that the factory is filled with monstrous toys who are alive and malicious towards them, and starts looking for a way to escape the premises.

The game features multiple puzzles throughout, which the employee must solve in order to progress further, with some requiring a gadget named the GrabPack, a backpack that can be equipped with two extendable hands which can be used to pull and reach objects from a far distance, conduct electricity, and access certain doors. In "Chapter 2", it can also be used to swing across gaps and, with a green hand obtained during gameplay, transfer electricity between sources. In "Chapter 3", the employee obtains an improved version of the GrabPack, the GrabPack 2.0, that comes with longer wires, jet boosters to enable falling safely from great heights, and the ability to switch the green hand with a purple hand that allows them to jump long distances and an orange finger gun hand that doubles as a flare gun. They also acquire a gas mask to help them navigate areas exposed to the dangerous "Red Smoke". In addition, players can find various VHS tapes can be found throughout the factory, each one giving a more in-depth explanation of the story.

Chapter 1 – A Tight Squeeze
In the year 2005, a former employee of a toy-production company named Playtime Co. receives a package containing a note and a VHS tape advertising the company's Poppy Playtime doll and tours of their toy factory before abruptly cutting to spliced-in footage of graffiti of a poppy and a letter from the missing staff, requesting them to "find the flower". After watching the tape, the employee complies and returns to the toy factory to do so.

Arriving at the now-abandoned factory, the employee acquires a one-handed GrabPack to access the lobby. There, they encounter Huggy Wuggy, a seemingly giant statue toy on display in the room's center. While trying to unlock another door, the power goes out. Though the employee restores it, they find that the Huggy statue has disappeared. Upon obtaining a second hand for their GrabPack, they use a conveyor belt to reach the factory's "Make-a-Friend" section, where they manufacture a toy to progress further. Suddenly, a monstrous Huggy appears and chases them into the vents before they send him falling to his death to the bottom of the factory. Soon enough, the employee finds the graffiti, which leads to a room containing a Poppy Playtime doll inside a glass case. Upon unlocking the case, Poppy acknowledges them before the employee passes out.

Chapter 2 – Fly in a Web
Upon awakening, the employee finds Poppy gone and explores the factory's rear halls before eventually locating Playtime founder Elliot Ludwig's office. There, they re-encounter Poppy, who thanks them for freeing her and offers to help them escape by providing the activation code for the factory's train. However, she is grabbed and pulled deeper into the factory. As the employee approaches the Game Station and the train, they encounter a giant spider-like monster called Mommy Long Legs, who steals a hand from their GrabPack, reveals she is holding Poppy hostage, and challenges the employee to win three games in the Game Station in exchange for the train's code, threatening to kill them if they break the rules. After locating and crafting a new hand for their GrabPack, the employee proceeds through the Game Station.

They successfully complete the first two games, obtain two-thirds of the train code, and briefly encounter a friendly version of Huggy called Kissy Missy before they are forced to escape into subterranean tunnels during the third game upon realizing that Mommy intentionally rigged it to ensure their demise. An enraged Mommy accuses them of cheating and pursues them back into the factory until they trap her in an industrial grinder and activate it, killing her. A needle-fingered hand, later revealed to belong to an experiment called the "Prototype", subsequently collects her body. The employee rescues Poppy, obtains the third part of the train code, and nearly escapes. However, Poppy diverts the train, refusing to let them leave as she requires their help. Before she can explain further, the train runs out of control and derails near a sign pointing to "Playcare", knocking the employee unconscious.

Chapter 3 – Deep Sleep
Following the train derailment, the employee reawakens as a giant cat-like monster called CatNap throws them into a trash compactor, but they escape and head to Playtime's on-site orphanage, Playcare. Along the way, they find a toy phone and receive advice from a voice referring to himself as "Ollie", who warns them that CatNap, Playcare's guardian and a recalled member of Playtime's "Smiling Critters" line, will try and kill them. On Ollie's instructions, the employee attempts to reroute power from Playcare's many facilities to power the Gas Production Zone and divert a hallucinogenic gas called the "Red Smoke", which CatNap can produce.

All throughout, they obtain the GrabPack 2.0, re-encounter Kissy, and reunite with Poppy, who explains she needs their help to kill the Prototype and end its control over the factory. After killing a hostile teacher named Miss Delight, the employee eventually encounters the last Smiling Critter, DogDay, who warns them that CatNap worships the Prototype like a god and mutilated him for defying it before he is killed and possessed by several Mini Smiling Critters, who mount a failed attempt at killing the employee. Following an attack by CatNap, the employee experiences a hallucination wherein Poppy asks about their knowledge of Playtime experimenting on children and turning them into the monsters they have encountered. The employee eventually defeats CatNap before the Prototype kills him and takes his body. After successfully redirecting the Red Smoke, Poppy reveals to the employee footage of the "Hour of Joy", wherein the Prototype ordered Playtime's monsters to kill the employees indiscriminately ten years prior. Reiterating their mission to kill the Prototype, Poppy leads the employee onto a lift to make their descent towards the Prototype's lair, intending to send it back up for Kissy. On the way down however, Poppy hears something attack Kissy and frantically attempts to send the lift back up, but the hatch closes on her and the employee.

Characters

 * The Employee: A former employee of Playtime Co. who returns to the abandoned toy factory after the company's staff mysteriously disappeared a decade ago.
 * Poppy Playtime (voiced by Nola Klop): A sentient doll based on the first toy created by Playtime Co. who seeks to uncover the truth behind the company and defeat the Prototype.
 * Experiment 1006 / The Prototype: A rogue experiment created by Playtime Co. scientists capable of mimicking others' voices. A decade prior, he took control of the company's monsters and enacted a massacre of their employees in an event that would later be dubbed the "Hour of Joy" a decade prior. Amidst the employee's journey through the company's toy factory, the Prototype collects the corpses of Mommy Long Legs and CatNap to use their parts.
 * Experiment 1170 / Huggy Wuggy: A monster based on Playtime Co.'s most successful and memorable toy. Originally stationed in the lobby of the company's toy factory posing as a statue, he stalks the employee until the latter sends him falling to his apparent death within the factory's depths.
 * Experiment 1222 / Mommy Long Legs (voiced by Elsie Lovelock): A spider-like monster with elastic limbs and an elastic neck that Playtime Co. created from an orphan named Marie Payne. Stationed in the Game Station, she takes Poppy hostage and challenges the employee to complete the station's games with the intent of killing them, only to be killed by them via an industrial grinder.
 * Experiment 1188 / CatNap: A cat-like monster based on a recalled member of Playtime Co.'s "Smiling Critters" line of scented plush animal dolls who can produce a hallucinogenic gas called the "Red Smoke". Originally an orphan named Theodore Grambell, he was electrocuted while attempting to escape Playtime Co.'s onsite orphanage, Playcare, but was saved by the Prototype. Ever since, CatNap began to worship him like a god. After the employee stumbles onto Playcare, CatNap stalks and attempts to kill them, only to be defeated by them. He then willingly offers himself to the Prototype, who kills CatNap.
 * Ollie (voiced by Reid Osiecki): An unseen ally of Poppy's who communicates with and assists the employee in Playtime Co.'s Playcare via a toy phone.
 * Miss Delight (voiced by Avalon Delaney): A humanoid teacher trapped in Playcare's on-site school and the last of a series of Miss Delights, who she killed to survive. When the employee enters the school to redirect power from it, Delight warns them to leave for their safety, but they ignore her. She then attempts to kill them, only to be killed herself.
 * DogDay (voiced by Baldwin Williams Jr.): A dog-like monster based on a member of Playtime Co.'s "Smiling Critters" line of scented plush animal dolls who CatNap mutilated for defying the Prototype. DogDay tries to warn the employee of the Prototype, only to be possessed and killed by several Mini Smiling Critters.
 * Boxy Boo: A jack-in-the-box-like monster and the first successful monster Playtime Co. created who first appears in the spin-off Project: Playtime.

Development and release
Originally starting out as a Kickstarter campaign, the idea of Poppy Playtime was originally thought of by game director Isaac Christopherson, stating that people called most indie horror games "walking simulators", giving Mob Entertainment the idea to "create something with gameplay that doesn't feel quite so run-of-the-mill, while still staying exciting, terrifying, and unique." A trailer for the game's first chapter was uploaded in September 2021.

In an interview with The New York Times, Zach Belanger stated that his idea behind Huggy Wuggy was to "create something entirely new", and that his technique of making him terrifying was by making him larger than everything on screen.

The first chapter was released on Steam for Microsoft Windows on October 12, and later for Android and iOS on March 11, 2022. After the first chapter's release, official merchandise of the game began being released, including T-shirts, posters and plush toys,  as well as official collectibles produced by Youtooz. The first chapter would later be released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on December 20, 2023, and for the Nintendo Switch on December 25. It was released onto Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X on July 12, 2024.

All chapters after the first will be released as premium downloadable content. A trailer for Chapter 2, named Fly in a Web, was released on February 22, 2022, with several teasers later being posted to Twitter, including a teaser trailer on April 9. In preparation of the second chapter's release, the first chapter was made free. The second chapter was then released on May 5, for Microsoft Windows and then on August 15, for iOS and Android and is estimated to be thrice as long as the first chapter. Two teaser trailers for Chapter 3 were released on July 26, 2023, and August 6, 2022, respectively, with a slated release date of winter 2023. However, due to several developers being laid off due to "creative differences", the chapter was delayed "several additional weeks into 2024". Chapter 3 released on January 30, 2024 on Steam.

Critical response
Poppy Playtime was well-received upon its initial release, receiving praise for its atmosphere, story, and character design,  as well as being compared to the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise, with Screen Rant Austin Geiger calling Poppy Playtime "more engaging" than Security Breach. However, the first chapter has been criticized for its short length, claimed to being roughly 30–45 minutes long, and some initially regarded the game as a Five Nights at Freddy's clone. The game also quickly gained exposure on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch, with videos on the former reaching millions of views, as well as games based on Poppy Playtime appearing on Roblox. The game is widely regarded as being part of the so-called "mascot horror" subgenre, which rose in popularity during 2014 with the initial release of Five Nights at Freddy's.

Chapter 2 received mixed reviews on Steam, receiving praise for its voice acting and ending, but also being criticized for its number of bugs and performance issues, including audio issues, crashes, lag, and the so-called "Barry glitch" (in which Barry, a toy cart that is dragged around by the employee, gets stuck under a gate). Mob Entertainment responded with an apology and began rolling out patches for the aforementioned issues.

Poppy Playtime was nominated for the "Most Stream-friendly Game" award at the 2022 Indie Live Expo Awards in Japan.

Controversies
In December 2021, on Twitter, the developers announced non-fungible tokens of the in-game posters, which was quickly met with backlash and negative reviews from the community, as well as some users requesting refunds, arguing that the developers put lore of the game behind a paywall. In response, the developers deleted the announcement but were unable to remove the NFTs as well due to a contract they had signed, stating that they have to wait for it to expire. On May 3, 2022, Mob Entertainment's CEO Zach Belanger posted a statement on Twitter where he confirms that all profits earned from the NFTs would be going to the Clean Air Task Force organization.

Around Poppy Playtime release, developer Ekrcoaster claimed that Mob Entertainment plagiarized his game Venge. In the aforementioned statement, Belanger denied the allegations, stating that there was no intent to plagiarize.

Dorset Police and Lafayette County Sheriff's Department both released a statement to parents regarding the character Huggy Wuggy on March 22, 2022, and April 7, respectively, claiming that due to the character's name, various videos were not being blocked by "firewalls" and filtered by parental filters on various platforms, including TikTok and YouTube Kids. The former also claimed that various schools in the United Kingdom reported children recreating a game where one child hugs another and then whispers sinister things into the recipient's ear. It was also reported that a child had attempted to jump out of a window to mimic the character, and that Luxemburg-Casco School District had received complaints from students claiming they could not sleep due to the character. Similarly, a primary school in Adelaide also warned parents about the game, specifically adaptations of it and violent songs featuring the character. Fact-checking website Snopes confirmed that while there had been reports from parents within the United Kingdom, the police had incorrectly claimed that the character sang songs, despite said songs being fan-made and not appearing in-game (the most notable of which was the viral music video "Free Hugs" by Igor "TryHardNinja" Gordienko). Snopes had also said that inappropriate videos involving the character were not available for younger users on TikTok and YouTube Kids, with spokespersons for each platform confirming so. Belanger also commented on the situation, calling the warnings "completely untrue and/or grossly exaggerated".

In September 2022, El Observador reported that seven children at a school in Uruguay played a game based on Poppy Playtime that instructed them to commit self-harm using pencil sharpeners, with two being hospitalized as a result. The president of the Institute of Children and Adolescents of Uruguay, Pablo Abdala, states that the incident "confirms that technological development entails a very severe risk".

Project: Playtime
On October 31, 2022, Project: Playtime, a free-to-play co-op horror spin-off, was announced and later released as early access on Steam on December 12, 2022, missing its original set date of December 6, due to "server backend issues". Six players are assigned as Survivors while another player is given the role of the Monster, which can either be Huggy Wuggy, Mommy Long Legs, or a new jack-in-the-box-themed character named Boxy Boo. Players are tasked with retrieving toy parts in order to assemble a large toy, while the Monster is tasked with finding the Players and killing them.

Although primarily a spin-off, the game contained some additional reveals for the story of Poppy Playtime. Most notably, the various monster toys were revealed to have been created by Dr. Harley Sawyer as part of a proposition known as the Bigger Bodies Initiative, so they could be used to replace human workers in the factory and increase its efficiency, with the phone that Ollie uses to talk to the employee in Chapter 3 also making its first appearance in the spin-off. In addition, Sawyer can be heard via a tape in Chapter 3, experimenting on the Prototype, while Boxy Boo is briefly seen attacking employees in the Hour of Joy VHS that Poppy shows the employee.

Poppy Playtime: Forever
Poppy Playtime: Forever is a game developed by Mob Entertainment and Jazwares and was released on February 29, 2024, on the Roblox platform. The game allows up to 10 players per server. Players can build their own maps and stories in-game.

Film adaptation
In April 2022, Mob Entertainment partnered with Studio71 to produce a film adaptation of the video game. They reportedly sought to bring Roy Lee into the project.

The live-action feature will be co-produced and developed by Legendary Entertainment and Angry Films' Don Murphy and Susan Montford, as announced in May 2024.

Merchandise
In November 2022, the sale of the Huggy Wuggy plush toys was banned by the Turkish Ministry of Trade, stating that the toys "do not meet the requirements of the Toy Safety Regulation." Ministry of Family and Social Services also said it determined that the toy "had a negative effect on the psychosocial development of children."

In early 2023, Huggy Wuggy plush toys – both licensed and unlicensed – were highly in demand with toy sellers worldwide. The toys' popularity was fueled by demand from children who encountered the character on YouTube.