Oh dang, get yourself ready for Poppy Playtime. Take control of a Playtime Co. employee who is stuck in, arguably, the worst toy manufacturing facility of all time. This game creeped me out a lot with an incredible atmosphere and gorgeous visuals that have made it an absolute must play in the horror genre. Solve puzzles, run, hide and don’t let yourself get caught in this astoundingly terrifying game brought to you by MOB Games. If you are looking for a title that will keep you in a terrified haze for hours after you’ve played it, then look no further.

Gameplay

A first-person survival horror, this game functions like Five Nights at Freddie’s mixed with Alien: Isolation. Does that sound incredible yet terrifying? Good, because it is. You play as an employee of a company that, for some reason, has created murderous toys.

You have your GrabPack and have decided to bail on this awful building with the help of its affixed artificial hands that shoot out on a wire, conduct electricity and let you reach things from a distance. This game primarily has you hiding and moving around the environment, absolutely terrified that something could burst out at any moment.

Avoiding the toys is the largest part of the game, that is interspliced with solving some simple puzzles and progressing through the facility.

Atmosphere

This game has atmosphere like I have never experienced before. I was absolutely stunned all the way through and I play games for a living so I usually know what to expect. Dropping you right into the madness, Poppy Playtime has you desperately trying to escape this spooky abandoned toy manufacturing facility. The lack of noise is what gets you worst. You find yourself jumping out of your skin and nearly every sound that comes up around you. You’ll hear a noise coming from a room and have to spend the next few minutes convincing yourself to go in there. You cannot buy ambience like that; this developer has absolutely hit the nail on the head for perfect delivery.

Visuals

It’s the build up in games like this that is the worst part, then when you see the monster, you can quantify it so it’s a little less scary. That is not the case here. This beautifully realized world has something hunting you that hits the uncanny valley levels of weird to look at. You see this thing coming for you in the dark and it nearly looks real. The render of this title is utterly stunning it plays so well into exactly what this game is trying to do that I’m nearly speechless a I’m trying to explain it.

There is something so haunting about the main enemy, Huggy, that it really sticks with you. You don’t want to look at it but you also can’t turn away. The glassy emotionless eyes and big smile filled with jagged sharp teeth is…well it’s something you must experience yourself as soon as possible.

Pros

• Fantastic atmosphere
• Incredible visuals

Cons

• Wished it was longer