The Five Nights at Freddy’s timeline is not the kind of story you casually understand by playing one game after another.

What started in 2014 as a seemingly simple horror game about surviving five nights inside a haunted pizzeria has exploded into a massive universe of killer animatronics, hidden minigames, mysterious characters, secret experiments, time jumps, virtual reality and lore buried inside the smallest details imaginable.

That is exactly why figuring out the Five Nights at Freddy’s games in chronological order can feel like trying to solve a murder mystery while Freddy Fazbear is standing outside the office door.

The series does not tell its story in a straightforward timeline. Some games take place decades before the entries released before them. Others revisit the past. Some involve events spread across multiple time periods. And a few games still have placements that remain heavily debated by the FNAF community.

So, for players who want to experience the major story from the earliest known point to the modern Pizzaplex era, this guide breaks down the best current chronological order for the FNAF games.

There is also a complete release-order list for players who would rather experience the franchise exactly as it originally arrived.

One important thing needs to be made clear before jumping into the timeline: there is no completely settled official master timeline covering every FNAF game and event. Some placements are supported strongly by dates and clues found in the games, while others are based on widely discussed interpretations.

That means this is best treated as the most practical current story order, not as an officially published calendar from the developers.

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Should You Play the FNAF Games in Chronological or Release Order?

For a first-time player, release order is still arguably the best place to start.

The original Five Nights at Freddy’s introduces the core gameplay, the haunted pizzeria mystery and the strange behavior of Freddy Fazbear and the other animatronics without expecting players to understand years of hidden backstory.

As the games continue, new characters, locations, mysteries and major revelations are gradually introduced.

Chronological order creates a completely different experience.

Instead of discovering the lore piece by piece as players originally did, you move through the story from its earliest known periods toward the increasingly strange modern era.

That approach can be especially interesting for returning players who already know the basics and want to trace how the franchise’s story developed across different decades.

Just remember that some placements remain uncertain. A few games have strong chronological evidence, while others still leave room for interpretation.

With that warning out of the way, here is the best current way to play the major Five Nights at Freddy’s games in chronological order.

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Five Nights at Freddy’s Games in Chronological Order

1. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic

Approximate setting: 1979

The current chronological journey begins with Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic, taking the series further back into its history than the other major games.

The game is set at Murray’s Costume Manor, an abandoned workshop connected to the reclusive inventor Edwin Murray.

Players take on the role of a Fazbear technician sent to retrieve valuable prototype technology. Naturally, this is FNAF, so the job becomes much more terrifying when the technician encounters the Mimic.

The Mimic is a prototype endoskeleton capable of adapting to costumes and imitating characters. Its story explores the technology and history surrounding this mysterious creation.

The commonly used 1979 placement is based on clues and timeline interpretation rather than an explicit date supplied by the game’s official description, so the year should be treated as an approximate setting rather than an absolutely confirmed timeline date.

Secret of the Mimic was released on June 13, 2025. It is currently available on PC and PlayStation 5, with later releases also arriving on Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch.

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2. Five Nights at Freddy’s 4

Approximate setting: 1983

The timeline then moves to Five Nights at Freddy’s 4, which is generally placed in 1983.

This entry completely changes the atmosphere of the earlier games.

Instead of sitting inside a security office at a pizzeria, players control a young child inside a bedroom, trying to survive terrifying animatronics during the night.

Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy return in nightmare forms, but surviving them requires a very different approach. Players need to listen carefully for audio cues and constantly check different areas of the bedroom.

The game’s connection to 1983 comes largely from an in-game television Easter egg referencing Fredbear and Friends. That clue helps place the story around the period commonly associated with the infamous Bite of ’83.

Because of this, FNAF 4 is generally regarded as the earliest major entry connected to the original Freddy Fazbear storyline.

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3. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2

Approximate setting: 1987

Even though Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 was released after the original game in 2014, its story takes place earlier.

This time, players work inside a newly reopened Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where surviving the night means dealing with both the older animatronics and an entirely new generation of characters.

The game introduces major additions including The Puppet and Balloon Boy.

Players also receive one of the franchise’s most recognizable survival tools: the Freddy Fazbear mask, which can fool many of the animatronics.

Then there is the music box.

Keeping it wound is essential because failing to do so can allow The Puppet to become a deadly threat.

The game’s placement in 1987 is one of the clearer points in the FNAF timeline because of the date associated with the player’s paycheck.

Its events are also closely connected to the mysterious Bite of ’87, one of the franchise’s earliest and most famous mysteries.

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4. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location

Approximate setting: early 1990s, commonly placed around 1993

Here is where the timeline starts getting messy again.

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location is one of the more difficult games to place precisely.

The story moves away from the familiar Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza setting and takes players into Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rental.

Instead of simply surviving inside one security office, players take on the role of a technician performing overnight maintenance tasks throughout the facility.

That means moving through different areas, completing specific jobs and encountering an entirely new collection of animatronics.

These include Circus Baby, Ballora, Funtime Freddy and Funtime Foxy.

The game represents a major shift from the traditional FNAF formula.

Its placement after FNAF 2 and before the original Five Nights at Freddy’s is a common interpretation based on dialogue and references connected to the history of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.

However, the exact year remains uncertain, so this placement should not be treated as a firmly established date.

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5. Five Nights at Freddy’s

Approximate setting: early 1990s, commonly placed around 1993

Now comes the game that started everything.

The original Five Nights at Freddy’s places players in the role of a night security guard working inside Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.

The mission sounds simple.

Survive the night while Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy move through the restaurant.

Of course, surviving is easier said than done.

Players remain inside a security office and rely on security cameras to track the animatronics. Doors and lights can keep danger away, but the building has limited power.

Use too much electricity and eventually those defenses become useless.

The game is commonly placed in the early 1990s, with 1993 being a widely used interpretation of the available clues.

This is the game that establishes many of the mysteries that later become central to the franchise, including the strange history of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza and the disturbing behavior of its animatronics.

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6. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit

Best-fit placement: after the original game, but chronology is complicated

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit refuses to play nicely with a normal timeline.

The reason is simple: time travel is central to its story.

Players control Oswald, a boy who discovers a mysterious ball pit inside a rundown pizzeria.

The ball pit transports him into the past, where he encounters a terrifying animatronic threat.

Because the game moves between different periods, it cannot be assigned one clean chronological year.

Its story connects to the 1985 period through the events accessed using the ball pit, while the modern portions of the game are much harder to place precisely within the larger game continuity.

For a practical story playthrough, placing Into the Pit after the original FNAF and before FNAF 3 works as a best-fit position.

That placement should not be treated as definitively confirmed.

The game’s official description itself emphasizes that Oswald travels through time between different periods.

So think of this entry as a major timeline detour rather than a simple chapter that happens during one specific year.

7. Five Nights at Freddy’s 3

Approximate setting: around 2023

After all that jumping around, the timeline suddenly leaps forward several decades.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 is set approximately 30 years after Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza closed its doors.

Players now work inside Fazbear’s Fright: The Horror Attraction, a location built around the legends and disturbing history of the old Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza restaurants.

Then comes the attraction’s biggest discovery.

Springtrap.

Unlike the earlier games, FNAF 3 mainly revolves around one animatronic capable of directly killing the player.

That does not mean the other threats disappear.

Phantom versions of familiar characters can interfere with important systems, forcing players to manage cameras, audio and ventilation while desperately trying to stop Springtrap from reaching the office.

This game represents one of the biggest jumps in the FNAF timeline, pushing the story decades beyond the original restaurant era.

8. Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator

Setting: after FNAF 3

At first, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator looks almost suspiciously cheerful.

Players are given control of their own Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, managing the business, completing activities and building the restaurant.

But this is still FNAF.

Once the restaurant closes, the horror returns.

Players must deal with dangerous animatronics while working inside an office and trying to survive the night.

The presence of Springtrap provides one of the biggest chronological links to FNAF 3, placing Pizzeria Simulator after those events in the commonly accepted timeline.

The game is also an important chapter in the original storyline because it brings together several major characters and plot threads from the earlier games.

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9. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted

Setting: after the events of the classic games

This is where FNAF starts entering its modern era.

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted was originally designed as a virtual-reality experience and places players inside the fictional Freddy Fazbear Virtual Experience, created by Fazbear Entertainment.

The experience recreates situations inspired by previous FNAF games while introducing new material.

Its premise matters enormously to the chronology.

Fazbear Entertainment is attempting to reshape its public image by presenting the horrifying stories surrounding its restaurants as exaggerated or fictional.

Steel Wool describes Help Wanted as a collection of classic and original minigames set in the Five Nights universe, and the game can be played with or without VR.

For a story-focused playthrough, it belongs after the major events of the earlier games and Pizzeria Simulator.

10. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach

Setting: modern FNAF era

The franchise takes another huge turn with Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach.

Forget the tiny security office.

This time, players can explore the enormous Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex.

The protagonist is Gregory, a young boy trapped inside the massive complex overnight.

Gregory must navigate the Pizzaplex while avoiding its dangerous animatronics, but he receives unexpected help from Glamrock Freddy.

The game introduces a much more open and free-roaming style compared with the original FNAF formula.

It also establishes the setting for the modern storyline that continues through Help Wanted 2 and the Ruin DLC.

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

Setting: after Security Breach and before Ruin

The modern timeline continues with Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2.

The game expands the VR-focused side of the franchise while connecting heavily to the Pizzaplex storyline.

Players take on the role of a new Fazbear employee and complete a wide range of minigames and tasks involving different aspects of the company’s operations.

The game draws heavily from earlier FNAF experiences, particularly Sister Location, while also incorporating characters and elements from Security Breach.

Its chronological position becomes especially important because of its connections to the events that follow in Security Breach: Ruin.

For that reason, the recommended story order is:

Security Breach → Help Wanted 2 → Ruin

Steel Wool officially describes Help Wanted 2 as a sequel to its earlier VR experience, while official materials identify Ruin as the story DLC in which players control Cassie inside the abandoned Mega Pizzaplex.

12. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach – Ruin

Setting: after Help Wanted 2

Although Security Breach: Ruin is downloadable content rather than a standalone numbered game, it is essential to the modern FNAF storyline.

The expansion returns players to the Mega Pizzaplex, but this time the location has been abandoned and left in ruins.

Players control Cassie, Gregory’s friend.

After receiving a distress call, Cassie enters the damaged complex and attempts to find Gregory.

The Pizzaplex is now far more dangerous and significantly more damaged than it was during the original Security Breach campaign.

The DLC also expands the story surrounding the Mimic and other mysteries introduced by the modern games.

Steel Wool officially describes Ruin as a free story DLC for Security Breach and confirms Cassie as its playable protagonist.

For a chronological playthrough of the modern storyline, it should be played after Help Wanted 2.

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The FNAF Chronological Order at a Glance

For the cleanest practical story playthrough, use this order:

1. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic — approximately 1979
2. Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 — approximately 1983
3. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 — approximately 1987
4. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location — late 1980s/early 1990s, placement debated
5. Five Nights at Freddy’s — early 1990s, commonly placed around 1993
6. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit — multi-period story; best-fit placement after FNAF 1
7. Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 — approximately 30 years after the original restaurant’s closure
8. Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator — after FNAF 3
9. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted — after the classic-era storyline
10. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach — modern era
11. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 — after Security Breach
12. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach – Ruin — after Help Wanted 2

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The Important Caveat About Into the Pit

Into the Pit is the one game that should not be treated as having a simple single-year placement.

Its story deliberately moves between different periods, with Oswald traveling into the past through the ball pit.

Because of that, the order above is best understood as a recommended play order, not as a claim that every event shown in Into the Pit happens between FNAF 1 and FNAF 3.

Five Nights at Freddy’s Games in Release Order

Chronological order is great for players trying to trace the story.

But playing the franchise in release order gives you the experience fans originally had, with mysteries and revelations arriving gradually over time.

Here are the major releases in the order they arrived:

1. Five Nights at Freddy’s — 2014
2. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 — 2014
3. Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 — 2015
4. Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 — 2015
5. FNaF World — 2016
6. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location — 2016
7. Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator — 2017
8. Ultimate Custom Night — 2018
9. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted — 2019
10. Five Nights at Freddy’s AR: Special Delivery — 2019
11. Freddy in Space 2 — 2019
12. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach — 2021
13. Security Breach: Fury’s Rage — 2021
14. Youtooz Presents: Five Nights at Freddy’s — 2022
15. Freddy in Space 3: Chica in Space — 2023
16. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 — 2023
17. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit — 2024
18. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic — 2025

Security Breach: Ruin should be treated separately because it is downloadable story DLC rather than a standalone numbered game.

It originally launched in 2023, while Help Wanted 2 released later that same year.

It is also worth noting that Five Nights at Freddy’s AR: Special Delivery is no longer readily available through the standard mobile storefronts, making a complete release-order playthrough more difficult.

So, Should You Actually Play FNAF in Chronological Order?

For newcomers, release order remains the safest recommendation.

The original games were designed to reveal the mysteries surrounding Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza gradually.

Playing them in release order means experiencing those revelations in the same general progression as the original audience.

Chronological order works better for returning players who already understand the basics and want to examine the larger story from its earliest known point.

The two recommended approaches are:

Best for newcomers:

FNAF → FNAF 2 → FNAF 3 → FNAF 4 → Sister Location → Pizzeria Simulator → Help Wanted → Security Breach → Help Wanted 2 → Into the Pit → Secret of the Mimic

Best for a story-focused replay:

Secret of the Mimic → FNAF 4 → FNAF 2 → Sister Location → FNAF → Into the Pit → FNAF 3 → Pizzeria Simulator → Help Wanted → Security Breach → Help Wanted 2 → Ruin

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Why Is the FNAF Timeline So Complicated?

Because FNAF almost never tells its story directly.

Unlike many game franchises, Five Nights at Freddy’s rarely presents its narrative in a straightforward chronological format.

Players have instead had to reconstruct the larger story using clues hidden across multiple games, including:

• Minigames
• Paychecks
• Newspaper clippings
• Phone messages
• Dialogue
• Environmental details
• Easter eggs
• Hidden endings
• Character appearances
• References to earlier incidents
• Clues spread across multiple games

Some timeline dates are easier to establish than others.

FNAF 2, for example, provides strong evidence for its 1987 setting, while FNAF 4 contains clues pointing toward 1983.

Other games are much harder to place.

Sister Location has been debated for years because its exact position is not explicitly stated.

Into the Pit creates even more confusion because time travel is central to its story.

Then the modern games added another layer to the madness by introducing the Mimic, digital experiences, virtual-reality recreations and stories that revisit events from earlier periods.

The result is a franchise where players can spend years examining clues and still argue over where certain events belong.

There is currently no simple official calendar that resolves every FNAF event.

What About FNaF World and Ultimate Custom Night?

Not every FNAF release needs to be forced into the main chronological sequence.

FNaF World is a role-playing spin-off featuring characters from across the franchise. It does not function like the main horror games and does not fit into the central timeline in the same straightforward way.

Ultimate Custom Night is also difficult to treat as a conventional chronological chapter.

It is primarily a customizable challenge experience featuring a massive roster of characters from across the series.

Other spin-offs, including Freddy in Space 2, Freddy in Space 3: Chica in Space and Security Breach: Fury’s Rage, are also better treated separately from the core chronological storyline.

Players trying to understand the main FNAF narrative do not need to force every spin-off into the timeline.

The Bottom Line

The Five Nights at Freddy’s timeline is complicated by design.

The current best practical chronological playthrough begins with Secret of the Mimic, moves through FNAF 4, FNAF 2, Sister Location and the original Five Nights at Freddy’s, then continues through Into the Pit, FNAF 3, Pizzeria Simulator, Help Wanted and the modern Security Breach era.

The biggest exception is Into the Pit, which does not fit neatly into one chronological slot because its story spans multiple periods.

The exact dates of several older games also remain matters of interpretation rather than officially confirmed calendar entries.

For first-time players, though, the recommendation is simple: play in release order.

For returning fans ready to dive into the lore from its earliest known point, the chronological order above offers the best practical route through Freddy Fazbear’s increasingly bizarre history.

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Disclaimer

This guide is intended as an evergreen reference for the Five Nights at Freddy’s game timeline. FNAF’s chronology contains several intentionally ambiguous elements, and some dates or placements are based on in-game clues and widely discussed interpretations rather than explicit official timeline statements. The chronological order presented here is therefore a best-fit story order and may change if future games provide additional information or clarify existing mysteries. Release dates, availability and platform information may also change over time.

Official Sources

• Steel Wool Studios — Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic — Official game information and Mimic/Edwin Murray details.
• Steel Wool Studios — Secret of the Mimic announcement — Official release information and game description.
• Steel Wool Studios — Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted — Official information about the VR experience and its gameplay.
• Steel Wool Studios — Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 — Official game information.
• Steel Wool Studios — Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach – Ruin — Official information about the Ruin story DLC and Cassie.
• Mega Cat Studios — Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit — Official game description and time-travel premise.
• Steam — Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic — Official store listing, developer, publisher and release information.

Featured Image Credit: Scott Cawthon / Steel Wool Studios