In this post I wish to discuss the video game franchise Poppy Playtime. Poppy Playtime for those unfamiliar is an episodic survival horror video game series first developed and published in 2021 by American indie developer Mob Entertainment. The game is set in an abandoned factory owned by the fictional toy company Playtime Co. The player controls a former employee who receives a letter inviting them back to the factory years after the company's staff mysteriously disappeared. This post will likely contain slight spoilers for the games but will mostly focus on the game design elements, mechanics and aspects that I think Mob Entertainment did will, not well and how they can improve.

I believe Chapter 1 “A Tight Squeeze” is their best chapter by far as it contains only their strengths, which in my opinion are atmosphere, environmental and direct storytelling, and chase sequences. The chapter includes the games most iconic antagonist, Huggy Wuggy, numerous VHS tapes, and a creepy, tension thick atmosphere in the first level of the abandoned factory. The VHS tapes are relatively easy to obtain and do not hinder the flow of the level greatly with the time needed to watch. They are not overly obvious with their lore implications which makes them entertaining and engaging for players leaving them with questions that they will gain answers to as the game progresses. The atmosphere in chapter 1 is phenomenal, it uses great timing, distraction, unassuming areas and a look of abandonment to leave the player nervous and unassuming at the beginning, only to increase tension and nervousness until the chase sequence at the end. An example of this is when the player returns from a separate room to the main lobby after being distracted with other room mechanics to find Huggy Wuggy missing from his platform, the player then continues through rooms waiting for the inevitable until Huggy appears before them as they attempt to leave. The game’s best chase sequence occurs at the end of the chapter when the player is chased through the conveyor belt system, ending with the Huggy Wuggy falling off an incredibly high bridge. This chance sequence is so impactful due to the pressure and tension built throughout the chapter, the enclosed and winding conveyor belt system and the use of code to keep Huggy Wuggy at a certain distance unless significant errors are made, causing a jumpscare and the player to return to the last checkpoint. The player ends when the find the games namesake Poppy Playtime trapped in a box deeper within the facility.

Chapter 2 “Fly in a Web” is most fans favourite chapter as it ups the tension and expands upon the lore and story without straying far from the 1^st chapters atmosphere and environment. This chapter also contains numerous VHS tapes with the same lore importance and flow balance as the first chapter. The atmosphere turns more ominous in the second Chapter as the main antagonist Mommy Long Legs not only speaks but is also very upfront about her hatred and bloodlust for the player. Similarly, her voice lines convey significant amounts of story related to the factory and the player. The main environment the Game Station a place said to be many children’s joys is also abandoned and littered with remnants of their existence. Mommy Long Legs sets up tests for the player to complete before she will allow them to leave however, she rigged the last game and becomes enraged as the player cheats it to survive. This leads to the second chase sequence in the game. This chapter only struggles slightly in its environmental communication for the direction the player must follow to continue the game. This is most significant in the chase sequence against Mommy Long Legs as the player moves back and forth through multiple areas, but the direction is changed each time, and the only indicator is small almost transparent spider webs. This caused quite a bit of confusion for most players and prompted them to start the section again. However, it is still a thrilling and tension high sequence that ends in Mommys’ demise. Upon defeating Mommy Longs Legs and glimpsing the games main antagonist for the first time, the player moves to escape the factory through the game station train however, Poppy Playtime has use for the player yet and they are moved deeper into the factory.

Chapter 3 “Deep Sleep” the atmosphere becomes more ominous and chilling in this chapter as we are brought to Playtime Cos (deep) underground orphanage, again abandoned and some parts destroyed. This chapter more than doubles the previous chapters play lengths as the content and story are significantly longer and with the addition of a bigger and more free roam able level. Unfortunately, while this chapter’s atmosphere is darker than the previous chapters it falls off in some playthroughs as it misses opportunities to create its tension through cutscenes, more directed and communicated level design and visuals. This chapter’s main antagonist is Catnap, who is said to watch and stalk its prey (in this case the player), Catnap appears in the shadows of each playthrough since the beginning however, many players miss these moments as the area is either to dark or the scene should have had a controlled camera. The most significant moment I have seen this occur with is when the player is in the dream state in the orphanages ‘Home Sweet Home’, the player picks up the phone and this chapter’s new ‘ally’ says run, prompting the player to turn towards the door and hopefully see Catnap lurking from beyond its frame. However, because the turn is player controlled some players miss the scare entirely which causes confusion and frustration later in the game as they do not understand or feel Catnaps influence throughout the chapter. Another let down this chapter that led to player frustration and confusion was the lack of flow when it came to move between the sections of the game as well as environmental direction many players felt lost or turned around throughout the chapter. This could have been remedy through use of white paint which they use at some points in the chapter simply to help guide the player. Lastly, and what I believe is most players disappointment with this chapter was the Catnap boss fight as opposed to chase sequence. As I stated earlier Mob Entertainment succeeded greatly with the chases and unfortunately this boos fight did not live up to a good replacement. The fight was confusing, overwhelming and frustrating to most players, as to some due to stalking issues I mentioned earlier were confused as to why Catnap was attacking in the first place. Most players did not understand the mechanics, or the balancing required to complete the boss fight and overall, it took most far longer than intended to complete and was huge letdown. Upon defeating Catnap, they player then learns of why the factory was abandoned and moves deeper into the factory.

Chapter 4 “Safe Haven” was the chapter released this year and while it was lore and story heavy however, some issues that arose in chapter 3 reoccurred here, but most were a least attempted to fix. Mainly the boss fights and directional environment communication. However, I will mention that this is the first chapter where there were many complaints that VHS lore tapes were too hard to acquire and took too long which ruined the flow and immersion. To start the atmosphere in the chapter was dark and suffocating at the beginning and end of the chapter while also keeping it tense throughout which was beneficial to the tone of the chapter. They did this be remedying what happened in the second chapter by adding cutscenes, fixing lighting issues and keeping the environment relatively cohesive. The directional communication was better this chapter as they utilised the white paint, narrow and confined areas and obvious visual blockades to guide the player. However, some sections of the chapter still had issues with navigation due to vision obscurity that was used to challenge the player. Similarly, another mechanic was added to this chapter which lead to the design of some levels being overly complicated and overwhelming. Lastly, this chapter contained two boss fight one for the chapter’s main antagonist ‘The Doctor’ and from our ally turned enemy ‘Doey’. It was quite obvious that Mob Entertainment attempted to learn from their Catnap boss fight by incorporating chase like sequences into both boss fights as both boss fights required the player to keep sprinting and moving to avoid damage or jumpscares. However, this seemed to overwhelm a lot of players causing the boss fights to feel “clunky” and “unorganised” due to rashness and repetitiveness. This chapter did incorporate one pure chase sequence with Doey before their boss fight and many players felt it did the previous Huggy and Mommy sequences justice. In my opinion the tensest and most well-built atmosphere occurs during the end of chapter 4 when the player is enlightened to numerous pivotal lore and story points and is confronted at the end of the chapter. This leaves me excited for the last Chapter and with the attempts from Mob Entertainment to remedy past chapter issues I believe they will continue to work to improve.

Lastly, a complaint I see a lot when it comes to Poppy Playtime is an issue that spans across all chapters as it ties directly to the moment-to-moment gameplay. This is the grab-pack the players only item and what the player uses to traverse Playtime Co. It has numerous hands with multiple abilities for example:

• -Blue Hand – Unlocks blue hand scanners, conducts electricity and moves some objects
• -Red Hand – Torch, unlocks red hand scanners, conducts electricity and moves some objects
• -Green Hand – Stores and transports electricity
• -Purple Hand – Used on purple jump pads
• -Orange Hand – Shoots flares
• -The Omni Hand – Unlocks high security doors

All these hands are obtained and some lost throughout the chapters and they are the mechanics used to complete puzzles. However, many players feel these puzzles do not fit into the Playtime Co environment or story as these hands were only used by employees. Similarly, the hands have incredibly slow switching animations which frustrated players in the Catnap boss fight as multiple hands were required in quick succession. Likewise, these puzzles tended to detach players from the story as it distracted them from there surroundings. The most disliked hand mechanics come from the purple hand and the swinging ability. Many players felt the addition of the purple hand and additional mechanic were redundant to the gameplay and only wasted time. While the swinging mechanic feels unintuitive to some players and the physics feel off putting or strange.

Ill wrap up this post here, the next one will be my opinion on the demo game Quarantine Zone that I played this week. See you then :D.