The Five Nights at Freddy's game is set in an office, where the player can see the animatronic figures by keeping an eye on security cameras positioned throughout the restaurant. The player's ability to view the camera feeds, turn on the hallway lights, and close the doors on each side of them is limited.
To keep the animatronics at bay, the player must use the doors and camera feed points spread throughout the building. In the event that the player is unable to do so, they will be startled, and the game will be deemed to be over. To advance until the following night, the player must survive from midnight to six in the morning (8 minutes and 37 seconds in real-time).
Avoiding collisions with Freddy Fazbear, the game's namesake, as well as his three friends Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy is the player's main goal in this game. The fifth animatronic in the Five Nights at Freddy's game is a secret character called Golden Freddy, and the only time he appears is during a hallucination.