Buckle up, for you’re about to join us down the rabbit hole in our Poppy Playtime story explained guide. Like FNAF, the game that inspires it, Poppy Playtime has some convoluted lore that you may miss on your first time playing through the chapters – or even the second and third. There are a lot of facts to string together, along with some clever deduction and speculation.
If Poppy Playtime lore doesn’t interest you and you prefer to run from animatronics, our FNAF games guide is a great read. Mind you, if you do dive in, you might want to read our FNAF characters guide to see who has it out for you. Or, for an even deeper look at these individuals, check out our specific character articles, such as FNAF’s Freddy, FNAF’s Chica, FNAF’s Roxy, FNAF’s Vanessa, FNAF’s Foxy, FNAF’s Bonnie, FNAF’s Mike Schmidt, and more.
Anyway, it’s time to put on our detective hats and uncover the events that transpire in the Poppy Playtime factory – here’s the Poppy Playtime story explained.
The history of Playtime Co.
Poppy Playtime’s Elliot Ludwig founded Playtime Co. in 1930, the same year that his marriage fell apart, resulting in divorce. It’s fair to say that his dedication to his work and workaholic lifestyle contributed to his wife leaving him. However, the loss of his love didn’t deter Ludwig from achieving his dream of bringing joy to children.
He worked tirelessly to create a line of toys that children love. In fact, he went the extra mile with the launch of Playcare, an on-site orphanage. Ludwig believed that all children should feel love and comfort. While this appears to be a humanitarian mission, we all know it has unfathomable consequences for children and employees alike.
Still, this seemed to be a great venture for a while, at least until the death of a family member in 1960. Though we have no concrete evidence of this, a popular conclusion is that it’s his daughter – a loss of that magnitude certainly explains the drastic actions he takes further down the line. This could well be the catalyst for what we all know is to come.
During Poppy Playtime Chapter 4, there’s an untitled red tape that’s very easy to miss. This tape sees Poppy discussing the aftermath of the Hour of Joy, and reveals herself to be Elliot Ludwig’s daughter, explaining that things were better when he was in charge. While the details are still foggy, this leads us to believe that Poppy was sick or died at a relatively young age, and Playtime Co’s experiments began as a means of bringing her and other sick children back in the bodies of toys.
This is supported by other tapes found throughout the chapter where employees reflect on some of the awful things they’ve seen inside the factory, justifying it because of the ‘great work’ and results that may come of it if the experiments continue. Unfortunately, it looks like these experiments got out of hand over time, potentially when Ludwig was no longer in control, resulting in far more torture, pain, suffering, and death than good.
The experiments
The pure intentions of Ludwig’s company and its Playcare orphanage turned to dust with the loss of his loved one, for this is when the abhorrent experiments begin. Ludwig wanted to put people into the toys, and that led to some disastrous results. However, before we dive into the horrors, we need to point out that some experiments are consensual (not that this makes up for the way Playtime Co. tries to play god). In a couple of cases we actually know the people behind the toy, and we think we’re likely to uncover more of them in later chapters.
Thomas Clarke
Thomas Clarke is a (rare) example of a consenting experiment. In 1991, he signed up to be a subject when he’s diagnosed with lung cancer, and this resulted in him becoming Poppy Playtime’s Bron.
Marie Payne
This is a heartbreaking story, as a kind and caring woman went through unceremonious torture and experimentation that ultimately turned her into Poppy Playtime’s Mommy Long Legs. As we’ll discuss in the Chapter 2 section, she harbors a lot of anger, resentment, and hostility, making her an incredibly dangerous individual to the Playtime Co. staff. However, as her transfer request indicates, she’s not always been this way – in fact, she was known to be a very motherly being, loving and looking after the children in the game station.
A little extra tidbit is that her last name, Payne, sounds exactly like ‘pain.’ I wonder if this is an unfortunate coincidence or a foreboding omen of what’s to become of her.
Makayla Hyssop
Makayla Hyssop was a test subject who turned into a Poppy Playtime Candy Cat toy. Unfortunately, Playcare had essentially become a breeding ground for experimentation by this point. Here, the children were required to complete three different tests (not that they’re aware that’s what they’re doing). Through these tests, Playtime Co. employees could determine how successful an experiment may be.
Theodore Grambell
An orphan of Playcare, Theodore is the child who goes on to become CatNap. He had an imaginary friend that caused some concern with the staff, which is unsurprising given it turns out his pal was the Prototype. Experiment 1006 led the child into all sorts of trouble, and to put a stop to his rebellious nature, the staff made him part of the Bigger Bodies Initiative. As CatNap, Theodore was in charge of putting the children to sleep in Playcare, preventing their escape, and even kidnapping them as the staff commanded.
Quinn Navidson
Another orphan of Playcare, Quinn Navidson was a troubled and shy child who frequently ripped the heads off toys and switched them out for other toys’ heads due to a desire to make them “prettier”. This behavior even spilled over into his trials at the Game Station, where he was noted as having bitten the heads off some of the Whack-a-Wuggy plushies.
Dr. Harley Sawyer took a special interest in Navidson, believing that the child held himself back so that others would have lower expectations of him. Sawyer convinced Navidson that he could ‘see the real version of him’, encouraging him to try harder at the tests, which resulted in much better scores. Following this, in 1990 Sawyer chose Navidson to become Experiment 1666, the Bigger Bodies experiment title for Poppy Playtime’s Yarnaby.
Documents originally describe Yarnaby as docile, agile, and highly impressionable, surprisingly not showing the signs of hostility that other experiments displayed towards scientists and staff. Sawyer saw this as an opportunity, deciding to isolate him and manipulate him into becoming his personal bodyguard. Following Sawyer’s removal, Yarnaby lapsed into an unresponsive state, longing for his master to return. However, in Chapter 4 we see that Yarnaby got his wish, serving under the new version of The Doctor and behaving in a far more hostile manner at his command.
Riley
Riley was an orphan who entered the Playcare in August 1994 at age 12, following the death of her parents. Riley initially felt like an outsider due to most of the other children having arrived at the orphanage at a much earlier age, noting her feelings and memories in a journal that you can find scattered throughout Chapter 4.
In her diary, she recounts the process of trying to fit in, then her feelings upon being “chosen” by Dr White, initially believing that it meant she’d been adopted by a couple. However, her later entries reveal that she was instead transported to the prison beneath the factory and given a shot, after which her “skin opened up like flower petals” and she saw “a man who looked like a doctor digging around inside me, taking thigs out.”
After this, she found that everything hurt, and her body wasn’t hers any more, implying that she’d been turned into an experiment. During and after the Hour of Joy, Riley hid inside her cell and refused to eat bodies like the other survivors. She later noted that the train is the main method of transport in and out of the prison, deciding to take the key from the dead conductor to “make sure no one else can come here”, hoping that she can at least save just one person.
As the protagonist, you find the key with Riley’s corpse in Chapter 4. Her body appears to be a skeleton with pink fur and a tattered blue ribbon around her neck, suggesting that she was a failed first attempt at making a Bigger Bodies variant of Poppy Playtime’s Kissy Missy. This is supported by the Huggy Wuggy we know being noted as Experiment 1170, and the Kissy Missy we work alongside having the name of Experiment 1172, suggesting that there was another experiment between the two and leading us to believe that Riley was, in fact, Experiment 1171.

Chapter 1: A Tight Squeeze
Poppy Playtime Chapter 1 sees a former Playtime Co. employee return to the abandoned factory after they receive a letter from staff that disappeared ten years ago. Not only do they get that letter in the post, but it also comes with a VHS tape that initially shows an old commercial for the titular doll, Poppy, but it cuts to some spliced-in footage of a graffiti flower on a wall. The letter tells the former employee to “find the flower,” so off they set for the dilapidated factory.
It’s a fateful decision that may prove fatal. Still, we have to be brave. We have to find out the truth. It’s clear that the factory is abandoned, and it’s obvious that something is seriously amiss. You might get the feeling that something is watching you, and you’re most certainly right, as that giant Poppy Playtime Huggy Wuggy statue is the real deal, but he doesn’t intend to do anything with you… yet.
Instead, you gain access to the factory itself and get to work. Throughout your time in Chapter 1, you can find numerous VHS tapes that help to shed some light on what happened at Playtime Co.
Why doesn’t Huggy Wuggy attack you immediately?
Some question why Huggy pretends to be a statue and then disappears instead of attacking you straight out the gate. The simple answer is that this is a game, and it would be mighty short if the protagonist instantly dies. Plus, it’s a horror videogame; there has to be some build-up. Still, this is a story-explained guide, so let’s dissect Huggy’s choice from a narrative point of view. Huggy Wuggy is part of a security system, and through warnings we uncover in the chapter, we discover that he springs into action if someone is in the factory from 8pm onward, or if an individual is in an employee-only area without authorization to be there.
From this, we can deduce that we likely entered the factory before 8pm, and as we weren’t in a restricted area when we first saw him, he had no reason to attack us. By the time we’re running for our lives from him in the closing moments of the chapter, we are in an employee-only section.

Chapter 2: Fly in a Web
After you free Poppy from her case in Chapter 1, you get to work on finding a way out of the factory. Shortly after trying to find a way out, Mommy Long Legs shows up to ruin your day, snatching Poppy while she’s at it. She then sets you a challenge to complete three different games in exchange for the code to the train.
She gets gradually more unstable each time you escape death, going so far as to kill Poppy Playtime’s Bunzo Bunny and the Mini Huggy Wuggys for their failure to kill you. It’s unclear whether Poppy Playtime’s Pj Pug-a-pillar receives the same fate, as Mommy appears to come straight after you, claiming that you, in her words, cheated in order to win the final game. Sure, you cheat, but considering how rigged the game is, that spaghetti lady can get out of here with her nonsense.
Soon enough, the chase is on as she takes it upon herself to kill you. However, things don’t go her way as we turn the tables on her. In her final seconds, she screams “no, he’ll make me part of him.” ‘He’ refers to Poppy Playtime’s Prototype. We know very little about him, but we suspect he may be Elliot Ludwig. Either way, a claw comes out from under a gate, dragging the deceased Mommy Long Legs away.
From her comments in the chapter, it’s clear that Mommy Long Legs recognizes you, and given the experiments she was subjected to as Marie Payne, it’s hardly surprising that she wants to kill any former Playtime Co. employees she sees. We certainly can’t help but wonder who we are. Did we take part in the heinous events that transpired in this wretched place?

Chapter 3: Deep Sleep
Poppy Playtime’s CatNap is the villain of the hour in Deep Sleep. You find yourself in Playcare, the place where the orphans lived, and the big bad cat is on the prowl. It turns out he emits a red gas that gives horrifying nightmares, something you’re unfortunately subjected to. On the plus side, you finally learn that Poppy is actually one of the good ones, as is Kissy Missy, with both of them helping you out.
CatNap is a loyal servant of the Prototype, and throughout the chapter, it’s evident that he has harmed other toys in the name of his god. Including the other members of the Smiling Critters, you even stumble across Poppy Playtime’s DogNap, a poor pooch who deserves better than the ending he gets.
Thanks to a young boy named Ollie, you successfully navigate the horrors of Playcare, leading to a nightmare-fueled showdown with CatNap. When the toy fails to kill you, he learns just how cruel his so-called god is, as the Prototype’s claw-like hand comes down from a vent, piercing and killing CatNap.
Following that ordeal, Poppy shows you a videotape of The Hour of Joy, the name of the massacre that took place in 1995. Both the guilty and the innocent lost their lives to toys such as Huggy Wuggy, Mommy Long Legs, Boxy Boo, Miss Delight, and CatNap. Ultimately, you decide to descend further into the factory with Poppy and Kissy to put a stop to the horror.
Kissy Missy has to wait for the next ride down (for some reason), and you hear a blood-curdling screech. Something has happened to Kissy; Poppy cries out for her friend as the two of you make your way back up to where she is. I swear to all that is good, if Kissy dies, I’ll go on a rampage of my own.

Chapter 4: Safe Haven
Poppy Playtime Chapter 4 starts off with an introductory Playtime Co advert for the new character, Doey the Doughman. This is followed by a VHS home video where a child named Jack receives an invitation to a tour of the Playtime Co factory, but is victim to a tragic accident where he falls into a giant mixing vat.
After this, Safe Haven picks up directly where Deep Sleep ends – you’re on a lift going down to the lower floors of the factory with the intent of saving the surviving orphans, while listening to the cries of Kissy Missy above. Leaving you at this new lower level in the factory, Poppy returns to the floor above to help out Kissy, but not without warning you that this new area is “not trying to hide what it is. It’s hell, and Playtime wanted it to be…” Luckily, Poppy also points out that “we have friends down here”, and it’s up to you to help them.
Chapter 4 sees you explore the Prison beneath the factory, facing off against Dr Harley Sawyer – now known as The Doctor – who is now a type of ‘toy’ himself. Pairing up with Doey the Doughman, Poppy, and Kissy Missy (who thankfully survived the attack), you head to Safe Haven, where Doey and a group of other non-hostile toys are hiding out.
Poppy’s plan is to have you obtain a special GrabPack hand called the Omnihand from The Doctor, then use it to start up Safe Haven’s backup generator. From there, she plans to save the surviving orphans before blowing the entire factory up. Doey, who has acted like a guardian to the non-hostile toys, doesn’t want you to blow up the factory, but goes along with the plan temporarily because he acknowledges that they need the backup generator if they hope to survive.
In order to face The Doctor, you must first get through Poppy Playtime’s Yarnaby and the Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critters led by Baba Chops, all of which are under his control. Finally, you manage to make it to his lair, fighting through a terrifying room of sentinels controlled by him before shutting down the computer that his brain’s attached to and snapping up the Omnihand.
Returning to Safe Haven, you start up the generator, but unfortunately The Prototype’s hot on your heals. And, while you’re busy trying to carry out the last phase of your plan, The Prototype is busy destroying Safe Haven, killing many of the innocent, non-hostile toys that reside there.
This sends Doey into a fit of uncontrollable rage, as he blames you for bringing this upon his home. He chases you throughout the foundation level until you finally manage to defeat him, seeing him return to his passive state and apologize to you in his final moments.
Meeting back up with Kissy and Poppy, you soon learn that Poppy Playtime’s Ollie was, in fact, The Prototype all along, and he’s been manipulating you and Poppy and watching your every move. He makes it clear that it’s Poppy he’s after, and she quickly runs away shortly before you and Kissy are also separated.
Finally, you find yourself in a room full of poppies (the flower, not the doll) as you approach a small office where a tape tells you that you’re now headed to the lab, but that you shouldn’t be here. There’s one final surprise before this chapter ends, as you see through a small window that Huggy Wuggy is back, and he looks real mad. Guess we’ll have to wait until Chapter 5 to see how that plays out!
With that, you now know the Poppy Playtime story so far. There are many Poppy Playtime characters out there, and with new ones due to arrive in Chapter 3, it’s the perfect time to learn about Poppy Playtime’s Boxy Boo, Poppy Playtime’s Cat Bee, and Poppy Playtime’s Daisy.