FNaF: Into the Pit is a survival horror game based on a novel of the popular Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well , and if it's worth buying.

FNaF: Into the Pit Review Overview

What is FNaF: Into the Pit?

FNaF: Into The Pit follows the story of Oswald, a child who stumbles into the past after exploring the ball pit of a rundown pizzeria. Oswald, who has always found his life and town dull, yearns for excitement and adventure. But when his wish is unexpectedly granted, he finds himself trapped in a past filled with danger. Pursued by a relentless creature, Oswald must sneak, hide, and solve puzzles that unravel the hidden history of the pizzeria, all while trying to protect a younger version of his father from harm.

FNaF: Into the Pit features:
　⚫︎　Multiple endings
　⚫︎　Plot based on the series’ anthology
　⚫︎　Arcade minigames
　⚫︎　Pixel art graphics and animations
　⚫︎　Stealth-based survival mechanics
　⚫︎　Item-based progression

For more gameplay details, read everything we know about FNaF: Into the Pit's gameplay and story.

Digital Storefronts
Steam		PSN		eShop		Xbox

FNaF: Into the Pit Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Amazingly Creepy Ambience Engaging Story Simple But Fun Gameplay	Somewhat Repetitive No Manual Saves

FNaF: Into the Pit Overall Score - 84/100

FNaF: Into the Pit is an excellent survival horror game that both fans of the series and complete newcomers can enjoy. Although it is rather weighed down by its limited gameplay and short clear time, its great story and outstanding audiovisuals do more than enough to make every cent spent worth it. Plus, as a game that’s easy for those unfamiliar with FNaF to get into, it can also serve as a good entry point into the series.

FNaF: Into the Pit Story - 8/10

It doesn’t take a deep, thought-provoking story to keep players at the edge of their seats, eager to sit through every line of dialogue and interactable objects of lore. Sometimes, only one focus is needed, driving the stakes well into the minds of its readers with its linear development and unrelenting push. That’s what FNaF: Into the Pit’s story does, although at the expense of bigger worldbuilding unless you expressly go out of your way to tackle them.

FNaF: Into the Pit Gameplay - 7/10

While FNaF: Into the Pit’s core gameplay isn’t a piece of novelty, it does have just the right amount of embellishment to the common stealth-based survival horror mechanics that it actually feels fresh and fun to play. However, a bit of makeup would be hard-pressed to go the distance, and the gameplay does end up feeling quite monotonous after a while.

FNaF: Into the Pit Visuals - 10/10

It is incredibly difficult to find any words other than praise for FNaF: Into the Pit’s visuals. Not only are they very pretty and animated, they also personify the game’s horrific atmosphere nearly perfectly. The way the game uses lighting is also worthy of applause. Unlike most horror games that excessively utilize darkness to elicit fear, FNaF: Into the Pit uses them sparingly, allowing you just the right amount of visibility to make your skin crawl even in the most unsuspecting of places.

FNaF: Into the Pit Audio - 9/10

Frighteningly foreboding, and gratingly haunting. Right from the start, FNaF: Into the Pit’s music didn’t pull any punches in conveying its genre to the audience. Even the safe areas aren’t, well, safe from its skin-crawling tunes. And in the more dangerous areas, every wail, footstep, and rusty door hinges keeps you on your toes even if the threat is far from your position. Really, its only notable flaw is how excessively it tries to scare you at every point in the game.

FNaF: Into the Pit Value for Money - 8/10

This game easily justifies its $19.99 price tag with its captivating story and audiovisuals. The gameplay could use some work, though. Plus, it’s a rather short game that you can complete after just a few hours, and despite having multiple endings, all of them are accessible from the same point within the last stretch.

FNaF: Into the Pit Review: Frightening Fun At Freddy Fazbear's

Although I’m not a big enough fan of the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise to call myself an enthusiast, I am familiar enough with the series to have no issues keeping up with its releases. Hence, regardless of what happened, I was going to get my grubby, exotic butter-stained fingers on the game anyway. And now we’re here, reading the review.

FNaF: Into the Pit is the game adaptation of Five Nights at Freddy’s Fazbear Frights: Into the Pit, a novel co-written by the original series’ developer, Scott Cawthon. Now, before you think: "Oh, that ain’t good. Game adaptations of shows or novels are terrible;" yes, I agree. However, that’s true perhaps 99% of the time for games based on anime (face it, they are). On the other hand, games based on novels tend to have a better time, with bangers such as Hogwarts Legacy and the Metro series being quick and easy mentions. So, do give this one a chance.

Anyway, things start off swimmingly for the game. And by that I mean it already makes your skin crawl with its spine-tingling music over some rather gritty and, at one point, gruesome imagery. FNaF: Into the Pit’s game adaptation certainly didn’t pull any punches.

That immediately brings us to our first point: FNaF: Into the Pit has absolutely amazing audiovisuals. It not only does the recurring areas of conflict look haunted, abandoned, and foreboding, but it sounds like it too. Heck, even the supposedly safe areas aren’t actually safe, at least from its horrific audio.

The developers were even considerate enough to not fall into the same trap as many horror games do by relying excessively on darkness to manipulate you into feeling isolated. Instead, they often provide just the right amount of lighting that brings about the same effect without sacrificing your ability to actually play the darn game.

Back to the plot: You take on the role of little Oz; a rather disturbed teenager with a complicated relationship with his father. This fact is central to the narrative and conflict, as you, the character, will progressively come to terms with it along the way.

In fact, that is really the game’s only narrative. The plot is extremely linear. But, in this case, that’s a good thing. In some games, having multiple narratives or even just having side quests can cause a feeling of disparity between the supposed urgency of the main quest and your activities. But here, the gravity of your goal is really drilled into your head, as everything you do is technically pointed towards it.

Actually getting to that point, though, will have you go through some gnarly stealth sequences. That term, though, goes both ways. See, FNaF: Into the Pit is the kind of survival horror where you have no way of fighting back against the baddies. You can only run, hide, or distract them so you can do your job. Though the game does make an effort into adding a bit of color into this otherwise rather boring gameplay loop, it doesn’t have enough embellishment to make the experience last until its final phases.

In other words, it gets boring. Rather quickly, too, considering there’s only really one recurring area where there’s actual danger.

Fortunately, FNaF: Into the Pit doesn’t overstay its welcome. Anybody can clear it within several hours, provided they’re attentive enough to remember details. In fact, there’s only five stages (or nights) in the game, and each of them needs barely an hour to complete. Yes, there are multiple endings, but all of them can be accessed at roughly the same point in the game.

For a game that only asks $19.99, though, that short clear time is easily justifiable. It doesn’t ask for much, but it provides more than enough in terms of its story and audiovisuals that you can easily forgive its above-average gameplay and lack of content.

So, yes, it’s definitely going into my favorites of this year. And I have no doubt that most of you will agree that FNaF: Into the Pit is a standout title amongst its horror-inclined peers.

Pros of FNaF: Into the Pit

Things FNaF: Into the Pit Got Right
Amazingly Creepy Ambience Engaging Story Simple But Fun Gameplay Tasteful Jumpscares

Amazingly Creepy Ambience

FNaF: Into the Pit’s audiovisuals work wonders in getting you into the right mood. It near-perfectly uses the two main senses you use in playing games—your sight and hearing—to paint its portrait of a world haunted by supernatural monsters inhabiting animatronic suits. Even the decision (or limitation) to use pixel sprites are beneficial to the game’s setting, forcing you to fill in its visual holes yourself with the guide of its terrifying music.

Admirably, it also doesn’t fall for the same trap as other horror games that use darkness excessively. Despite having a flashlight on your hands, you are rarely required to use it. Instead, it feels more like an item designed to keep your spirits up, knowing that you have something to lean on when things get too tough (or dark). Instead, most of the game’s poorly-lit areas are given just enough visibility that its audio can worm into your head and coerce you into imagining the worst possible sights hidden from sight.

Engaging Story

FNaF: Into the Pit follows the tale of Oz as he tries to rescue his father who was replaced by a haunted animatronic. That’s basically it. However, that simplicity allows the game to focus and give the impression that the stakes are real; you need to save your father as soon as possible, and you don’t have the time for much else.

The writing style, natural in its composition but concise enough to not be a slog, is also major plus for the narrative. It’s even more of a joy to read than actually playing the game.

Simple But Fun Gameplay

Like any good survival horror without weapons, FNaF: Into the Pit has its stealth mechanics down pat. It forces you to do all of the usual tricks such as keeping out of sight, making little noise, and hiding from patrolling enemies, yes. But the third aspect is given a bit of a makeup with QTEs in order to properly avoid enemies.

Keeping you on your toes with such simple mechanics makes the game very entry friendly while maintaining its entertainment value.

Tasteful Jumpscares

While some may argue that jumpscares are a cheap tactic to elicit a reaction from an audience, I believe that it’s a great tool provided that it isn’t overused. Thankfully, the game’s ambience does most of the heavy lifting around here. Its jumpscares are few and decently far in between, allowing them to capitalize on any sense of security you may develop after getting used to the game’s mechanics.

Cons of FNaF: Into the Pit

Things That FNaF: Into the Pit Can Improve
Somewhat Repetitive No Manual Saves

Somewhat Repetitive

Unfortunately, despite having a solid grasp on survival horror mechanics, FNaF: Into the Pit’s gameplay can feel monotonous after a few chapters (nights). This is mostly the fault of the limited mechanics and areas available for exploration; the latter of which have only a couple of areas that actually pose a threat to your safety.

Plus, Fazbear’s Pizzeria, which is the recurring setting with danger, has a basic enough layout that it wouldn’t take you more than an hour to memorize its in and outs. This allows you to basically run circles around the hostile animatronics without any issues, thereby taking all the suspense away from the chase sequences.

No Manual Saves

Now, I do understand why some games rely exclusively on auto-saves to mark your progress. Manual saves come with the possibility of save scumming, after all. And save scumming is, just as its name implies, kind of scummy. However, the checkpoints aren’t very gracious either, and there’s just something annoying about being forced to go back simply because of irrelevant matters that force you to close the game.

They could at least implement save stations, right? But, then again, the game isn’t that long anyway, so I guess it’s not a major issue.

Is FNaF: Into the Pit Worth It?

Yes, Even If You’re New To FNAF

Regardless of whether you’re looking for a new title about your favorite series, or are just browsing for a good horror game to play, then FNaF: Into the Pit is an excellent choice. Its price also justifies its relatively short clear time, as you can easily clear it within a handful of hours if you’re attentive to details. Plus, you can easily springboard to the main FNaF games from this, as it’s very entry-friendly and barely makes important references to the previous titles.

Digital Storefronts
Steam		PSN		eShop		Xbox
$19.99		Coming soon

FNaF: Into the Pit FAQ

Is FNaF: Into the Pit canon?

The game is based on the first volume of Five Nights at Freddy’s Fazbear Frights: Into the Pit, co-written by the original developer of the FNAF games, Scott Cawthon.

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FNaF: Into the Pit Product Information

Title	FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S INTO THE PIT
Release Date	August 7, 2024
Developer	Mega Cat Studios
Publisher	Mega Cat Studios
Supported Platforms	PC (Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch
Genre	Adventure, Survival, Horror, Indie
Number of Players	1
Rating	T (Teen)
Official Website	Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit Official Website

Alfonso Majarucon

Writer of things from game, anime and manga reviews to news and webnovels. Hopelessly addicted to story-driven games, especially cross-platform ones. Favorite games include Punishing Gray Raven, Arknights, Limbus Company, Elden Ring, Touhou, Soul Nomad and the Disgaea series (except 3 and 6). Avid..