Poppy Playtime is a horror puzzle adventure game where you are pursued by vengeful toys in an abandoned factory. Amidst the disturbing music and jump scares you hack electrical circuits and collect useful items. Along with the unusual horror setting, your two extendable arms create novel interactions and extend the horrific clown aesthetic. The level of horror and violence varies significantly for each of the separately downloadable chapters.

You used to work at the toy factory and return a decode later after the staff seemingly disappeared. Play involves exploring each area and using your extendable hands to find clues, make electrical connections and solve the mystery. As you do this though, you are hunted by Huggy Wuggy, Cat-Bee, Mommy Long Legs and Poppy Playtime toys.

There is controversy around the game similar to the Momo Challenge moral panic. Because of the popularity of the game TikTok and YouTube creators have made scary fan videos about the Huggy Wuggy with lyrics that include "hug until your last breath together" and "sink my teeth in and you're consumed". This was misconstrued as being an encouragement to harmful actions in the game and led to warnings from head teachers and Police. While the game content is edgy, it's rated suitable for 12-13 year olds and doesn't include any encouragements for self harm.

The game is released in chapters, each of which have different levels of violence and often vary in age rating:

• Poppy Playtime Chapter 1 (2021)
• Poppy Playtime Chapter 2 (2022)

It's a game about the thrill of dread. Drawing on games like Five Nights at Freddies and films like Child’s Play, it creates terrifying monsters from innocent playthings. Huggy Wuggy, for instance starts looking like a 10 foot tall cuddly toy but soon reveals its sharp teeth. The challenge is solving the obscure puzzles, often with the help of the wider player community.