I’ll start with a rhetorical question: is it possible to be scared of a game that only lasts 30 minutes and seems to be over before it starts? The answer is yes like a house and with exclamation marks like neon lights. I dived into the Poppy Playtime: Chapter 1 review ahead of the upcoming release of Poppy Chapter 2, and I will never look at this stuffed animal the same way again.
And not the real one.
Poppy Playtime was released last fall and it didn’t take long before it became a huge favorite on streaming platforms, with live shows that had streamers terrified. I’ve always thought that these “influencers” are overdoing it when they play something like this, but after trying this game I can say it’s very disturbing. By the way, you can play it on Steam for $4.99; although you can also play on iOS and Android, where it’s almost 50% cheaper.
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The game begins with a 1950’s style informational video that you watch along with it a VHS cassette. The video looks like something out of Fallout. In it you will be shown the colorful factory where all the magic happens, where everything is cheerful, bright and fun. It is an advertisement for a redhead doll named Poppy PlaytimeHowever, the footage soon takes a spooky turn when other video clips creep in, causing the image to pop out and shake. It’s clear that all is not as it seems, and that’s even more true of the eerie text that appears.
The adventure begins in the Doll Factory lobby, where you must find out where the employees are while navigating the corners of this run-down and dark facility. The atmosphere is of course top notch, there’s a constant feeling that there’s something or someone behind you wanting to jump in your face when you least expect it. And yes, you spend a lot of time walking and immersing yourself in this world, but it’s very important that you don’t be too quick to dismiss this game as “another walking simulator”. Even if it’s short Poppy Playtime is sexier than all Five Nights at Freddy’s combined..
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After this launch, it doesn’t take long to find a closed door that I honestly never really figured out how to open. I just tried things until I luckily found the right combination. I’m not sure how the developers want you to solve this particular puzzle, or if you’re supposed to go through trial and error, but I think it has something to do with the ground you’re walking on. However, when you enter the first room, you’ll find a device with a big blue hand that can be moved back and forth. It is used to grab a lot of things that are near the facilities and later you get a red hand to be able to grab two objects at the same time. This pair is also used to open several doors that are closed and eventually, and without spoiling too much, they will save your life. This mechanic is pretty cool, and while the game can be completed in just 45 minutes, it’s used quite a bit throughout this terrifying adventure. Unfortunately, it all ends before it really begins, and it feels like it could have been a lot longer. Glad there are more episodes to come.
As I mentioned before, Poppy Playtime is the doll that gives the game its name, but this is where you’ll find her too blue and creepy huggy wuggy, a creature of the stuff nightmares are made of. You come across this ten foot tall blue plush monster after getting the red hand, and it just sits there, calm and motionless, in the middle of one of the rooms you enter. Something that doesn’t last long because after solving a few puzzles with these hands, a whole sequence will begin where Huggy Wuggy will chase you around the factory. At this point, everyone can think, “But if Huggy Wuggy is adorable, why would he be scary?” Because he has a huge, creepy grin with more teeth than a shark. It’s amazing how frightening normal cute things can be when they twist and lose all their innocence. It will be impossible for me to see Gonzo from the Muppets like before. If you get caught by that blue bastard, the last thing you’ll see or hear is the beast’s deep jaws and the sound of a string exploding. If you’ve played a game like this, you know what I mean.
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This Chapter 1 ends when you find Poppy Playtime and set the stage for a second episode that continues the story and has already introduced a pink and sombre villain. The development team MOB Games has confirmed that the following episodes will be DLC, so it will be interesting to see if the game time increases significantly after the success of the first chapter. I really hope so.
The game’s graphics are generally great. The doll factory is dark and gloomy, and you can tell it’s abandoned because everything is in ruins, but you can also tell it was once very colorful. In the dark corners lie broken dolls, frighteningly close to large bloodstains. However, it requires that you don’t turn up the lights if you want the atmosphere to remain, and that makes it too dark at times. There’s a scene in particular where you need to start a series of machines and find four colored switches. As everything is very dark, it is quite difficult to find them. However, the sound effects work pretty well overall and help make the experience what it is: very creepy.
All in all, Poppy Playtime is a good experience that lasts less than an hour in which you get really scared but also have to solve some very clever puzzles. It costs about five dollars (less than three dollars for mobile phones), a number that strikes me as good for something that may lead to a much greater experience in the future. what I hope because I’m more than ready to go back to the Factory with Chapter 2.
