From its first release in October of 2021 to its latest release on Jan. 30, 2025, Poppy Playtime, an indie survival horror game, has returned to extend our view into the twisted universe of Playtime Co.
Leading up to the game’s release, Mob Entertainment released various teasers, trailers and announcements hinting at the idea of what Chapter 4 will be about. Now that the game has been released, we get to learn more about the haunting storyline and experience more thrilling gameplay.
After an ungodly amount of hours watching the recently released gameplay of Chapter 4, paired with the time I spent since 2021 watching my favorite YouTubers play chapters one through three, I believe it’s safe to say I am ready to talk about what we learned from Poppy Playtime over the last four years and what has been added to the franchise.
In the Poppy Playtime universe, Playtime Co. was founded in 1930 by Elliot Ludwig whose dream was to bring joy to children through the toys he creates, even going as far to create “Playcare,” an on-site orphanage at the factory.
In the first game, you play as the protagonist, a retired Playtime Co. employee who returns to the abandoned Playtime Factory after receiving a letter from a staff member who disappeared ten years prior. Throughout the first chapter you explore the main factory, collect a tool called the “grabpack” (which is a hand tool that stays with you throughout the entire game) and complete multiple tasks to restore power. Your main objective is to avoid the antagonist toy character “Huggy Wuggy” and free the doll “Poppy” from her case.
During chapter two you navigate a new area known as the “game station,” and another main antagonist toy named “Mommy Long Legs” is introduced as she tries to hunt you down. Poppy revealed from the last chapter helps you for only a part of this game. In this chapter, you complete more tasks, puzzles and objectives and you mold yourself a new hand upgrade to your grabpack after one hand was broken. You come to learn that the game station was actually used as experimental testing of the orphans, where they endure the same minigames as the protagonist does to test if they can be the next victims of Playtime Co.’s living toys.
The third chapter is where we learn more about the storyline of this game, learning more history of the factory, company and Ludwig himself. You explore the Playcare itself with some help from Poppy, while avoiding new antagonist “CatNap” who you soon find out was a child experimented on to become a living toy. Chapter three reveals the “Bigger Bodies Initiative” which was unethical experimentation on orphans to create giant toys. All of chapter three you are hinted toward a main antagonist called “the prototype” who is believed to be a result of the Bigger Bodies Initiative.
Finally, chapter four opens intriguingly with an ad for a newly introduced character, “Doey the Doughman,” who looks to be a large human-shaped figure made out of dough followed by a chilling VHS video of a boy on Christmas morning in 1992 opening his gift. Later the video cuts to the boy at the Playtime factory with his parents, touring the facility, walking on a platform above vats of dough to make the Doey figurines. Suddenly the boy falls into a vat and the video is cut to the opening credit of the game. The old-timey ad and VHS is a great signature feature, I was excited to see that be included once again, despite its gruesomeness. A few new characters are introduced along with Doey, which is later revealed to be a combination of three children in one experiment, one of those children being the boy who fell into the vat machine. “The Doctor” is a new antagonist with a heavy theme of computers and eyes that can be found throughout the fourth chapter, giving off the impression that he is watching the player progress in the game. The creepy eye aesthetic is one I wasn’t expecting, but I certainly welcomed. I feel like it fits perfectly into the narrative of the character and the gameplay. I find it terrifying when I feel like I am being watched. “Yarnaby” is a yarn-based creature who serves as another antagonist of the chapter, chasing you around as you try to complete tasks.
The lore-building in this game has improved drastically with these newly introduced characters. I’ve found myself growing fond of the scary yarn ball. The Poppy doll makes a return as your helper, aiding you through the game once again to help you take down The Prototype, an antagonist that is hinted at in every game, and vengeful experiment toys that help you escape. I think it’s great they included more Poppy in this chapter, the last three felt more “playtime” than they did “poppy.” Regardless, I would like to see more of the little intelligent character.
In this chapter you are set to explore the secret prison deep underground beneath the factory. You have to combat and avoid angry experimented toys while progressing through the tasks. The grab pack features a new flashlight hand allowing sight in darker areas of the map. Compared to the previous chapters the gameplay and graphics themselves have seemed to improve drastically, from the quality of posters on the walls to the texture of Doey or the amount of hairs featured in a yarn strand on Yarnaby’s head. A dealbreaking factor for me is good quality, with modern development engines it’s great to see games looking more realistic and immersive for the player. It is said that the FPS (framerate per second) may drop in certain busy areas, and fans believe a future update on the game should be made to patch the problem.
Overall, I feel like this latest release seems to be pulling good reviews from fans. YouTubers such as Jacksepticeye and Markiplier have uploaded their gameplay of the new chapter, showing their fans a great in-depth view of everything the game has to offer.
Another YouTube gamer, IHascupquake said “Super good game! I can’t wait for chapter 5.” Her full gameplay at 7 hours and 37 minutes was streamed on YouTube and can be found on her page.
Following the release of chapter four, be on the lookout for easter eggs and videos discussing what new theories fans have in mind now. Overall I believe that the gameplay along with the addition to the storyline has kept fans on their toes, the plot twists and new characters are a great addition and I’m looking forward to what Mob Entertainment will release next.
Emma Osborn can be contacted at
eosborn@kscequinox.com
