With the laboratory on our radar next, just where will the story take us in Poppy Playtime? Who exactly is to blame for The Hour of Joy? The return of everyone’s favorite mascot has massively shaken things up, but will the fifth chapter be the last? We’re venturing closer and closer to finding that mysterious poppy flower and learning who exactly the Prototype is. Motives will surely be uncovered, and I’m just waiting for the reveal that we’ve been playing into Poppy’s hands all along. After all, it is her Playtime.
With four chapters out so far, here is our ranking of all Poppy Playtime chapters. We’ve ranked these based on how entertaining they are, how good the story was, the puzzle and combat elements, and whether they worked with the setting, characters, and difficulty.
4) Poppy Playtime
The first Poppy Playtime game was very restricted, almost like a test of the waters before fully committing to a larger project. There wasn’t much to the first chapter outside of the infamous chase sequence that really impressed me when it came out. Huggy Wuggy’s animation and design looked great, and I loved how his body twisted to fit into the vents, all in a desperate attempt to consume you, the trespasser. Of course, we didn’t know much about Poppy Playtime’s lore outside of the mysterious factory that houses some dark secrets.
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Mostly a walking sim, Poppy Playtime was subtle for its grand entrance. Chapter 1 didn’t have a lot going for it, but it built up anticipation and interest for the development of the second chapter, which added significantly more lore to what was originally a surface-level mystery.
3) Poppy Playtime Chapter 4: Safe Haven
The latest chapter, Safe Haven, was the most experimental take on the story so far. We had more characters than ever, and the lore has reached a point where we could be nearing the end of the series with the release of a fifth chapter. My own qualm with this entry is that there’s just too much running around. I couldn’t properly take in the environment, and when the rare opportunity was opened up to me, I was underwhelmed as the level design was far more restrictive than the third game. I sadly didn’t enjoy the boss fights as much as the second and third chapters and I missed the puzzle-platform elements, as one puzzle seemed to repeat itself over and over again.
I found myself blitzing through this chapter when I’d prefer to take everything in. The enemies you fought could be avoided by continuously running, while Yarnaby can be evaded by walking around, as running alerts him to your presence. What I did enjoy, however, was seeing how far the story has come. I expected the identity reveal at the end, but it was still satisfying. Each character had a good amount of screen time to understand their motives and still question who we can truly trust. The best part of Safe Haven was the lore in the secret tapes, which delved into the backstory of key characters and created more mystery surrounding them like a who-done-it-type narrative. The twist was great as it was cleverly foreshadowed in earlier chapters, demonstrating how thought-out this series is.
2) Poppy Playtime Chapter 2: Fly in a Web
I had the most fun with the story in the second Poppy Playtime chapter. Fly in a Web had a fantastic antagonist and a great pace that kept me engaged throughout. It felt the most complete out of all chapters, and did well to induce panic in each Mommy Long Legs’ challenge. Finding out that these were the test stations for orphans to use made Fly in a Web all the more interesting and creepy, as the lead villain in this chapter was in charge of the “subjects.”
Poppy Playtime does animation and character designs really well and you can see it best in this chapter. Mommy Long Legs is overly animated as a maternal figure who quickly turns to madness when she doesn’t get her way. We see Kissy Missy for the first time and I’m so in awe of the tiny details that bring this long-limbed plushie to life. Even though she never speaks, there is a childlike innocence in this character delivered in her mannerisms and expressions. The detail this chapter has compared to the first is levels above. However, this is the buggiest Poppy Playtime entry in the series, making it harder to enjoy if you get stuck on one of Mommy Long Legs’ tests.
1) Poppy Playtime Chapter 3: Deep Sleep
Deep Sleep has a great mix of puzzle-platforming and action elements, as you could finally fight back against the cursed toys that roamed inside Playtime’s underbelly. Deep Sleep greatly expanded on the lore, both in its secret tapes and location variety. We got to see Playcare for the first time and explore it, building by building, all while being led around by a new mystery ally. The platforming was satisfying and challenging, but not too hard. This was the eeriest entry out of the chapters by a landslide, giving us a mute antagonist that causes hallucinations and a SCP-173/Coil-Head-style enemy that couldn’t move when you watched her.
I really didn’t enjoy the nightmare Huggy section, however, as it felt like a rip-off of P.T., with the voice actor of Harley Sawyer on the radio being a clear inspiration to the Silent Hills teaser. But the boss fights were engaging so long as you could beat them quickly, and the pacing was excellent as each stage never overstayed its welcome. Although Deep Sleep had the most ideas on paper and referenced many overused mechanics from other indie horror, this chapter is really polished.
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