The Five Nights At Freddy's game is set in an office, where the player can observe the animatronic characters via watching surveillance cameras installed throughout the restaurant. The player has a limited amount of power to see the camera feeds, turn on the lights in the hallways, and close the doors situated in them.

The player must utilize the camera feed points and entrances situated throughout the facility to keep the animatronics at bay. If the player is unable to complete this objective, they will be surprised and the game will be considered over. To advance until the following night, the player must survive from midnight to six in the morning (8 minutes and 37 seconds in real-time).

The purpose of the game is to avoid collisions with Freddy Fazbear and his three friends, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy. Golden Freddy, the game's fifth mystery animatronic, only appears when the player hallucinates.