The Joy of Creation: Story Mode is not only the best non-official game in the FNAF series; it even does better than some of the series’ official titles. It is so good that it could’ve been called Five Nights at Freddy’s 6 and nobody would have noticed. It is terrifying, it is complex, it is hard and it is free. 

The truth behind Scott Cawthon

The creator of the FNAF series, Scott Cawthon, is the protagonist of TJOC Story Mode, showing that it is a true tribute to the original series. Cawthon and his family have to deal with the types of scares that FNAF fans will be used to and it even includes a supposed justification for the cancellation of the 6th game in the series.

Story Mode gives us the “truth” behind the games creation by Cawthon. Freddy, Bonnie and Foxie didn’t come from his imagination, they came from a much darker place. For a fan-made game the Joy of Creation: Story Mode has a deep and absorbing argument that achieves its difficult goal of fitting in with the original lore of the FNAF series.

Its gameplay is also ambitious. All together, there are five levels and each level represents a unique memory that contributed towards FNAF’s inception. Each level is not only long but also unique. 

The Joy of Creation is more varied and longer than any FNAF title. Without giving too much away, in one level you play as a baby that can’t move but who is being stalked by animatronics. Another level takes place in the basement of a house. A basement that is eternally changing an in which you’ll continuously need to keep moving and thinking fast.

Each level has its own rules for avoiding the animatronics. Sometimes these will be explained clearly, whilst others will require you to figure them out for yourself.

A superb setting

The graphics are great. In fact, they’re even better than FNAF’s graphics and the presentation is also superb. This does not look like the work of an amateur at all. The only negative is that you do need to have a decent computer to run the game.

The most important question remains, however. Is it scary? The simple answer is yes it is, very scary. To begin with, we all know Scott Cathorn’s mind and we’re used to his attempts to scare us. Nikson, on the other hand, is a new entity and his levels reinvent their scares and nightmares to continuously catch us off guard.

We want The Joy of Creation 2 yesterday!

If you miss the FNAF saga or you liked the Joy of Creation: Story Mode demo don’t think twice. It’ll exceed all of your expectations and will leave you hungry for the inevitable sequel. Or maybe one better. Can you imagine a collaboration between Scott and Nikson? What an adventure game that would be!