The action of the Five Nights At Freddy's game takes place in an office, with the player seeing the animatronic actors through surveillance cameras placed at various tables. The player has a limited quantity of energy with which to monitor the camera feeds, illuminate the corridors, and lock the doors at each end.

The player must use the facility's doors and video feed points to protect themselves from the animatronics. The player will be frightened and the game will end if they are unable to do this. The only way for the player to advance to the next night is to stay alive from 12 am till 6 am (8 minutes and 37 seconds in real-time).

The goal of the Fnaf game is to keep Freddy Fazbear and his three friends, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy, out of the way of the player's character. The sixth animatronic, Golden Freddy, only appears in hallucinations and is only accessible through a secret area in the game.