In the Five Nights at Freddy's, the player is in an office, watching the mechanical figures through surveillance cameras placed throughout the restaurant. The player has a finite quantity of energy with which to monitor camera feeds, illuminate corridors, and lock off exits.

The player must use the facility's doors and video feed points to keep the animatronics at bay. If the player is shocked before this is accomplished, the game is over. The player must make it through the nighttime hours of 12 am to 6 am in order to go to the next night (8 minutes and 37 seconds in real-time).

The goal of the Five Nights at Freddy's game is to keep Freddy Fazbear and his three friends, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy, out of the way of the player. In the game, the player will occasionally have hallucinations, at which time a hidden fifth animatronic known as Golden Freddy would appear.