The action of the five nights at freddy's game takes place within an office, and the player has the ability to observe the animatronic characters via monitoring surveillance cameras placed at various positions throughout the restaurant. The player has a limited amount of power to watch the video feeds, turn on the lights in the hallways, and close the doors that are positioned on each side of them.

In order to keep the animatronics at bay, the player must make use of the doors as well as the camera feed points that are positioned everywhere throughout the complex. The player will be surprised if they are unable to accomplish this, and the game will be regarded over if they are startled. In order to go to the next night, the player has to make it through the period between midnight and six in the morning without dying (8 minutes and 37 seconds in real-time).

Avoiding collisions with the game's namesake, Freddy Fazbear, and his three friends, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy, are the four animatronics that the player needs to keep an eye out for. There is a hidden fifth animatronic in the game known as Golden Freddy, and the only time he makes an appearance is when the player is having a hallucination. This is the only time Golden Freddy is seen.