The player controls a retired employee who receives a note inviting them back to the abandoned toy factory after the company's staff mysteriously disappeared.

In the game, the player navigates through a first-person perspective and must solve puzzles, such as requiring a gadget named the GrabPack, to progress while avoiding various monsters in the factory.

The initial release of Poppy Playtime garnered a positive reception from players for its atmosphere, story, and character design, although its second chapter was criticized for numerous bugs.

The game faced several controversies, including its aesthetics and character design's similarities to that of children-oriented media, resulting in popularity among young demographics.

[6] The game features multiple puzzles throughout, which the employee must solve in order to progress further, with some requiring a gadget named the GrabPack, a backpack that can be equipped with two extendable hands which can be used to pull and reach objects from a far distance, conduct electricity, and access certain doors.

[11] In the year 2005, a former employee of a toy production company called Playtime Co. receives a package containing a note and a VHS tape advertising the company's Poppy Playtime doll and tours of their toy factory before abruptly cutting to spliced-in footage of graffiti of a poppy and a letter requesting them to "find the flower".

Upon awakening, the employee finds Poppy gone and explores the factory's rear halls before eventually locating Playtime founder Elliot Ludwig's office.

Along the way, they find a toy phone and receive advice from a voice referring to himself as "Ollie", who warns them that CatNap, Playcare's guardian and a recalled member of Playtime's "Smiling Critters" line, will try and kill them.

Hoping to kill him and save them simultaneously, Poppy intends to detonate the Red Smoke the employee redirected into the factory's foundation with old mining charges.

All the while, he questions their motives for coming back to Playtime Co. and claims Poppy is no better than the Prototype before eventually trapping them in the computer core.

Poppy tasks Doey with distracting him and the employee with fixing a generator necessary for their plans and planting the explosives in the foundation while she protects the Safe Haven's inhabitants.

They flee to an underground construction site, where they use liquid nitrogen canisters, industrial saws, and a tunnel boring machine to kill Doey, who apologizes for his actions before dying.

Originally starting out as a Kickstarter campaign, the idea of Poppy Playtime was originally thought of by game director Isaac Christopherson, stating that people called most indie horror games "walking simulators", giving Mob Entertainment the idea to "create something with gameplay that doesn't feel quite so run-of-the-mill, while still staying exciting, terrifying, and unique."

[30] Poppy Playtime was well-received from players upon its initial release, receiving praise for its atmosphere, story, and character design;[31][32][33] some considered that the game's short length contributed to its popularity.

[27][34] The game has been compared to the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise,[22] with Screen Rant's Austin Geiger calling Poppy Playtime "more engaging" than that series' installment Security Breach.

[42] The game is considered part of the so-called "mascot horror" subgenre, which rose in popularity during 2014 with the initial release of Five Nights at Freddy's.

In response, the developers deleted the announcement but were unable to remove the NFTs as well due to a contract they had signed, stating that they have to wait for it to expire.

[45][46] On May 3, 2022, Mob Entertainment's CEO Zach Belanger posted a statement on Twitter where he confirms that all profits earned from the NFTs would be going to the Clean Air Task Force organization.

[47][48] Dorset Police in England and the Lafayette County, Wisconsin Sheriff's Department both released a statement to parents regarding the character Huggy Wuggy on March 22, 2022,[49] and April 7,[50] respectively, claiming that due to the character's name, various videos were not being blocked by "firewalls"[42][49] and filtered by parental filters on various platforms, including TikTok and YouTube Kids.

[51] The former also claimed that various schools in the United Kingdom reported children recreating a game where one child hugs another and then whispers sinister things into the recipient's ear.

[53] Similarly, a primary school in Adelaide also warned parents about the game, specifically adaptations of it and violent songs featuring the character.

Snopes had also said that inappropriate videos involving the character were not available for younger users on TikTok and YouTube Kids, with spokespersons for each platform confirming so.

[55] In September 2022, El Observador reported that seven children at a school in Uruguay played a game based on Poppy Playtime that instructed them to commit self-harm using pencil sharpeners, with two being hospitalized as a result.

[56] The president of the Institute of Children and Adolescents of Uruguay, Pablo Abdala, states that the incident "confirms that technological development entails a very severe risk".

[61] Poppy Playtime: Forever is a game developed by Mob Entertainment and Jazwares and was released on February 29, 2024, on the Roblox platform.

[64] The live-action feature will be co-produced and developed by Legendary Entertainment and Angry Films' Don Murphy and Susan Montford, as announced in May 2024.