I'm being told that in the books Freddy's actually IS in a mall, so I'm gonna go ahead and put another one in the W column for old Chiptide!

I actually think you're onto something since in the first FNAF novel, the Silver Eyes, the Pizzeria was incorporated into a mall. TBF, it was a standalone building with the mall built on top of it, but by the time the fist FNAF game takes place the mall should have been built.

If FNaF was taking place in a Mall it would explain SO MUCH. Like just how bad the entire police investigation must have been while child corpses were rotting the entire establishment and the lack of windows desperately tried to keep the smell in. Watch out shoppers, this building has a LASTING impact on your designer clothes.

William just pulls up in his car in the middle of a shopping center in take cake to the childre like, "Yeah, the underground carpark was full..."

I love how Scott just made a little indie game as a last attempt at game development and expected it to get nowhere and instead people still debate the most minute details about the first game that most likely mean nothing.

We learned in FNaF2 that bright lights can mess with the animatronics' sensors, that could include sunlight

simple, the windows are on the ceiling. the dining area in fnaf 1 is very much implied to be illuminated by moonlight from above, and this is even confirmed in the novels where the protagonists get into the building through them.

Something else of note, casinos also have no windows, since it doesn't allow people to see the time of day, and thus, spend more time in the establishment. arcades are just casinos for kids, no?

(Fnaf being the most weird story ever) Chiptide: WHERE ARE THE WINDOWS???????????

Everyone's talking about the books, but I think that this makes Security Breach cooler. Freddy's started in a mall, and now it IS the mall!

7:12 the top right "Blind spot" is where the building's safe room is. So the 2 areas on each side of the stage are the only places where fnaf 1's front door can be.

Great video, but I like the idea that the building in a strip-mall/plaza, like the Chuck E. Cheese buildings. It just create a nostalgic uncanny feeling to me in my opinion.

Steel Wool employee: "write that down, write that down!" *Jumps into the time travelling ball pit*

I've been in dozens of arcades and types of buildings FNaF is based on and none of them really have windows either. They only usually have windows near the entrance and it makes sense in two ways. 1. Better lighting control for the stage. A lot of pizza places with animatronic shows from the 80s preferred the ability to easily blackout the room before and during the show. 2. Consumer psychology. In casinos there is a pretty well known design choice to have no natural light on the game floor to make people lose track of how long they've been there. I'm not entirely sure if FNaF is supposed to have an arcade but this could definitely have been a design choice because arcades still use this tactic very often today as well.

Reminds me of this joke: “June 7th, 1942: Edward Hopper completes his best known painting, the seminal Nighthawks. When asked by a Chicago Tribute reporter about the philosophical meaning behind the diner having no clearly visible exits Hopper responded, “Shit. Fuck. I did it again. Goddamnit. Fuck. Not again. I did it again. Shit." and slammed his hat on his leg.”

Ohhhh, so that's why the Freddy's location was in a mall in the book trilogy...

i love modern FNAF theorising on the older games, it seems like we can all actually find real solutions to the desiciones that a man with no experience in the field he's making a horror game actually make sense logistically like old Game Theory theories

Personally I think the reason why it doesn't have windows is pretty simple, Freddy's is an arcade as well right? like chucky cheese is, and arcades usually don't have windows to prevent you realizing how much time you've spent in the building playing games, its the same tactic that casino's use. there fore its probably the tactic Freddy's uses to prevent customers from realizing how long its been so they spend more money.

I really love the mall concept, but another thing is that theoretically, looking at the timeline if this location was built in 1983 or later, than lets imagine this sequence of events: Crying Child is killed, William kills Charlotte, THEN the restaurant is built. If this sequence of events happened then William might not have windows put in to make it easier to murder children or hide bodies without being seen from the outside. Windows could be a real pain when this place is probably really popular with the public, and all it takes is 1 curious pedestrian to look the the window and all of Williams plans are foiled and he ends up in prison.

I see a lot of people pointing out the fact that Freddy's was in a mall in TSE, but also the novels give a reason for that odd crawlspace in front of the office, too! It's the Show Stage control room, it serves as the AV hub and can manually override the animatronics into performing. The little room plays a big role in TSE and it is one of my favourite scenes in the book.

Considered that by the time of the fnaf 1 location had opened the missing kids incident aswell as both bites had happened, makes sense theyd not have enough money to build a new location. And for everyone in the comments saying the fnaf 1 location couldn't be the mall location in the books, William was still alive before it would've opened, and the fnaf 1 location is the last one we know he might have had a hand in

I like this theory a lot but it could also just be because arcade themed places usually just don’t have windows to make you feel like you’re in the cool techie world. That could’ve been the case with an FNAF

Door can't be in the restroom blind spot due to the sealed saferoom.

Edit 2: yeah FNAF 1 Freddy's is not in a mall, FNAF 3's night one phone call has Phone Dude say he talked with a guy who helped design the building. So, I have a few things to say about this video. 1. In the fnaf novel "The Silver Eyes", the windows are in the ceiling. It's that simple. And while yes, there was a mall built around the pizzeria, it was just that, a new building that covered the old one. This actually plays into the story, as the main characters use the space between the mall and the roof of Freddy's to get into the pizzeria after the main entrance was closed ( I think welded shut? ) by actually going I think into a janitorial closet using the window in the ceiling. 2. I'm pretty sure there's like, a boarded up door in the fnaf 3 mini games that's above where the bathrooms are but it's not the safe room. My guess is that's where the front door is. ( I mean the door being next to the safe room wouldn't fit Fazbear Entertainment but ehh.. idk ) 3. Sorry, but Freddy's is mostly likely not in a mall. During the fnaf 3 minigames the fnaf 1 pizzeria seems to be abandoned and water is leaking from the ceiling, which is likely part of the reason Afton got springlocked. I just doubt any mall owner would let a pizzeria where kids went missing stick around long enough to become abandoned in those minigames. 3.1. I also forgot to mention Afton was trapped in the safe room where he died in the fnaf 1 location for 30 years. I really don't expect that to be possible in a mall. Well, unless the mall was abandoned around the time when Freddy's closed, but that's kinda convenient. Edit/Note: This isn't meant to be mean or anything, just me giving my own perspective and opinions based on my own knowledge. Also, I understand it's all just for fun, but my point 3.1 kinda uses canon evidence that the final conclusion of the entire video is absolutely wrong.

what you overlooked, is that fnaf1 is canonically NOT the first game, AND that there's already precedent for underground bunkers 'n stuff... so while it would make sense in a mall...it could also just be underground, in general, because there'd already BE enough popularity that people want to go there, much like sister location bunker (granted that one apparently shut down instantly after opening so might not count?), and sister location also reveals stuff that's generally accepted as fnaf 4 locations on the map, whereas fnaf 4 is set in a normal-looking house and title screen implies it to be a real house... and fnaf 3 has minigames set in the fnaf 1 location also (at least seems to match layout), which is shown to be quite abandoned, which...y'know... while there are definitely abandoned malls, I kinda doubt that the mall would shut down at the same time as freddy's....and if it didn't, then if freddy's shut down earlier, the mall would try to get other shops to replace 'em, likely putting several shops even (given the space), and if freddy's shut down later (explaining it being intact enough)...then why the hell would kids want to go to eat pizza at some empty and essentially abandoned mall??? I guess unless like, either henry or (more likely) william had like, some sort of strong influence on the mall, by themselves? somehow convincing them to just keep the spot empty??? also, the partial ownership of the mall idea could kinda support some weird things, such as why the hell security breach's pizzaplex is built on top of like 2 or 3 or 4 layers of previous franchise stuff...not directly, as fnaf1 isn't one of those layers, but it'd make sense as the restaurants have famously been...not open very long before closing...generally closing within a couple years, constantly rebuilding old and new animatronics, including super fancy ones with facial recognition tech for fnaf 2 (which comes before fnaf1, for some reason, lol), so they needed to have damn good income, as far as we know nobody's really confirmed to be like mega-billionaire either with enough money to just throw at the projects, but being full, or partial owner of a mall or two, would probably bring enough passive cash to be able to do at least some of this stuff, at least the fnaf1-3 levels of stuff...

Thing is in the games that Freddy’s goes into decay and disrepair after the company goes into financial trouble post FNaF 2. The Freddy’s would have just stopped being rented out and been replaced had it been in a mall - the mall wouldn’t have let the space fall into decay and lack of maintenance for multiple years like it does between 1985 and FNaF 1. There’s also the problem of the place being left with Springtrap in it decaying even further after Follow Me (directly after FNaF 1) for THIRTY YEARS while not being demolished, cleaned, inspected, or replaced before the Fazbear’s Fright crew breaks in and steals company property after the company had shut down for their amusement park attraction. That proves it has to have been a standalone building, as a privately owned standalone building is really the only kind that would be left to that fate so long as the company couldn’t afford to clean and maintain it. A rented mall space wouldn’t be subject to those pressures and would have Freddy’s replaced years before it could fall into dust and cobwebs from disuse. I mean, the building’s even still there for the revived Fazbear Ent to send Silver Parasol Games to the location and scan the restaurant in person to use the restaurant’s dining area for the environment of the hub world and the off-camera rooms leading up to the behind-stage area for the end of Pizza Party.

Video Idea: Examine the Funtime Animatronics to see how expensive and realistic they'd be in real life, and maybe you can find how early they could exist in the fnaf timeline. Even though they look futuristic, maybe in engineering, they aren't. Besides y'know, the fact that they can walk

14:35 I feel you, man, when my local Toysrus closed it was replaced by a f*cking Burlington, literally also replacing my childhood with a clothing store For me, any Burlington is public enemy #1

Hey,guys,who has the heart to tell him there's a room that's just not on the map? Also,if I'm really gonna be a jerk about it (and I am), it's likely Henry or Phone Guy who had this place built as William probably wasn't part of the company anymore

I thought Freddy's just had the average Chuck E. Cheese layout, a brick n mortar store that got covered into a kid's restaurant.

I figured the size of the vents was part of the reasoning for no windows. But honestly even that answer is dumb

I appreciate you making content even though it doesn't take off as much. A lot of people decide to just give up after some time if they don't gain hundreds of thousands of views after a couple of months. I can clearly see that you can shrug off those views, because this isn't probably the main way you gain money, but rather a way to educate people just like MatPat (and now Tom as well as Santi, Lee and Amy) did. Keep on making good content dude, we, or at least I, appreciate your commitment!

Furthermore, not having windows also increases the amount of the electricity bill for the lighting, while simultaneously making the place less desirable. This is the type of hidden costs and benefits many people simply overlook to their detriment.

Cutting to "Nowhere to run" while ranting about the cafe is hilarious!

cant believe no one has ever thought about that. Great video

I mean, the FNAF 1 restaurant also had the Safe Room that wasn't on the map, where the Springlock suits were kept and where the murders actually took place, so it would be a bit bigger.

This is such a well thought out FNAF theory. The fact there are no windows and that the location is inside a mall explains so much about how the budget was cut back.

Also when you're talking about the price don't forget the help wanted retcons Like the price counter and how it has.A price counter and behind it is a giant room with stuff,also the kitchen and safe room.

A lot of people seem, to be saying that Freddy's is using Casino logic, they want people to lose track of time so they spend more time in the arcade and spend more money. Only 1 problem with that, I checked all the camera angles, and this Freddy's doesn't HAVE an arcade, it's just the restaurant! And having people lose track of time and take up a table at your restaurant longer than they need to is a pretty bad idea...

For the most part Freddy’s being in a mall makes sense to me, but what about the safe rooms. You can’t just seal off a room when you’re space is rented from a mall right?

Freddy's so broke they can't pay the window tax.

"Richard, hit that intro" keeps getting more drawn out progressively and I feel like one day it'll be "Richard...." *two minutes later* "HIT THAT INTRO!"

I know a better way to find the measurements of the building; hack Baby into the FNaF 1 map in Help Wanted, and compare it to her measurements in the Sister Location blueprints. The video also got some other information wrong, but I still enjoyed it!

They probably didn’t have windows to make people lose track of time. Kinda like casinos. Lose track of time so they buy more pizza or whatever and stay longer

Well, you can still have windows at the front if it is a mall. Also, wouldn't it being in a mall make it kinda weird that you're a night guard at one specific shop, and that you're capable of running out of power?

Cool theory, and it certain works for the books, but there's an issue with the games. Namely, the fact that William drove right up outside the front door and killed Charlie, WHILE she was looking in through a window btw, before rounding the corner, dumping her body among the trash along the side of the building, and then driving off around that same corner to escape. So not only would the road need to be right in front of the entrance and turn around the corner, but there has to be a window there too for Charlie to look in through. So yeah, definitely not in the middle of a mall. We know Charlie was killed outside Freddy's and not Fredbear's for the same reason, because although Fredbear's entrance does open directly into a parking lot, it DOESN'T have a window directly next to the doors. Considering Fnaf 2's "Take cake to the children." minigame shows that the door Charlie is locked outside of is connected directly to the main party room, it's safe to say that the entrance is in there, probably to the left of the stage near parts & service specifically, not only because we can see the corner of the main room in Fnaf 6's Security Puppet minigame, but because it's also slightly to the left in "Take cake to the children." instead of being centered. There would just need to both a door AND a window in the space between the corner and the stage, which seems entirely reasonable.

Lol Freddy's is in a mall in the novels 😂

This actually makes a lot of sense as that means fazbear entertainment likely just bought out and renovated an old dying mall rather than reconstructing everything on top of an old building

This also makes sense to why the Safe Room would be boarded up post springlocking as well. If the Mall were ever to be re-renovated at any point in the future (because that was definitely rain leaking in, let's be fair), it's highly likely the spot Freddy Fazbear's was in would be bought out by another company, who would then find the decaying corpse of William in the side room. Clearly from the wall being knocked down in FNaF 3 to unleash William again, the mall was never renovated after being closed, but it would've been an extra step on Henry's behalf of making sure William suffers for as long as possible, as well as covering over his own tracks.

Construction worker: Alright the restaurant is done! Owner: But where are the windows? Construction worker: HAH nah.

Man, I'm so glad you went over this, I love deep-dives into trivia and applying real-world logic to weird fiction stuff that most would just shrug off. Also, once again, gotta appreciate the music choice.

This is like classic game theory research and science but applied to fnaf

Right like whenever I build the building in games, I have to remind myself that there are no windows so I usually put them at the entrance because I believe they they don't allow natural light so they can using lighting for the animatronics.

I always figured the lack of windows was to keep you inside longer and to prevent you from realizing how much time you've spent. Kind of how some grocery stores do.

You're wrong! There are windows in the security office! (But if you only take windows that lead to the outside of the building, then yes, there are none...)

Grocery stores usually dont include windows so customers dont realize how much time they're spending there. I worked in one, and the ONLY "window" in the entire building was the front door. 8 hour shifts there were maddening because without the gradual shift in lighting from the movement of the sun, it almost felt like you existed outside of time in some kind of nightmarish vaccum. Also, every Chuck e Cheese I've ever been in also had very few windows. Aside from the very front of the building, I don't recall seeing any others as a kid.

Loving the analyzing of the atmosphere of the building instead of the lore! Fels straight outta the early days!

7:55 I'm only a casual enjoyer of the FnaF series, so I'm basing my guess on what I've been told about casinos: there are no windows, to throw off your sense of time. If you can't look up and realize the sun's started setting while your kids were having fun, you might accidentally spend three+ hours in Fazbear's, buying pizza and game tokens despite originally planning on only being there for around an hour.

I’ve always wondered where the windows are, it makes it feels so distance and a bit unrealistic without windows. Of course the fnaf maps are designed to be creepy and not entirely like an actual restaurant

After roughly a decade, the truth finally, FINALLY comes out

Another reason for no windows could be that Afton didnt want anyone to accidentally see him do anything through a window, so he made the building without them

This really does feel like old game theory where they would overthink the real-world science of video games (or at least, my memory of "old game theory"). Screw thinking about the lore, I wanna know where the windows are.

I think the easiest answer is that Scott put game design first and worried about the way a functional building works later. But this is a really interesting theory I wonder if it will ever get an answer.

I personally believe that Fazbear entertainment did this for more money reasons than just construction. if Freddy's had windows, then that would mean that Freddy's would have a cheat code for a free show. all u would have to do is just sit there at the window outside the building and bam free show. they probably did this so no one could see except paying patrons forcing people to have to actually enter the Restaurant in order to have a show.

I never noticed until you highlighted the hallways on the map, but doesn't the map look like the ghost kid sprite? with the showroom being the head, the hallways the tears, and the security office being the body? sorry if someone already commented about this

7:12 See, I believe that the one in the Bathroom is the Safe Room, the one to the East of the Main Stage is the Main Entrance, the one to the West of the Main Stage is a window, & the one behind the Player is _potentially_ *if* it’s not in a Mall, & is stand-alone as depicted, that it’s the Back Exit

tbh, Fnaf 1 was just a reused building by the establishment so yeah, it would cost less for the freddy fazbear entertainment.

God, I remember when this is what game theory did before getting all lore crazy. this is really nice, hearing a mildly crazy person crunch some numbers

I'd completely forgotten about Rainforest Cafe until you mentioned it! I didn't get to go often, but I loved that restaurant 😊 I don't blame you for still being upset about it being replaced.

so by now theres like a hundred comments saying and mentioning stuff you forgot, but can i just say that watching this video and seeing all these diagrams has probably been the most pleasant throwback to the experience of watching old game theory that ive had in years not that much a peep of lore in sight, just some math equations and interesting conclusions being drawn, and using kids drawings in order to measure a restaurant, i liked this

then why do they need a seperate guard just for the pizzeria, even though there are already night guards in the mall?

I would love to see a follow up, comparing this to the FNAF VR and FNAF movie layout

No windows? No witnesses for stuffing bodies in animatronics. No easily smashed sections of your walls for your state of the art animatronics through.

That was super fun and enjoyable to watch! I really enjoyed your sense of humor and informative approach. Awesome video!

14:42 No freaking way! literally the same thing happened to the Rainforest Cafe in my childhood mall... I think now its some other foreign resturant, but ye 100% agree that the Rainforest Cafe is the coolest resturant. I think Disney land has them?

hit that intro

I used to work at a Chuck E. Cheese in high school. There were only a few windows by the front door and that's it. So to me, Freddy's having no windows seems more realistic. Also I think a strip mall would make more sense than a shopping mall.

Again, I’m gonna cite the fan theory that the FNAF 1 location was a purpose built death trap to bag guards for remnant experiments.

Imagine if the FNAF2 location was in a mall and the animatronics got loose into it. That, along with a theme park location, would be awesome to go with.

It's easy, actually. Windows = Outside world = Natural 3D environment = Higher risk of the game looking unrealistic and breaking immersion = FNAF ugly That's why there were no humans, either. xD

The mall argument is strengthened by the fact that FNAF takes place in Utah which is in the USA, instead of somewhere in Europe for instance.

That would explain security breaches sudden 'Pizzaplex'. They took over a whole mall

Another possibility is that freddy's was built by converting a preexisting structure, like a warehouse. Which makes the installation of windows structurally difficult due to having to temporarily bypass the supporting walls they're meant to become part of. (It's this bypassing that makes adding windows more expensive than installing them during construction)

Freddy’s like most stores has a little amount windows to make people accidentally stay longer, therefor spend money. And the door is just the camera maps weird design, they’re spaced with either doorframes or just nothing for the showroom/hallways

I love your energy, keep it up!!

So why don't they have enough power for the doors then? I would agree that some establishments maybe were in malls. But the one from the first game - I kinda doubt it. It would make more sense to have limited power if it was a dinky lone restaurant in the middle of the dessert somewhere and the power came from a generator or a battery that gets charged during the day or something. If I would rent a place in a mall, I shouldn't have to worry about power. Also... I don't think there would be much point in hiring a security guard for a restaurant inside a mall. A security guard for the whole mall maybe yes, but not for a restaurant inside a mall.

what if afton didn't actually build the restaurant what if it was a casino that he bought and transformed into a restaurant casinos are well known for not having windows and as you said, installing windows in an existing windowless building is really expensive

It could be a mall. BUT It could be like a casino, a lot of casinos dont have windows because the idea is to keep you inside gambling, spending, 'enjoying' yourself. Without windows, you lose track of time, which is perfect if your having pizza and spending money at the arcade, without windows, you cant tell that its suddenly become late afternoon and you spent your parent's $40 already.

Might be on to something with this Mall theory, since the new Freddy's in Security Breach is literally a mall(Megaplex)

if the representation of the location in fnaf vr is acurate at all to what it looked like in real life, then the large empty void in front of the office is actually the prize corner... but they still don't include a front door anywhere.

My thought was always about how much stuff seemed to be squirreled away in the walls… what mall would either let some guy build a wall in their rented space, or seal a dead bony behind a wall of their own accord??? Maybe all the wall shenanigans happened in Fredbear’s Family diner though.

The Pizzaplex makes a lot more sense now, it was based on how their first location was inside of a mall. But the new question is, how much does the FNAF 2 pizzeria cost then we move onto Freadbears Family Diner, until we make it to the question of how much did the Pizzaplex cost.

Makes sense to me. Another great video!

Perhaps, The Pizzaplex was originally just a normal mall, but probably smaller, and they just added onto it, which might make the fact it is near the other freddy's locations make more sense? And when they expanded the original building, they just built over the other stuff then, since they didn't want to bother to remove it instead, and couldn't just change the location? Hmm...

Huh, I always thought of it as being a measure to prevent the animatronics from getting out - after all, Fazbear Entertainment are aware that the animatronics get quirky at night. However, I think the establishment being in a mall makes a lot of sense.

Although It is implied that the fnaf 1 building is the old building they had and they were originally somewhere else. If it really was a mall location, then that would mean that no one would have bought the mall space over that course of time or they got lucky and any business that purchased the space closed down and they managed to buy the old building at the same time.

For some reason I feel like I’m watching an au version of Game Theory. Like, I know that matpat’s not the only one allowed to make theories of video games.

15:06 Could have taken 3 minutes to google this. It's literally in the first chapter of the first novel, It's in an abandoned mall.

13:23 That would also explain why the place isn't pitch black at night time, it's all natural lights from sunroofs displaying outside lol (if this scenario were true about the skylights, that is. Probably why the Dining area would logically be the brightest of the rooms excluding any rooms with literal lights built into the celling.)

13:28 its possibly that fnaf 1 location would be located on top floor consider that in fnaf 3 cutscenes it shows that the location is being flooded so skylights or ceiling could have been broken