Emily Wants to Play

Did You Know?

• Review aggregator Metacritic found that the original game received 'generally favourable reviews'.
• Gamespew praised the game's creation of a 'disconcerting atmosphere' and effective jumpscares, but found the gameplay to be overly luck-based at times.
• Digitally Downloaded praised the effectiveness of the game's jumpscares but ultimately found it 'difficult to get invested' in.

Gameplay

You play as a pizza delivery man making his final drop-off. When you step inside, the front door slams shut and locks, with Emily briefly appearing before it. Your goal is to survive from 11 PM to 6 AM. Each hour, a new antagonist—either a doll or Emily herself—becomes active. You must learn how to deal with each one to survive the six-minute-long hours. If any antagonist catches you with a jump scare, you lose, but you can restart from the beginning of the last hour. Notes and a kitchen whiteboard offer clues on handling the dolls, though the whiteboard often contains lies meant to mislead you. The dolls’ mechanics build on each other, and you survive by playing children’s games with them.

At 11 PM, the toys do not attack, but you can explore the house. However, Emily will kill you if you enter the basement hole at any hour except between 4 AM and 6 AM.

At 12 AM, Kiki the porcelain doll becomes hostile. When you hear her laugh, she might be right behind you or elsewhere in the room. If you see her, you must stare at her until she disappears. Only then are you safe until you hear her laugh again.

At 1 AM, Mr. Tatters the clown doll becomes hostile. He laughs and makes sounds to detect your movement. You must stay completely still and avoid clicking anywhere, even if he appears in front of you. After a while, he sighs and leaves, allowing you to move again.

At 2 AM, Chester the ventriloquist dummy becomes hostile. He has a childlike laugh. When you hear it, you must immediately leave the room you are in to avoid being killed. The only way to escape him is to get out of his current room.

At 3 AM, all three dolls are hostile at once. You must remember how to handle each one separately, and you may face two dolls at the same time, making it more difficult.

Plot

A month prior to the events of the game, two bodies were discovered in the living room of a house at 905 Sister Street while the occupants were preparing to move. An online pizza order is placed for that address, seemingly by a deceased ghost girl named Emily Withers. A delivery driver from Checkers Pizza, a parody of Domino's, arrives to deliver the order. The order instructions state the door is unlocked and to enter without knocking. Once the driver steps inside, the door slams shut and locks behind him. Emily briefly appears near the door during a flash of lightning, implying she locked it. Inside, the driver meets Emily and three animated dolls: a porcelain doll named Kiki, a clown doll called Mr. Tatters, and a ventriloquist dummy named Chester. He also discovers a flashlight in one room. Emily and the dolls insist on playing children's games with him, including peek-a-boo, red light green light, tag, and hide-and-seek. Making a mistake in any game results in death. A whiteboard in the kitchen displays misleading survival instructions, though it occasionally includes accurate comments or facts. A laptop in the same room was used to place the pizza order. If the driver successfully plays all the games and survives from 11 pm until 6 am, Emily and the dolls will allow him to leave the house.