Kandyland is Five Nights At Freddy’s but, in my opinion, so much worse. Thrusting you into a colorful yet eerie carnival setting that’s littered with forgotten candy canes and reminiscent of American Horror Story: Freak Show, the horror game is all of my worst fears combined. Kandyland, however, does hide a secret within that, for many, will make or break their experience.
“When I created this place, I was inspired by one thing: joy,” our narrator says, framing a pink, dancing animatronic girl. “This was not supposed to happen,” he says, his pace quickening as the music intensifies. “But they wouldn’t do as they were told.”
Our character can be seen running down colorful amusement park hallways, dishevelled with age and ruin. Doors close, shadows move mysteriously, and huge freight crates seem determined to block your path at every turn. A mysterious hand with glowing red eyes offers you a lollipop from within the confines of a cargo container, and as you go to take it you’re snatched into the blackness, presumably never to return. This is Kandyland, the hell on Earth that “you’ll never want to leave.”
Of course, this is giving some serious Five Nights At Freddy’s vibes, and GoldenLane Studio’s involvement makes those dots easier to connect. GoldenLane is responsible for the iconic FNAF web series, and will lend its talents to Kandyland’s CGI.
As if the game wasn’t dark enough, though, there’s something else lurking behind this pastel façade. Kandyland is an NFT project that has existed for quite some time, with its purpose (described by NFTCulture) being to “create an original horror-themed animatronic web series, featuring CGI short films.”
Kandyland currently features four characters; Kandy Kangaroo, Suzy Snacktime (the girl in the image for this article), Tooki Toucan, and Mr. Smiles. They’ve released animations of three out of four of them (which have almost 20 million views between them) and, honestly, they’re just absolutely terrifying.
While NFTs will always cause controversy (some have gone so far as to claim Kandyland is a “FNAF scam disguised as a thirst trap”) the project is certainly intriguing. You can join the game’s Discord if you’re looking to stay up to date with all of Kandyland’s happenings, and it will be available to wishlist from August 1, presumably on Steam.
If you thrive on the chase and love outwitting murderous robots, then it’s worth checking out our list of the best survival games. If creepy robots aren’t your style, we also have a rundown of all of 2023’s upcoming PC games – you’ll be sure to find something sweet there.