What is The Hour of Joy in Poppy Playtime?

Poppy Playtime is full of spooky lore that will send shivers down your spine. Perhaps one of the most haunting events you will hear referenced is The Hour of Joy. Here is what took place on that fateful day and how it has impacted present time in the game.

What is The Hour of Joy?

The Hour of Joy refers to an incident at the Playtime Co. factory on August 8, 1995. It’s a major plot point, setting Project: Playtime and Poppy Playtime into motion.

The Hour of Joy was orchestrated by The Prototype as an act of revenge on Playtime Co. The revenge? Kill everyone in Playtime Co.

What happened during The Hour of Joy?

It was exactly at 11 AM on August 8, 1995 that The Prototype and his allies launched their bloody rebellion.

On the tapes, you first see Huggy Wuggy attacking employees in the Main Lobby. Mommy Long Legs then drops employees from high up in the Game Station, causing instant death. Smiling Critters are eating employees alive eat the Water Treatment. Miss Delight and her sisters are seen chasing people around in the School. CatNap is in Playcare looking to take out any remaining survivors.

• Related: Smiling Critters names and lore

In the final moments of the tape, you see bodies all over the different areas. It appeared that everyone was murdered, even employees presumed to be innocent. This has left many fans of the game disturbed.

All slain employees were brought to toys within the facility to devour. This remained their food source for a while but as it started to run low, it’s believed that the toys turned on each other to stay alive.

Did anyone survive The Hour of Joy?

There were a few survivors after the hour-long massacre, although their fates are unknown. This has led to many fan theories, including the popular one that Ollie is either The Prototype or one of the survivors from a decade ago.

Fans have been left scarred by The Hour of Joy, with many mourning the deaths of the innocent workers but also understanding why the toys finally snapped after being imprisoned and tortured. Some have noted that it must have been “cathartic” for the toys to get revenge while others simply feel it’s unsettling to see the chilling aftermath.

Wrote one fan: “It’s chilling, whether you were one of the many scientists who conducted unholy acts of creation for a living toy for god knows why, or if you were just a child without any idea of what was going on…. It didn’t matter….. In their eyes, all people were tormentors… All humans were prey… And they all needed to pay for the pain they caused, whether they deserved it or not…”