Every Secret Explained in the Poppy Playtime Orientation Notebook! Full Breakdown

Comments · 255

• SE

  @seilvox · 2 years ago

  With how often phrases like &apos;you can&apos;t be young forever&apos; are used, both in the book and in the game, I kinda feel like it&apos;s implying the kids have grown up in the bodies of the toys.<br>And that makes sense, given unlike something like Five Nights at Freddies, the toys aren&apos;t possessed, they&apos;re literally &apos;made into toys&apos; like a cyborg, that why they have blood and meat in em.<br><br>In all honesty? I find the idea they grew up as toys kinda worse than if they were just always kids. It gives them a level of understanding about their situation that they just wouldn&apos;t have otherwise. <br>It also explains why none of the toys really act like kids, and feeds into the &apos;cult&apos; theming of the third chapter. (I doubt most children would think to make shrines and &apos;punish heritics&apos; on their own.)<br>It gives a depressing twist to a lot of these characters, too: They aren&apos;t simply &apos;scared children&apos;, they&apos;re adult people who - after being stripped of their humanity at a vulnerable age - never got to experience a &apos;true childhood&apos;, and had to live as &apos;monsters&apos;. ...Ouch.<br><br>(Also, likely not intentional, but the &apos;ripped from childhood to be forced into a role and become a factory slave&apos; thing is a super funny capitalism parallel, lol.)

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• AP

  @AprilSunshine · 2 years ago

  &quot;if you think you saw something, it&apos;s important to remember that NO YOU DIDN&apos;T.&quot; 😂 omg

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• PR

  @priyashagupta4871 · 7 months ago

  So I have come across a theory of someone&apos;s else stating this : &quot; I’m 100% sure that we play as Rich.<br>Here are some hints why I believe so:<br>First of all, the player can’t be one of the higher-ups. We can’t be Stella, Leith, or Eddie. We also can’t be one of the scientists or biologists. Why? Because Dr. Harley Sawyer doesn’t recognize the player. Sawyer was the head scientist—he knew all the scientists and biologists working under him. He knew Stella, Leith, and Eddie for many years. So we can’t be one of them. And yes, that also means we can’t be P.W., because the Doctor and P.W. also knew each other. All of this is confirmed.<br>The player is a “nobody” to Sawyer—a completely unimportant, normal employee. But this employee is still high-ranking enough to interact in some way with Mommy Long Legs and Miss Delight, because both remember him. So the player can be of some importance—just not important enough for Sawyer to notice or care. The player can’t be too high-ranking and can’t be a scientist or biologist working directly under Sawyer.<br>Second, the player is human. This was confirmed by the game devs and by Miss Delight.<br>So no, the player is not a toy. However, it could be possible that the player was experimented on at some point—but this would have had to happen after Sawyer was turned into a cyborg with no authority anymore. I’m not sure if I fully believe this, but it could explain why the player is so tough, can survive deadly falls like the one at the end of Chapter 4 and other injuries, and why the machinery comes back to life after he dies.<br>Now, let’s talk about Rich.<br>Rich is the only “normal” employee who seems to have a major role in the lore. He is the only normal employee who gets a tape in every single chapter—something not even higher-ups like Stella and Leith get. With every new tape, we see his journey as he climbs the career ladder in the factory until he becomes head of shipment. The fact that Rich gets a tape in every chapter alone shows how important he is to the story. We also see massive character development across his four tapes.<br>Rich worked in shipment and later became head of shipment, which means he had access to places like the Game Station and Playcare. In Chapter 3, we even hear in his tape how he and Stu enter the elevator to Playcare. Mommy Long Legs works in these areas—and she recognizes the player.<br>The player can handle the GrabPack with incredible mastery from the very beginning, which strongly suggests prior experience. Rich worked in multiple factory areas such as the warehouse, the “Island of Misfit Toys,” and later shipment. In all these areas, it would be impossible to work without a GrabPack.<br>We also know the player returned to the factory because of the letter stating that our coworkers are still inside. This shows how much the player cares about his former coworkers. In Rich’s tapes, we hear how caring and empathetic he is. He deeply hates how the factory mistreats its workers and how management treats employees like garbage. In his Chapter 4 tape, Rich tells “the kid” that as head of shipment, he is finally in a position where he can change people’s working lives for the better and that he’s willing to fight for them. That shows just how much he cares. If anyone would return to the factory to save their coworkers, it would be Rich. He’s literally ready to throw hands for their happiness.<br>Rich also deeply cares about the orphans. He complains about how children shouldn’t be raised without real sunlight, trees, and the sky, and how employees aren’t allowed to talk to them. In his first tape, he mentions that he knows all the extra work he does benefits the orphans. The player, despite knowing that most of his former coworkers are probably dead, is still determined to save the orphans after Poppy tells him they are alive. That means the player is willing to risk his life to save children he most likely never even met.<br>If the player is Rich, it explains why Mommy Long Legs and Miss Delight remember him—because he had access to Playcare and the Game Station—but why top-tier higher-ups like Dr. Sawyer don’t. Rich was high-ranking enough to notice suspicious things (employees disappearing, being forbidden to talk to orphans, living toys like Mommy) but not high enough to know about the experiments, the murder of children, or the prison. The player clearly didn’t know about those things, otherwise Poppy and others wouldn’t have had to explain them. In his Chapter 4 tape, Rich confirms that he knows the factory is hiding something dark—he just doesn’t know exactly what.<br>In Chapter 4, Dr. Sawyer strongly hints that the player is searching for a specific person—a “loved one.” I have two theories about who this could be.<br>Theory one: In Rich’s Chapter 3 tape, we learn that he has a wife and loves her deeply. He even works on controlling his anger issues for her sake. In his Chapter 4 tape, we can hear that he’s succeeded. Game dev information also confirmed that Rich once dated a woman named Patty Hall. Patty and Rich worked together on the Island of Misfit Toys, and on one of the boxes, Patty even wrote her phone number with a heart. It’s very possible that Rich later married her. If Patty was still working at the factory when the Hour of Joy happened, Rich could very well be searching for his wife.<br>Theory two: If it’s not his wife, then it’s “the kid” from Rich’s Chapter 4 tape. Rich clearly acted as a mentor and father figure to this kid, who deeply respected Rich and even talked about how good of a boss he was.<br>In his Chapter 4 tape, Rich says, “Shipping is a family,” and that the kid and the others “have his back.” He sees them as his family. Earlier in the game, Doey tells the player, “The toys out there are my family, and they need me,” when he refuses to leave them behind. This is a direct parallel. It’s almost as if Doey’s words are meant to remind the player what he’s fighting for—his family.<br>In Chapter 3, Stu calls Rich “different” as a compliment. Later, in Chapter 4, the player is also called “different” by Dr. Sawyer himself—again, as a compliment. Just like Stu with Rich, the Doctor is impressed by the player’s personality.<br>From Rich’s Chapter 4 tape, we know he has his own office, but we never directly see it—which is strange, given how important Rich is. But maybe we did see it without realizing. In Chapter 3, during the nightmare sequence in Home Sweet Home, we can look through a large window at the end of a hallway and see a very ordinary, boring office (unlike Stella’s or other Playcare higher-ups’ offices) with the words “guilt hunts you” written on the wall behind the desk. If this is Rich’s office, why is it located in Home Sweet Home? Because Rich is head of shipment at that point and can easily access the shipment cave system from there.<br>And finally—the hint that completely convinced me.<br>In Chapter 2, when we enter the “Island of Misfit Toys,” a soundtrack plays in the background. This is the place Rich was demoted to after complaining too much and where he worked before transferring to shipment. We also find his second tape there. The soundtrack is titled “Too Perfect to Lose” (confirmed on the Poppy Playtime wiki). Sound familiar? At the end of Chapter 2, Poppy calls the player, “You are perfect—too perfect to lose!” In Chapter 3, she again calls us “perfect for this.” The place associated with Rich has a soundtrack named after the exact words Poppy uses for the player.<br>So these are my reasons for believing so strongly that the player is Rich. I may have forgotten some points and might edit this later. And even if I’m wrong, it’s still very possible that we play as “the kid” from Rich’s tape. Rich’s presence in the game is far too big for him not to be important in some way.&quot;<br>And in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfvTIB1iuQQ&amp;t=1526">25:26</a> we learned that Avery reported Rich so from this I can theorize that the reason why we weren&apos;t present at the hour of joy is because Rich maybe got fired as a form of punishment by Playtime Co.

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• TH

  @TheSeabornGaming · 1 year ago

  I remember thinking Poppy’s was just going to be another cookie cutter mascot horror with Ch 1, but I gotta be honest, they have really outdone themselves. They really have made some really interesting lore and they have done a great job with the creepy/disturbing factor about what actually goes on behind the scenes with the experiments

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• NA

  @natalieruiz3444 · 2 years ago

  Watching this in the first 30 minutes, I fear I&apos;m in too deep with poppy lore

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• DI

  @DitZy.f0rest_goblin · 2 years ago (edited)

  One theory that I’ve heard about the smiling critters cartoon is that it portrays how the orphans were during the hour of joy. The clock in the cartoon is set to the time of ten o’ 6 which is 1006 for the prototypes number, and how the storm were the screams and deaths from the other areas of the factory. This then leading to catnap coming in and the children ending up asking to put him out of their misery.<br>(Plus a side note is if you look at the positioning of how the critters are “resting” in the end of the cartoon is the same kinda of positions that the actual bigger body critters died or the last position they took was in- for example Bobby bearhugs position and dog day)

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• RO

  @RosesTeaAndAuDHD · 2 years ago (edited)

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfvTIB1iuQQ&amp;t=858">14:18</a> There are also latin sentences hidden under the notes.<br><br>Someone on reddit translated part of it &quot;God is omnipotent&quot;.<br><br>I was only half way translating it myself.<br><br>I&apos;m still working on trying to identify the letters at the start of the sentence and to translate them, but I doubt I&apos;ll be the first on that!

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• BU

  @BurningFlamesofDivineDragon · 2 years ago

  That&apos;s really sad so if a previous foster care parent bought them a toy. That toy would be taken from them just because it&apos;s not made by Playtime Co. Really upsetting considering the toy or item being taken probably has value to that kid. Probably to hide the fact that the kid was once outside the factory at some point.

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• PH

  @Philiana-pi3vv · 2 years ago

  I think you keep forgetting about that Dog Day was only in that state because he disobeyed the prototype, and was used as food for the mini smiling critters. He wasn&apos;t like that when he was made, to sum it up.

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• OI

  @OinkMrPartyPig · 2 years ago

  Did anyone else notice at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfvTIB1iuQQ&amp;t=641">10:41</a> the position that Bobby bearhug is in is pretty similar to the sketch of the bigger bodies version of Bobby bearhug from that one experiment note

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• TY

  @tylamcgilverson3923 · 2 years ago

  Ollie is the security system i swear

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• MI

  @mistahanansi2264 · 2 years ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfvTIB1iuQQ&amp;t=1620">27:00</a> isn&apos;t just a little lore tidbit, but also a reference to the fact that we (The Player Character) ALSO see &quot;multiples&quot; of CatNap when exposed to the Red Smoke, in which we must use our flare gun to determine which of him is the real one so that we can avoid being killed by him as he hunts us.

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