Video Game / Case: Animatronics

Case: Animatronics is an indie horror game created by Aleson, Walnut LLC, Last Level, and Sometimes You, and was released on August 3rd, 2016. It is loosely inspired by the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise, distinguished by being a full 3D, free-roaming game as opposed to a point-and-click game, and notably predating Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach by several years.

You play as John Bishop, an overworked police officer working for the Aurora Police Department. Shortly after waking up from a horrific nightmare, he is contacted by Scott, a mysterious figure who was involved in one of John's past cases, who seeks revenge against John and has trapped him inside the building with his murderous animatronics. Now he must use only his flashlight, his tablet, and his wits to help him avoid getting eaten and survive until 3AM.

On August 3rd, 2018, Walnut LLC released CASE 2: Animatronics Survival, which serves as a prequel to the first game, taking place two years before Scott's attack on the police department. The story involves Jack Bishop, John's brother from the first game, who attempts to locate his daughter Emily after she's been kidnapped by a mysterious entity simply called the UNKNOWN.

You can download Case: Animatronics and its sequel on Steam.

Both games provide examples of:

Tropes that apply to both games

• Hell Is That Noise:
  • The animatronics screech in your face when they catch you.
  • Since they are heavy, metal machines, they make loud, clanking footsteps.
• Jump Scare: To be expected from a FNAF-inspired game.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: The animatronics all have glowing red eyes. Considering the protagonists spend most of their time in dark rooms, sometimes this is all they can see.

Case: Animatronics

• Ambiguous Ending: If John makes it to the exit with the correct key card, we're treated to a growing flash of light from the police car...and then a fade to black. Aside from the knowledge that John escapes the station, we're given no explanation as to what happens to him or Scott afterwards. The mobile version of the game subverts this by showing a cutscene of John getting into his car, only to be greeted by Scott sitting in the backseat who proceeds to throw a bag over John's head, presumably kidnapping him.
• Ambiguous Gender: Before The Bear's partial removal from the game, the bear was possibly male due to being inspired by Freddy Fazbear. The game's Wiki now currently lists The Bear's gender as unknown.
• Big Bad: DJ Scott is this to John, whom he tries to kill with the animatronics.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: If the animatronics catch you, they will grab you by the neck and will either bite you or stomp you to death. Either way, both end with a sickening wet crunch.
• Crusading Widow: Scott wants to kill the man he believes to be responsible for the deaths of his wife and child.
• Death of a Child: Scott's child was also killed alongside his mother.
• Expy: Despite originally starting out as FNAF fan game, the four animatronics are not exclusively based of said game.
  • The Wolf is based off the Big Bad wolf from the Little Red Riding Hood.
  • The Cat's appearance (right down to the missing eye) is based off of Old Candy from Five Nights at Candy's, which itself is an official FNAF fan game.
  • The Owl is based off SCP-173 from SCP Containment Breach, as both have to be continuously stared at to keep them from attacking. She is also similar to Chica from FNAF, as they are both avians.
  • The Bear was initially based off of Freddy Fazbear, but ended up being partially removed from the game to avoid legal issues.
• Featureless Protagonist: Subverted with Bishop—his picture is seen in the lobby, but his face is covered by a drawn-on Batman mask (possibly by Scott). However, the few visible features indicate him to be a middle-aged, Caucasian male.
• Happily Married: The notes reveal just how much Scott loved his wife Emma. It helped that she seemed to have shared all his hopes and dreams, particularly those involving the animatronics with the intention of creating a new form of childrens' entertainment. All of this is shattered when Emma is brutally murdered by a home intruder.
• Insane Troll Logic: Scott wants revenge for the murders of his wife and child. Instead of going after just the guy who actually killed them, he also goes after the cop who tried but failed to stop him.
• Meaningful Name: The antagonist's name, DJ Scott, is likely a reference to Scott Cawthon, the creator of Five Nights at Freddy's.
• No Peripheral Vision: Zigzagged. If you run long enough while an animatronic is running at you, it is possible for them to lose you and return to their normal walking pace. However, if you decide to hide in the closet or locker while an animatronic is following close behind, they won't be fooled.
• Police Are Useless: A tragic example. When John was a young detective hired straight out of the academy, his first assignment was to investigate an armed break-in at Scott's house. Bishop, either due to his young age or his incompetence, was unable to prevent the gunman from killing Scott's wife and child, and likewise was unable to keep the gunman from getting away.
• Sanity Slippage: Judging from the scattered notes, Scott seemed like a genuinely kind man. After the murder of his family though, he became a cold-blooded killer.
• Shout-Out: The notes drop quite of few of these for the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise, without explicitly mentioning them.
  • Note 4 mentions the company mentions how their animatronics are connected to a police database in order to better protect the children under their care. This is the backstory to the Toy Animatronics in Five Nights at Freddy's 2.
  • Note 5 mentions an incident at "one of the largest pizzerias" where five children went missing. This is a reference to the Missing Children Incident that was first mentioned in the first game.
• The Unreveal: We never find out just what was moving around inside the wooden crate in the warehouse. However, it's implied to be The Bear post-removal.
• Vengeance Feels Empty: In Scott's final message, he implied that even after he tracked down and extracted his revenge on the killer himself, he didn't feel satisfied. So he chalked it up to his vengeance being incomplete, because he felt that Bishop was also responsible since he failed to stop the gunman in time.

CASE 2: Animatronics Survival

• Big Bad: The UNKNOWN.
• Big "NO!": Jack, when he opens a package with contents implying that the UNKNOWN killed his daughter.
• The Ghost: Both the UNKNOWN, Matthew, and Emily are never seen in-game.
• Too Dumb to Live: In the first episode, you're given the options to have Jack jump into a Bottomless Pit and try and remove a fuse from an active generator. The outcomes of both cases are predictable.
• Would Hurt a Child: The UNKNOWN kidnaps Emily Bishop and threatens to hurt her if Jack should fail in his tasks. When he does, the UNKNOWN sends him a box presumably containing one of Emily's body parts, implying he maimed her or killed her.
• You Have Failed Me: "The target has escaped, I warned you, but you did not listen. My people are dying and it's your fault. What a pity that your daughter has to pay for her father's mistakes. Goodbye, Jack."

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