POPGOES Arcade

Not what you were looking for? See Popgoes (disambiguation).

POPGOES Arcade, also known as POPGOES: The Dead Forest and abbreviated as PA, is an RPG game and is the prologue to POPGOES Evergreen. The game is part of the POPGOES series and was developed by Kane Carter and published on Steam by Clickteam LLC. It was first announced on April 1, 2020, and released on June 12, 2020.

Its campaign expansion, POPGOES and The Machinist, was released on July 1, 2022, as part of the expanded Steam release. They are also currently working on a mobile port for the title.^[2]

Summary[]

POPGOES is an official Five Nights at Freddy's spin-off series, produced by Scott Cawthon and developed by fans as part of the "Fazbear Fanverse Initiative".

In POPGOES Arcade you'll play through two RPG campaigns: "POPGOES: The Dead Forest" (originally released for free in 2020) and "POPGOES and The Machinist" (a built-in sequel for the paid release!). These fun, colorful, and mysterious adventures will introduce you to new characters like Popgoes the Weasel and Manora the Mouse, but with no attention taken from classic FNAF characters like Chica the Chicken and Foxy the Pirate.

Featuring...

A large, expanding map to unlock, explore, and fight bad guys in!
Tons of interesting characters, easter eggs, secrets and lore!
A retro art style, inspired by the minigames in the FNAF series!

Gameplay[]

The game follows the perspective of a kid playing an arcade machine in the Popgoes Pizzeria. In the arcade game, the player plays Popgoes the Weasel. POPGOES Arcade is an RPG game where the player's goal is to explore the areas, fight enemies, and upgrade your character. Popgoes doesn't level up with battles; instead, he can get stronger using damage and health upgrades that can be found in Holly the Robin's shop. Manora the Mouse can save the player's progress in the Inn. When Popgoes loses a battle, he will lose all the progress since the last save point. The game is very linear, and the player has to follow the directives to proceed with the story and battle bosses. After defeating bosses in their Dead form, Popgoes will obtain their Traversal Abilities - Jump, Hook, and Dig. They are necessary to enter specific areas and finish the game. They can be later upgraded using Emerald Coins hidden throughout the map.

During battle, Popgoes can attack an enemy, defend from an attack, use an item, and, if Traversal Abilities have been upgraded, use the Dead Animal's abilities, or run from battle (except during boss battles). The enemy's health and power are fully visible during the battle. When Popgoes wins, they will earn 10, 15, 25, or 50 Coins, depending on the enemy. Enemies may charge their power for a turn before dealing a critical attack with triple damage. If Popgoes defends, the damage will be halved to 1.5 of the basic attack. Popgoes can also randomly deal a critical attack, which requires no bonus turn for it to happen.

Chica, Bonnie, and Foxy have their own abilities, which they will use every third turn during their battles. Chica's ability is to jump, and she will avoid any attack dealt on that turn. If Popgoes is defending or using an item during the third turn, she will wait for the next attack to jump. Chica will jump and attack in the same turn, but when Popgoes uses her ability, he will only jump in the battle. Foxy's ability is Hook, and he will deal five times the basic damage to Popgoes. When Popgoes uses his ability, it's lowered to triple damage. Bonnie's ability is to dig, and he will use it to heal during battle. When Popgoes uses this ability, he will dig up a random item and instantly use it.

Development[]

The following section is rather large and has been truncated for ease of page viewing.
To view it, click the [show] tag.

On March 31, 2020, Kane teased a trailer for POPGOES Arcade with the caption "It's time to return to The Dead Forest.".^[3]

On April 1, 2020, the trailer for POPGOES Arcade, known at the time as "POPGOES Arcade 2020 Edition," was released after a delay in finishing the trailer.^[4]^[5] Later that day, Kane revealed the titles Game Jolt page.^[6] and made a Game Jolt FAQ post.^[7]

On April 10, 2020, Kane shared a new Arcade-exclusive character named Red the Robin. He went on to say that Red is named after her species, which is a robin redbreast.^[8]

On April 13, 2020, Kane made a post about the title soundtrack, stating that there are over ten brand new tracks that are around 2 minutes long.^[9]

On April 23, 2020, Kane shared an update and a snippet on Traversal Abilities. Kane shared that the game would be delayed because Emil had to do university work, which has become more intense and time-sensitive due to COVID and that a lot of development work has been done but not as much as planned. Turntail's furlough ended early, and Vitch needing to babysit, which took a toll on his spare time. At the end, Kane shared a new mechanic, a dig ability, with a gif that also teases a gem.^[10]

On May 13, 2020, Kane shared that POPGOES Arcade is in its final stages of development. And Kane worked on props for the environment to make the map look less barren, and Emil will be porting the assets to the game. Emil and Kane have been working on the random encounter system, the game is fully playable from start to end, and he is unsure when the title will release.^[11]

On June 3, 2020, Kane shared one final update before release. Kane talked about the delay, and adding that him and Emil are filling in gaps of gameplay that testers said were too repetitive. He goes on to state that he plans to give the game a release trailer along with a countdown on his YouTube channel. At the end of the post, Kane shared another screenshot of Corrupt Wolf in the East Forest.

On June 5, 2020, Dawko played an exclusive demo of POPGOES Arcade on livestream.^[12]

On June 12, 2020, POPGOES Arcade was released along with a release trailer.^[13]^[14] Later that day, version 1.0.1 was released.^[15]

On June 13, 2020, version 1.0.2 was released along with a post to answer questions for people that were stuck in the game.^[16]

On June 15, 2020, version 1.1.0 was released.^[17] Later that day, version 1.1.1 was released.

On June 16, 2020, version 1.1.2 was released.^[18]

On June 17, 2020, version 1.1.3 was released.^[19]

On June 18, 2020, version 1.1.4 was released.^[20]

On June 24, 2020, version 1.1.5 was released, and the soundtrack for POPGOES Arcade was uploaded to YouTube.^[21]^[22]

On August 21, 2020, Scott Cawthon announced the Fazbear Fanverse Initiative, which includes POPGOES Evergreen and POPGOES Arcade.^[23]

On November 5, 2020, Kane changed the title from POPGOES Arcade 2020 Edition to POPGOES Arcade.^[24]

On September 13, 2021, version 1.2.0 was released along with promo art by StupidButterfly.^[25]

On October 26, 2021, Kane revealed POPGOES Arcades expansion POPGOES and The Machinist, along with promo art by StupidButterfly.^[26]

On February 11, 2022, Kane shared a sneak peek of a new area in POPGOES and The Machinist.^[27]

On March 26, 2022, Kane shared four videos of new mechanics for the premium version of POPGOES Arcade, including "The Bestiary," "The Machinist," "Surprise Battle," and "Overkill." At the end, Kane states that they're wrapping things up for POPGOES Arcade for the release.^[28]

On May 10, 2022, Kane shared an update on the near future of POPGOES Arcade. He shared that the premium version is getting close to release, he had a QNA, and he talked about achievements and Steam community features like trading cards, profile banners, etc.^[29]

On June 3, 2022, POPGOES Arcades got a Steam page along with a new trailer.^[30]

On June 10, 2022, Kane shared all the promotional gifs for POPGOES Arcade.^[31]

On June 16, 2022, Kane revealed that POPGOES Arcade has 37 achievements: 20 in The Dead Forest and 17 in The Machinist.^[32]

On June 24, 2022, Kane posted a "WHO IS THE MACHINIST?" promo for POPGOES and The Machinist.^[33]

On June 25, 2022, Dawko played another exclusive demo of POPGOES Arcade.^[34]

On July 1, 2022, POPGOES Arcade was released on Steam.^[35]

On July 4, 2022, version 2.0.1 was released.^[36]

On July 6, 2022, version 2.1.0 was released.^[37]

On July 12, 2022, version 2.2.0 was released.^[38]

On July 14, 2022, version 2.2.1 was released.^[39]

On July 20, 2022, Steam trading cards of Foxy the Pirate, Chica the Chicken, Corrupt Bonnie, Corrupt BB, Popgoes the Weasel, and Dead King Freddy.^[40]

On July 23, 2022, Kane released the POPGOES Arcade soundtrack to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Deezer.^[41]

On August 8, 2022, The Steam points shop for POPGOES Arcade was released.^[42]

On August 9, 2022, the demo was removed from the Steam page.^[43]

On August 15, 2022, Kane released the soundtrack to Steam.^[44]

On August 18, 2022, version 2.3.0 was released.^[45]

On September 30, 2022, Kane revealed that Emil is working on one final update for POPGOES Arcade on Steam and that the new esc menu was a bit tricky to program.^[46]

On October 14, 2022, Kane talked about the new esc menu.^[47]

On October 21, 2022, Kane shared that the next update is getting finalized and they are sorting out finishing touches based on feedback from testers, and he feels confident that the update will release before Halloween.^[48]

On October 31, 2022, version 2.3.1 was released.^[49]

On November 11, 2022, Kane stated that he is aware that there is a game-breaking bug in the game and they are working on a fix.^[50]

On November 14, 2022, version 2.3.2 was released.^[51]

On November 25, 2022, Kane stated that POPGOES Arcade is now deemed 100% finished, unless new bugs pop up. He goes on to say that they'll be working with Clickteam directly to work on ports, starting with iOS and Android.^[52]

On January 20, 2023, Kane shared that the mobile ports for POPGOES Arcade is priority for him, Emil, and some members of Clickteam's dev team.^[53]

On January 27, 2023, Kane shared that the mobile ports seem a little more promising and that Clickteam helped with shader issues. He also says that he'll be as transparent as possible with the mobile ports.^[54]

On February 3, 2023, Kane shared some screenshots of the POPGOES Arcade icon and a screenshot in-game of the story screen. He also says that the mobile ports will always be zoomed in, with the exceptions of cutscenes.^[55]

On February 10, 2023, Kane shared that a fair bit of progress had been made for the mobile ports and that the game was openable on Android. He also shared that the icon and name of the app changed. At the end, he showed the concept of a D-pad for mobile.^[56]

On March 10, 2023, Kane shared that there was progress on mobile ports, but a lot of it was out of the team's control.^[57]

On January 25, 2023, the porting process officially began now that they were able to get some obstacles alleviated.^[58]

On April 27, 2024, Kane posted an update for all his projects, for POPGOES Arcade he stated that the mobile port hit a roadblock due to Emil's shader making development kinda impossible. He goes on saying that they needed Clickteam to step in to help with rewrite some code for the shader to work, then he stated that if there are issues to make the game incompatible with Android, they'll opt to make the game in GameMaker.^[59]

On May 19, 2024, Kane posted an image with blurred-out text and "XWXOWMA Lzkilm - 2024 Owibml Nqvit Cxlibm" at the top. When decoded, it says "POPGOES Arcade - 2024 Goated Final Update," seemingly confirming that the game will get one last update.^[60]

On May 21, 2024, Kane posted asking for cool achievement ideas, saying it's "for no reason in particular."^[61]

Additional Content[]

The Machinist[]

Main article: POPGOES and The Machinist

The Machinist is an expansion that was released on July 1, 2022, along with the Steam release of POPGOES Arcade as a complete package. The expansion includes a whole new story campaign, enemies, abilities, and more.

Fighting Chance[]

Main article: POPGOES Arcade: Fighting Chance

Fighting Chance is an upcoming major update to POPGOES Arcade.

Reception[]

The game received positive feedback from players, giving it 97% positive reviews out of 1,200+, giving it an Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam.

Trivia[]

The game's title is a reference to the pre-rebooted POPGOES's cancelled sequel - POPGOES 2: The Dead Forest. The dead animal enemies' skeletal appearance is also referenced after the epitome animatronics.
POPGOES Arcade is the highest-rated Five Nights at Freddy's game on Steam with a 97%.

References[]

Fazbear Fanverse Games

Five Nights at Candy's	Five Nights at Candy's • 2 • 3 • 4 • FNAC FUR
POPGOES	POPGOES Arcade ("The Machinist" Expansion • "Fighting Chance" Update) • myPOPGOES ("New and Improved!" Update) • POPGOES Evergreen
The Joy of Creation	THE JOY OF CREATION
One Night at Flumpty's	One Night at Flumpty's • 2 • 3
Canceled Games	Five Nights at Freddy's Plus • The Joy of Creation: Ignited Collection (Classic • Reborn • Story Mode)
Demos	Five Nights at Candy's 3 Demo • POPGOES Arcade Dawko Demo • Five Nights at Freddy's Plus: Exclusive Demo • FNAC FUR Legacy Demo • THE JOY OF CREATION: Office Demo
Collections and Bundles	One Night at Flumpty's: The Egg Collection • POPGOES Archives

[Game_Jolt_Page-1] POPGOES Arcade by Kane Carter - Game Jolt

[2] ttps://twitter.com/POPGOESdev/status/1750669697450692865

[3] ttps://twitter.com/POPGOESdev/status/1245074808766939144

[4] ttps://twitter.com/POPGOESdev/status/1245427943402360834

[5] ttps://twitter.com/POPGOESdev/status/1245451793989074944

[6] ttps://twitter.com/POPGOESdev/status/1245460897050628098

[7] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-arcade-2020-edition-so-what-s-going-on-here-s-an-faq-aw8zvpwr

[8] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/pa2020-snippet-red-the-robin-ru3r2ctg

[9] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/pa2020-snippet-the-soundtrack-trrxzdmc

[10] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/slight-delay-pa2020-snippet-traversal-abilities-b9gv6mif

[11] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/general-development-updates-aum5idyn

[12] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su724Y9MBWU

[13] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-arcade-is-out-k5ymmigm

[14] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hseZbOIGPiY

[15] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/pa2020-update-1-0-1-https-gamejolt-com-games-pa2020-478668-pleas-j53fsxbc

[16] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/pa2020-update-1-0-2-https-gamejolt-com-games-pa2020-478668-pleas-jh2xaxjs

[17] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/big-update-1-1-0-out-now-read-for-list-of-bug-fixes-and-new-add-aizwdpzu

[18] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/1-1-2-out-now-pretty-minor-fixes-but-it-s-always-worth-staying-up-ep6ttxyi

[19] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/1-1-3-is-out-but-it-s-basically-a-part-1-we-ve-got-a-few-more-x2ntvfin

[20] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/aaaand-1-1-4-is-now-out-details-below-s9hcqnzk

[21] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/1-1-5-is-out-details-below-denxtied

[22] ttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyQj0Z5NPmcQaFjyNujbAKfl9rwtHHX4

[23] ttps://www.reddit.com/r/fivenightsatfreddys/comments/ie911w/the_fazbear_fanverse_initiative/

[24] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/got-confirmation-from-scott-that-i-m-good-to-change-the-name-of-pop-gnntkqxp

[25] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-arcade-update-1-2-0-out-now-axhgnq72

[26] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/introducing-popgoes-and-the-machinist-wrubijqk

[27] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/a-sneak-peek-at-a-new-location-from-popgoes-and-the-machinist-the-hmq3nckx

[28] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/four-videos-of-new-mechanics-in-popgoes-arcade-premium-q4vxsudw

[29] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/the-near-future-of-popgoes-arcade-bup6renp

[30] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/you-can-now-wishlist-popgoes-arcade-on-steam-and-check-out-this-tr-py6avmam

[31] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/all-promo-gifs-for-popgoes-arcade-on-steam-vjyapgne

[32] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/you-want-achievements-we-ve-got-achievements-popgoes-arcade-has-3-9pkjzfgi

[33] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/who-is-the-machinist-wishlist-popgoes-arcade-on-steam-https-sto-3mpt39nb

[34] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6n09IzIK0w

[35] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-arcade-is-out-on-steam-https-store-steampowered-com-app-diqmkiqt

[36] ttps://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1986840/view/3355759788382528605

[37] ttps://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1986840/view/3355759788392383317

[38] ttps://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1986840/view/3355761233490287516

[39] ttps://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1986840/view/5138061328884298328

[40] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-arcade-on-steam-now-has-trading-cards-collect-them-trade-aax5ycxa

[41] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/the-popgoes-arcade-ost-is-out-now-spotify-https-open-spotify-co-s2jw8iyc

[42] ttps://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1986840/view/3392918290240046083

[43] ttps://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1986840/view/3392918290243002068

[44] ttps://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1986840/view/3381659925611583133

[45] ttps://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1986840/view/3355764861423709128

[46] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-weekly-update-fanart-showcase-30-09-n8mmmaqm

[47] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-weekly-update-fanart-showcase-14-10-y7nsb97i

[48] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-weekly-update-fanart-showcase-21-10-r8b7dn8e

[49] ttps://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1986840/view/3388422300281156649

[50] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-weekly-update-fanart-showcase-11-11-seyzbkhh

[51] ttps://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1986840/view/5649230684520644506

[52] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-weekly-update-fanart-showcase-25-11-wtjjdyut

[53] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-weekly-update-fanart-showcase-20-01-nhxhasua

[54] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-weekly-update-fanart-showcase-27-01-dqfpmijg

[55] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-weekly-update-fanart-showcase-03-02-jbiizumr

[56] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-weekly-update-fanart-showcase-10-02-pbjujyrs

[57] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-weekly-update-fanart-showcase-10-03-68pha2nv

[58] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/popgoes-arcade-s-mobile-porting-process-has-officially-begun-now-th-6ujehje5

[59] ttps://gamejolt.com/p/updates-on-everything-article-atkane-letsgopopgoes-atkane-coolbl-np7wktjf

[60] ttps://x.com/POPGOESdev/status/1792358015758430470

[61] ttps://x.com/POPGOESdev/status/1793105174116122745

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