There’s also the fact that Huggy Wuggy isn’t portrayed as menacing at first. Hints that Huggy Wuggy is Poppy Playtime’s Experiment 1006 don’t come until later in the game. To an adult, the very knowledge that they’re playing a horror game certainly makes Huggy seem creepy, but a kid might just see the big blue sock monkey-looking doll Huggy Wuggy is supposed to be in the first part of the game. First impressions go a long way towards future perceptions of things, so seeing Huggy as something innocuous at first glance could make kids a little more enamored with him despite later scares. The new indie horror title Poppy Playtime has swept the internet, and kids have unexpectedly fallen in love with its popular main monster, Huggy Wuggy Plush.
He’s a giant blue doll with eerily human-looking eyes, as well as multiple rows of sharp teeth that don’t become apparent until relatively late in the game. After players make their own Playtime Co. toy and solvePoppy Playtime’s Make-A-Friend room puzzle, Huggy starts chasing them in an apparent attempt to eat them. He’s become an iconic symbol of the game, even more so than the titular toy, Poppy. There are likely a myriad of different reasons for his popularity, and there’s no saying definitively what the one root cause is.
Some popular mascots such as Mickey Mouse, Chuck E. Cheese, and even mall Santas scare the daylights out of certain kids, so it stands to reason that the principle sometimes works in reverse. Certain parts ofPoppy Playtime that are meant to induce dread and a low-level terror leading up to Huggy’s chase scenes also might not work as well on kids. A big part of what makes the game so scary is the little details, which kids may ignore in favor of bigger things like solving puzzles.
There could be any number of reasons why Huggy Wuggy seems lovable instead of scary, but it could just be that he is. With his mouth closed, he still has the child-friendly design that the Playtime Co. gave him. When I was shopping with my dog, he took a liking to the blue one, so now he has one terrifying toy. They actually make good dog toys – fluff interior, no buttons or beads to suffocate on, long limbs to shake up. Etsy’s 100% renewable electricity commitment includes the electricity used by the data centers that host Etsy.com, the Sell on Etsy app, and the Etsy app, as well as the electricity that powers Etsy’s global offices and employees working remotely from home in the US. Mommy long legs/ Huggy Wuggy/ Kissy Missy felt doll.
There could even be a deeper psychological reason for Huggy Wuggy being so popular, as horror games offer a form of catharsis that borders on the therapeutic, potentially as much for kids as for adults. Pretend monsters can make scary things in real life less so. A fear of heights, or being afraid of creepy-crawlies like spiders, are phobias that are grounded in reality, and fictional scares can help blunt the real ones.
This could also explain why sales of merch like plushes are booming. Playing with a toy version of a scary monster lets kids interact with said monster on their terms, creating a sense of familiarity. This helps to further the feeling of making too-real fears less scary.Poppy Playtime might not be safe for kidsat the end of the day, but it and scary games like it may have their own benefits for some players.
Etsy’s 100% renewable electricity commitment includes the electricity used by the data centres that host Etsy.com, the Sell on Etsy app, and the Etsy app, as well as the electricity that powers Etsy’s global offices and employees working remotely from home in the US. Send me exclusive offers, unique gift ideas, and personalised tips for shopping and selling on Etsy. Huggy Wuggy has become a viral trend, but why is such a horrifying monster popular with kids? Entice customers to sign up for your mailing list with discounts or exclusive offers.
And of course, not every kid who likes Huggy Wuggy will have playedPoppy Playtime. If they’re told that Huggy is cool or cute, then they’re more likely to believe it, even if they play the game themselves. They might also see it from YouTubers who crack jokes while playingPoppy Playtimeonline, helping to spread the game’s popularity through their personalities. One of the reasons that Huggy Wuggy is popular is that kids and adults don’t always have the same definition of the word “”scary.”” Multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth might be cool instead of frightening for some.
Send me exclusive offers, unique gift ideas, and personalized tips for shopping and selling on Etsy. Austin Geiger is a nerd and a Game Features author at Screen Rant. He has loved to read, write, and play video games for longer than he can remember, and does each one daily. He likes Pokemon, Digimon, The Elder Scrolls, and more.