The player takes control of a young boy named Gregory, who is locked in the "Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex", a large shopping mall filled with virus-infected pursuing animatronics and must complete numerous missions to survive the night in order to escape. The 1980s glam rock-styled animatronics found throughout the mall include Glamrock Freddy, Glamrock Chica, Montgomery Gator, Roxanne Wolf, the Daycare Attendant, the Glamrock Endoskeletons, the Wind-Up Music Man, and DJ Music Man. Gregory will also encounter other types of enemies, such as Vanessa, the mall's security guard who also turns out to be Vanny, a corrupt woman in a rabbit suit; and the S.T.A.F.F. robots that can alert enemies to Gregory's location if spotted or offer him a map if the S.T.A.F.F. robots are a mapbot.[3]
Unlike previous iterations where Freddy is a prominent antagonist, Glamrock Freddy helps Gregory evade his fellow animatronics. Freddy has a compartment in his stomach that is "reserved for oversized birthday cakes and piñatas" that Gregory uses to hide in. While inside Freddy's "birthday cake hatch", Gregory can see through Freddy's eyes and can use him to get past most other animatronics without trouble; this will not fool the enemies Vanny and the Attendant's Moon form, however. Also, Freddy has limited battery power, and if he is low on it, he will need to recharge at a charging station, as he will malfunction and kill Gregory if he is inside of him when his power runs out. Freddy receives hardware upgrades throughout the game's progression, and can acquire two extensions to his battery life as well as the abilities to overload voice-activated locks and stun other robots, break open chain-locked fences, and locate collectible items. Freddy can also give Gregory advice, shortcuts, or warnings about the challenges and enemies he will face in the mall.[8]