# Friday Night Funkin'
**Friday Night Funkin'** is a free rhythm game with publicly available, open-source code in which the player character, [Boyfriend](https://www.edgepedia.org/boyfriend), wins singing battles against a series of opponents to keep dating Girlfriend, whose ex-rockstar father wants him dead; music is the only way to the man's heart.[1](https://ninja-muffin24.itch.io/funkin) It was built with HaxeFlixel for the game jam Ludum Dare 47 in October 2020 and released on [Newgrounds](https://www.edgepedia.org/newgrounds), where it became the most viewed submission in the site's history.[2](https://github.com/FunkinCrew/funkin) • [3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27) A 2021 [Kickstarter](https://www.edgepedia.org/kickstarter) for a full version raised $2,247,641 from 58,561 backers, and the game's open-source engine enabled a large fan-made mod scene.[4](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/funkin/friday-night-funkin-the-full-ass-game) • [5](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/how-friday-night-funkin-became-the-most-influential-music-game-of-the-2020s/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Created for Ludum Dare 47 (October 2020 theme "stuck in a loop") by a team formed less than three hours before the jam; submitted to Newgrounds on November 1, 2020[3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27) |
| Team | ninjamuffin99 (programming), PhantomArcade and EvilSk8er (art), KawaiSprite (music and sounds)[6](https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/770371) |
| Gameplay | DDR-like arrow matching: press the arrow when it overlaps the other arrow, and don't die[1](https://ninja-muffin24.itch.io/funkin) |
| Kickstarter | $2,247,641 from 58,561 backers against a $60,000 goal, April 18 to May 18, 2021[4](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/funkin/friday-night-funkin-the-full-ass-game) |
| Newgrounds standing | Most viewed submission in site history, 83 million views as of January 2026; rated 4.75/5 from 178,244 votes[3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27) • [6](https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/770371) |
| Source code | Public on GitHub under Apache 2.0 (assets All Rights Reserved), with built-in modding support via Polymod[1](https://ninja-muffin24.itch.io/funkin) • [7](https://www.mintlify.com/FunkinCrew/Funkin/introduction) |
| Recent updates | Weekend 1 content update (April 30, 2024); official mobile port on Google Play and the Apple App Store (July 15, 2025)[8](https://funkin.me/blog/2024-04-30/) • [9](https://funkin.me/blog/2025-07-15/) |
## Gameplay
Each song is a singing battle. The opponent shows a string of arrows, and the player copies it, a mechanic Polygon described as a mix of *Space Channel 5* and *Dance Dance Revolution*.[10](https://www.polygon.com/2021/1/8/22220670/friday-night-funkin-browser-game-tiktok-songs/) The official page puts it plainly: it is basically like DDR, press the arrow when it overlaps the other arrow, and don't die.[1](https://ninja-muffin24.itch.io/funkin) Inputs use the arrow keys or WASD, and missing notes drains a health bar.[1](https://ninja-muffin24.itch.io/funkin) • [3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27)
**Structure.** Levels are organized as "weeks" of songs. Beating Week 1 in Story Mode unlocks Week 2, and the game also offers a Freeplay menu for individual songs.[6](https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/770371) • [3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27) The original release offered Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulties; the 2024 WeekEnd 1 update raised the count to five, adding Erect and [Nightmare](https://www.edgepedia.org/nightmare), and introduced weeks with more than three songs.[3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27)
## Development and origins
The game was made for Ludum Dare 47, a semiannual game jam whose October 2020 theme was "stuck in a loop." The four-person team, ninjamuffin99 (Cameron Taylor), evilsk8r, PhantomArcade, and KawaiSprite, formed less than three hours before the jam began; the jam build was released on October 5, 2020, and submitted to Newgrounds on November 1, 2020.[3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27) The jam build placed 314th overall, 15th in Sound, 59th in Graphics, 1553rd in Theme, and 1345th in [Innovation](https://www.edgepedia.org/innovation).[3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27) The repository describes the game as made "with love to Newgrounds and its community," with extra credit to Tom Fulp.[2](https://github.com/FunkinCrew/funkin)
The developers cite PlayStation-era rhythm games such as *PaRappa the Rapper* and *Vib-Ribbon* as influences.[3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27) Because the source code is public, remnants of planned content, including an animation debug menu, remain visible to players, an unusual degree of openness for a web game.[11](https://tcrf.net/Prerelease:Friday_Night_Funkin%27)
## Kickstarter and the full game
In April 2021 the team launched a Kickstarter for "the full ass game," with a $60,000 goal. The goal was met within hours and $1 million was raised within days; the campaign ended at $2,247,641 from 58,561 backers.[4](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/funkin/friday-night-funkin-the-full-ass-game) • [12](https://100milefreepress.net/2022/02/02/100-mile-video-game-developer-raises-2-2-million-in-kickstarter/) Early in the campaign, with 29 days remaining, over $580,000 had already unlocked stretch goals including a mobile build, a character creator, and animated cutscenes.[13](https://www.polygon.com/22391852/friday-night-funkin-newgrounds-rythm-game-cartoon-kickstarter/)
The promised full game would include 60 new songs, new gameplay mechanics, cutscenes, local two-player, new playable characters, online leaderboards, and modding support with a custom charting interface, and it would no longer run in browsers.[13](https://www.polygon.com/22391852/friday-night-funkin-newgrounds-rythm-game-cartoon-kickstarter/) Stretch goals imply roughly 45 extra levels with about 135 tracks plus Erect remixes, totalling about 291 tracks; the original 27-week plan was intended for delivery in April 2022, but as of January 2026 the extent of completed content beyond WeekEnd 1 is unclear.[3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27) Pitchfork in 2024 framed the full game as not shipped after four years, with mods keeping the game alive in the meantime.[5](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/how-friday-night-funkin-became-the-most-influential-music-game-of-the-2020s/) The Kickstarter page has received 31 updates, only nine of them after 2021, and the developers have been criticized for limited communication during development.[3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27)
## Modding community
The open-source code supported a large fan-made mod scene, which kept the game alive despite the full game not shipping after four years. The code on GitHub under Apache 2.0, plus built-in modding support via Polymod for custom songs, characters, and stages and a built-in chart editor on desktop builds, meant anyone could extend the game without reverse-engineering it.[1](https://ninja-muffin24.itch.io/funkin) • [7](https://www.mintlify.com/FunkinCrew/Funkin/introduction) Pitchfork called this open-source ethos the game's biggest blessing and potential undoing, allowing endless fanmade mods, including crossovers with characters like *Undertale*'s Sans.[5](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/how-friday-night-funkin-became-the-most-influential-music-game-of-the-2020s/)
Hundreds of modders have contributed content. The VS Whitty mod adds a full week of original songs, "Lo-Fight," "Overhead," and "Ballistic"; "Lo-Fight, Overhead" builds to an intense crescendo, while "Ballistic" features shredding with a heavily distorted guitar, and the mod uses a new input system built on Kade Dev's community engine. Installation is drag-and-drop into the correct game folders.[14](https://techraptor.net/gaming/features/friday-night-funkin-mods) Ambitious charts push the format hard; some mods track 26 simultaneous notes at once.[5](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/how-friday-night-funkin-became-the-most-influential-music-game-of-the-2020s/) Academic work on modding generally identifies three factors at the core of the activity, a tendency toward agility, a co-creative nature, and an open-source attitude, all of which describe the FNF scene, though a 2019 ACM review notes that community dynamics within modding communities remain under-studied.[15](https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/jgvw_00034_1) • [16](https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3328320.3328393)
## By the numbers
- $2,247,641 pledged by 58,561 Kickstarter backers against a $60,000 goal.[4](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/funkin/friday-night-funkin-the-full-ass-game)
- 15 million plays on Newgrounds at the time of the April 2021 Kickstarter announcement; modded gameplay videos had drawn up to 20 million YouTube views, and one song's sound appeared in over 48,000 TikTok videos.[13](https://www.polygon.com/22391852/friday-night-funkin-newgrounds-rythm-game-cartoon-kickstarter/)
- 83 million Newgrounds views as of January 2026, the most viewed submission in the site's history.[3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27)
- 4.75/5 from 178,244 votes on Newgrounds[6](https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/770371) and 4.7/5 from 12,438 ratings on itch.io, where the game runs on HTML5, Windows, macOS, and Linux.[1](https://ninja-muffin24.itch.io/funkin)
## How it compares with other rhythm games
FNF descends from the PlayStation-era singing-and-rapping lineage of *PaRappa the Rapper* and *Vib-Ribbon*, and its input mechanic is closest to *Dance Dance Revolution* and *Space Channel 5*: arrows scroll toward targets and the player matches them in time.[3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27) • [10](https://www.polygon.com/2021/1/8/22220670/friday-night-funkin-browser-game-tiktok-songs/) What separates it from commercial rhythm games is distribution and licensing: it is free, runs in a browser, and publishes its engine under Apache 2.0, so its content grows through fan mods.[1](https://ninja-muffin24.itch.io/funkin) • [5](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/how-friday-night-funkin-became-the-most-influential-music-game-of-the-2020s/)
## Reception and cultural impact
**Virality.** Newgrounds was the launch point, and the game is credited with revitalizing the site; ninjamuffin99 became the first Newgrounds user to amass 100,000 fans.[3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27) TikTok then carried it to a much younger audience, sometimes so effectively that children mistook mod characters for originals.[5](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/how-friday-night-funkin-became-the-most-influential-music-game-of-the-2020s/) Pitchfork called it the most influential music game of the 2020s.[5](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/how-friday-night-funkin-became-the-most-influential-music-game-of-the-2020s/)
**Community friction.** The modding scene has been accompanied by community drama, including drama-tracking accounts and a mod removed over gore content, and the game is considered controversial among some older Newgrounds users because of modding-scene disputes and perceived low-quality fan submissions.[5](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/how-friday-night-funkin-became-the-most-influential-music-game-of-the-2020s/) • [3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27)
**Revival since 2023.** Updates resumed under The Funkin' Crew Inc. and were categorized as "pitstops" and "destinations." The first destination update, released April 30, 2024, added the Weekend 1 story level, 12 playable Erect remixes, a revamped Freeplay menu, and a new Results screen.[8](https://funkin.me/blog/2024-04-30/) • [3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27) A September 12, 2024 destination update added Pico as a playable character with "Pico mixes," and on July 15, 2025 an official mobile port arrived on [Google Play](https://www.edgepedia.org/google-play) and the Apple App Store alongside updated desktop builds.[3](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27) • [9](https://funkin.me/blog/2025-07-15/) The official changelog documents continued maintenance, including performance fixes for mobile devices, chart editor timing corrections, and security class blacklisting.[17](https://github.com/FunkinCrew/Funkin/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md)
## References
1. [Friday Night Funkin' by ninjamuffin99, PhantomArcade, The Funkin' Crew, Inc. — itch.io](https://ninja-muffin24.itch.io/funkin)
2. [FunkinCrew/Funkin — GitHub](https://github.com/FunkinCrew/funkin)
3. [Friday Night Funkin' — Wikigrounds: the Newgrounds Wiki](https://newgrounds.wiki.gg/wiki/Friday_Night_Funkin%27)
4. [FRIDAY NIGHT WHAT!? — Kickstarter](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/funkin/friday-night-funkin-the-full-ass-game)
5. [How Friday Night Funkin' Became the Most Influential Music Game of the 2020s — Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/how-friday-night-funkin-became-the-most-influential-music-game-of-the-2020s/)
6. [FRIDAY NIGHT FUNKIN' — Newgrounds](https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/770371)
7. [Introduction to Friday Night Funkin' — official documentation](https://www.mintlify.com/FunkinCrew/Funkin/introduction)
8. [The Weekend 1 Content Update is now available! — The Funkin' Crew Inc.](https://funkin.me/blog/2024-04-30/)
9. [The Mobile Port is now available! — The Funkin' Crew Inc.](https://funkin.me/blog/2025-07-15/)
10. [TikTok's algorithm led me to an amazing rhythm game — Polygon](https://www.polygon.com/2021/1/8/22220670/friday-night-funkin-browser-game-tiktok-songs/)
11. [Prerelease:Friday Night Funkin' — The Cutting Room Floor](https://tcrf.net/Prerelease:Friday_Night_Funkin%27)
12. [100 Mile House developer, 22, raises millions for Friday Night Funkin' — 100 Mile Free Press](https://100milefreepress.net/2022/02/02/100-mile-video-game-developer-raises-2-2-million-in-kickstarter/)
13. [Friday Night Funkin' is getting a full game — Polygon](https://www.polygon.com/22391852/friday-night-funkin-newgrounds-rythm-game-cartoon-kickstarter/)
14. [Great Friday Night Funkin Mods To Check Out — TechRaptor](https://techraptor.net/gaming/features/friday-night-funkin-mods)
15. [Modding as game development — Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds](https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/jgvw_00034_1)
16. [Malleable Games — A Literature Review on Communities of Game Modders — ACM C&T 2019](https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3328320.3328393)
17. [CHANGELOG.md — FunkinCrew/Funkin GitHub](https://github.com/FunkinCrew/Funkin/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Video games and digital play › Games and gameplay › Game genres › Puzzle, casual, and multiplayer-structure genres › Rhythm and music games*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license