Trapped inside an animatronic suit, slowly suffocating as the night goes on. Can you survive until 6am as more hostile animatronics fill the Restaurant in search for you. A lost child seeks safety and comfort inside the last friendly thing that they could find; Kou the Cow. This is our interpretation and explanation of Bondee’s Barnyard story in full. Are the animatronics sentient? Who is the Security Guard? How could something like the events of that night ever happen? Let us dive into it.
The Story Explained
Opening
Bondee’s Barnyard begins with an interview between a journalist and the Bondee Restaurant owner. They claim that the security system of animatronics is more than enough to combat intruders should they be in the premises when the doors close for the night. We find out that whilst the animatronics would not be able to kill an intruder who is an adult, nothing is said about a child being trapped on the premises.
We next see a newspaper clipping of ‘CHILD MISSING’. We would quickly realise that the child is the player themselves. The child went missing on their birthday inside the Bondee’s Barnyard Restaurant. Whilst the Restaurant claims to have had no malicious intent behind the current circumstances, they increase security to help counter against future instances of children going missing. Turns out, the child is hiding inside the animatronic, Kou the Cow. This animatronic is the only one in the Barnyard that protects children instead of acting like a security system.
Something is indeed looking for the child and they know it. They hide inside the animatronics who roam the halls looking for the child. But as they suffocate slowly inside the animatronic, there only means to survive is to poke their head out and breath. The mechanics of the game are as follows: breath outside of the suit whenever you can, do not let anyone see you (including the camera) and shut the doors on either side of the room so nothing gets inside.
Related: How to Play Bondee’s Barnyard: Safety Violation.
Minigames
The minigame moments in between each hour of the night display the past event as to how the child ended up missing to begin with. In these illustrations the child is viewed as a duckling. The mother duck sends off her duckling to Bondee’s Barnyard for the day to celebrate their birthday. Inside, the duckling meets various animatronics who on the surface appear kind and friendly towards the public. You engage in minigames such as helping Grise the Pig build his house or counting sheep with Fourly. Later on, the duckling is approached by Bondee the Farmer who is bringing over a birthday cake. As the duckling blows out the candles, Bondee is lit on fire. As a result to seeing this, the child runs away and hides inside Kou who offers help.
My interpretation of this backstory is that the animatronic of Bondee did indeed catch fire however it likely was its sleeve. Still as a child viewing this, it would surely traumatise them. As a result, Kou offers her body as a vice for the child to hide in. In the base game, with every hour that passes a man speaks with the child over a tannoy system. These play tapes specific to the animatronic who is entering the area which each hour that passes. They act as a means of learning what to do to counter the new threat.
The security system in place is the animatronics who can pick up on the sound of breathing. The owner tells us that the system is perfectly safe and is there as a legal precaution. A human security guard is not necessary as the animatronics work perfectly fine in providing security for the Restaurant.
The Hours that Pass
Whilst the child initially chose to hide inside Kou’s body, it is hard to tell whether or not they can exit once the doors to the Restaurant open up again. We know that no adult could fit inside the small space of the animatronics body however, a child could. This is not what the child should do but out of fear, they think that Kou is safer than hiding elsewhere. We find out very quickly that Kou should not carry children as there is not oxygen inside, instead the child must open Kou’s mouth to breath.
With every hour that passes a new animatronic joins security. Each with their own counter to ward off them entering the room the child is in. As the pre-recorded tapes tell you what to do should you see them. What is interesting is that there is a Security Guard who watches the monitors and should they spot you inside Kou, you will get electrocuted. This is in place for any intruder hiding inside and a standard shock would not kill an adult. The same cannot be said for a child hiding inside.
What is not given an explanation with the tapes is the presence of the duckling. This animatronic is regularly seen running down either corridor, seemingly heading for one of the doors in your room. They act as the mascot of the child through the minigames. Chick is described by Otis as a blank slate, similar to that of the trapped child. If you do nothing, the camera feed loops. Perhaps the Chick is in fact a recording of the child running away and going to hide in Kou’s room. This would explain why it is a recording instead of the Chick actually approaching the room.
The Tape Meaning
As these animatronics are now on security mode, these search for any signs of life inside the Restaurant. Likely to stop any burglary rather than help a lost child. The tapes keep the friendly and cheerful voices of its animatronics but its words are hostile and threatening. These are obviously in place against intruders with intent to steal or damage the property. Not for the ears or eyes of a lost child.
From the eyes of a child these animatronics are terrifying and appear to be taunting the child. But the tapes, which are pre-recorded for any intruders, demonstrate that these animatronics are simply doing their job on security mode. They do not have the capabilities to kill an adult intruder but the same cannot be said for a lost child as they do not have a security function for that. Their rhyming is clearly due to the coding of the animatronics as that is how they communicate. It is not to be used directly for lost children inside the Restaurant. As soon as the doors shut and the system went on, the animatronics knew an intruder was inside due to their breathing. However, they do not have a mode to handle lost children.
The Ending Explained
We see more newspaper clippings revealing that the child did not survive the night. The game ends with Kou closing their mouth, thus suffocating the child inside. In our last moments of the game, we see the doors close and the oxygen in the room plummets. This must be the final security procedure to knock out any intruder inside. But because the Security Guard never saw that it was a child, this results in our protagonist suffocating inside Kou. The clippings highlight the poor practice of the Guard for not noticing the child inside the Restaurant. However, his/her/their training likely did not include a lost child as part of security.
Final Interpretation
My final interpretation of the game is that the animatronics were not malicious but just acting as a security system. They are coded to find the intruder and force them out of the Restaurant. However, as suggested in the opening audio file, the security in place may be too much force for a child. This also is backed by the fact that Kou does not have oxygen in the suit meaning that no one is supposed to go inside. The finale shows a freak accident that should have been easily avoidable if the owner placed human guards instead of animatronics.
The animatronics are not sentient or possessed, they are simply following their code. This game demonstrates that with poor practice, training and being cheap for following proper security procedures can result in a child losing their life. From the child’s point of view, the animatronics would be terrifying. Following on from their traumatic experience with Bondee being lit on fire as a result of the child blowing out birthday candles. It is no surprise that the child did not want to leave the suit of the only mascot which was still friendly to them in this moment of terror.
We hope this explanation on Bondee’s Barnyard story and ending helped with your interpretation of the game. If you are interested on trying this out for yourself, head over to Gamejolt. For more children’s toy Horror Games, see our articles: Garten of Banban is a Blatant Poppy Playtime Rip-Off – Should You Play? and Why PROJECT: PLAYTIME Does Not Work as a Multiplayer Horror Game. Feel free to follow us on our Facebook for all of our latest gaming content.
Published: Jan 23, 2023 05:49 am