The Smiling Critters Explained || Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 Updates

Making CatNap be lavender scented is genius
Lavender isn’t just a calming scent, it also helps with sleep

If I had a smiling critter as a child, I don't think I would ever sleep soundly.

Catnap being the calming presence of the group is definitely interesting since we know he’s the one expelling the sleeping gas. If catnap has a monster form would the other critters have some too cause in those files there was another experiment that I believe was said to be pretty fast so that could be Hopscotch.

Some of these scents they chose here are quite interesting.
- Lemongrass is a tropical plant found in Africa, Asia, and Australia, which is known for producing a oil that is used in insect repellants and soaps
- Jasmine is a flower found across Eurasia and Australia that is commonly used for perfumes and religious rituals
- Ylang-ylang is a unique flower only found in Southeast Asia (most commonly the Philippines), with its oil being used in aromatherapy
Certainly a diversion of what I typically expect for scented products.

Catnap having a lavender scent is pretty important since lavender has mild calming & sedative properties. I know the life sized one dispenses sleeping gas on a high level for experimentation, but what if the commercially available ones were used as sleep aids?

The critters I believe were inspired by Irl plushies called scentsys. These plushies came with scent packets and when you unzip the back of it you can put the packets in giving the plush a sweet smell. Each plush also came with a info thing on the box. Just thought I might point that out

I think the reason the scents are actually mentioned will be for gameplay relevance, "It smells of vanilla.." or the sort to know the best way to avoid danger by knowing which critter is heading your way

I had an idea for a plot twist. What if Catnap isn't actually a bad guy? Maybe the other Critters are bad, and Catnap uses his gas to keep them dormant, unwilling to kill them because he still sees them as friends. Maybe he starts out trying to kill you because he thinks you'll try to free or kill the other Critters, but either let's you go or even joins you when he realizes that's not what you're after, possibly becoming the first main antagonist not to die.

Dogday and Catnap seem to be direct opposites, which is interesting. Not only in their names, but the way they're cat and dog and their pendants are a sun and a moon. Wonder if that has some significance

Here are the scents of Smiling Critters that SuperHorrorBro mentioned:

• Lemongrass - Bubba Bubbaphant 💡
• Rose - Bobby BearHug ❤️
• Ylang-ylang - KickinChicken ⭐
• Jasmine - CraftyCorn 🌈
• Vanilla - DogDay ☀️
• Citrus - PickyPiggy 🍎
• Peppermint - Hoppy Hopscotch ⚡
• Lavender - CatNap 🌙

that image with the impaled toys actually looks a lot like a barricade. that plus Dogday's description sounding like he would be an ally seems to me like less an offering and more a barricade with toys impaled as a warning for anything hostile looking for an easy snack, pretty much saying "Don't come close, I can and I will."

6:10 I think that’s arranged more like a barricade, the spikes there to impale any toys trying to climb over the thing. It’s either there because the adults built it during the ‘hour of joy’ or the kids made it during the resulting chaos.

The sanitation is actually Laboratory Eyewash Station, usually used for chemical accidents for either eye wash or full body rinse

8:00 Those aren't sanitation stations for nurses, those are eyewashes like you'd see in a chemical lab. The basin shoots up a soft but firm jet of water into your eye when you get chemicals in your eye, and the shower above is for when you get a lot of chemicals dumped on you or you're on fire.

Scene Selection
0:00 - Intro
0:45 - The Smiling Critters
5:08 - New Screenshots Analyzed
9:42 - Outro

What personally makes the smiling critters so creepy is how they have wide eyes, tiny pupils, and a hysterical psychotic grin and just silently stare at you, and it reminds me of that one cupcake mlp game where pinky tries to kill you. This will, most likely, be one of the creepiest chapters yet, and I cant wait for it

I find it super interesting as it wasnt revealed prior that the sniling critters are Playtime Co's way of introducing aromatherapy to kids, which depending on the scent, it can determine if a kid is more energized or sleepy.. CatNap makes a lot of sense seen its the critter of sleep and lavendar helps people sleep. So with that in mind, someone mentioned it earlier.. but with this monsterous form of CatNap lurking around, my theory is that based on the steam article and then clues around us, we will be facing every smiling critter, with a couple of them being friendly.. I think if we wanted to deduct which ones will be friendly and which hostile, Id say kinda go based off of any of the smallest clues from the character bios and cartoon episode to determine all of that

It's neat how the scents of the Smiling Critters match their personalities. It makes me think that they're less a stuffie to sleep with and more just a plush to purchase and collect.

For example, if your child has problems getting up and ready for the day, using citrus could aid them in waking them up in a good (or better) mood. If your child is too energetic, but it isn't quite time for bed, a calming jasmine or vanilla scent could be used. If your child gets sick often, you'd probably want to stock up on lemongrass (anti bacterial), rose (anti inflammatory), and peppermint (decongestant), etc etc. If your kid is allergic to lavender, ylang ylang might be a good substitute for a night time aroma.

I will say, I think it's smart that scents can be kept out, since aromas are one of the most common asthmatic and migraine/nausea triggers. Thus, you can still collect the critters without compromising your child's health. I wonder if there is a "scentless" mode, where it's basically just a cute humidifier? I don't know how big these critters are compared to a child, but their stomachs look like they could fit a 250 ml container (plenty of water for a good night's sleep), and with their mouths being so large, I wonder if they're lined with a water-resistant material to prevent mould and mildew build up.

What I truly love about poppy playtime is that it embodies everything that children horror/childhood nostalgia turned horror themed should be, it’s also not afraid to get gory and darker (mommy’s death and the theme of chapter 3, it also seems it just keeps getting scarier and darker everyone and I love it.

It’s interesting that Catnap isn’t called the leader of the group. I wonder if Dogday is going to be similar to Freddy in Security Breach. I think that would be cool