Baba Is You is a 2D puzzle game focusing around word/phrase puzzles specifically. There are sometimes other elements to each puzzle, but the core of the game is about combining words into phrases in order to change the “rules” of that puzzle. For example, you might have the words “Baba”, “Flag”, “Win”, “Is”, “Wall”, “Stop”, and “You”. Usually, “Flag is Win” starts out as a default rule that can’t be changed, but sometimes it isn’t. You could solve the puzzle by saying “Wall is Win”, then bumping into the wall to complete the level. You could also remove the word “Stop” from “Wall is Stop”, which would allow you to walk through the wall and touch the flag to win. There is a huge amount of possibilities thanks to this open-ended system, which does wonders to keep the game interesting and varied.
The game starts off slow, but quickly ramps up the difficulty and complexity. Some puzzles have challenge versions, in which the obvious solution is no longer possible and you need to think of a new strategy. This is done by making slight changes to an existing puzzle that seem relatively minor, but wind up forcing you to think outside the box. It shows off how talented the developers are, to be able to create the same puzzle twice but with wildly different solutions.
Aside from puzzles, there really isn’t anything else in this game. There isn’t a narrative like Portal, instead the game focuses all of its energy on puzzle design. For some people, this can make the game a little one-dimensional, but for “hardcore” puzzle fans, it gives you a huge challenge and doesn’t hold your hand as you play.
Baba Is You is one of the most well crafted puzzle games of all time, easily earning its stellar review score and all the praise it has received.
10/10
- Hempuli Oy
- Steam, Itch
- $15
