Baba Is You is a puzzle game where you can change the rules by which you play. In every level, the rules themselves are present as blocks you can interact with; by manipulating them, you can change how the level works and cause surprising, unexpected interactions! With some simple block-pushing you can turn yourself into a rock, turn patches of grass into dangerously hot obstacles, and even change the goal you need to reach to something entirely different.
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Oh my god, my brain hurts.
It’s hard for me to talk about my experience with Baba is You, the same way it was hard as heck to complete the game. Playing Baba is You was a humbling experience as a creator because this is one of the most groundbreaking games I have ever experienced in terms of what even a ‘game’ is. Initially, it seems to be a nice puzzle title with a rather unique gimmick but after some hours it evolves into an absolute madness.
Arvi Teikari managed to come up with extremely clever uses of the game’s concept and the core mechanic gets expanded to an unexpected degree, and in the end you play not just by messing with words, but with characters, levels and even abstract concepts too (heck, even with the map itself!). I have never seen an approach like this to puzzle games before but I am so happy the creator decided to go all out with the gameplay concept since it gave birth to an exceptional videogame that has a lot to learn from.
Baba is You keeps breaking the classic concept of what a game is by allowing you to change its rules and hack the game’s behaviour in brilliant ways. It takes some time to get used to, but once you understand that you must be constantly thinking outside the box and forgetting how a game is traditionally played, you are in for plenty of surprises. Fortunately, the game is very forgiving and you can always undo unintended actions and keep trying instead of being forced to restart the puzzle from scratch.
I must admit that I had some tough times near the end, though, as the secret levels become insanely meta and obtuse, and had to look up some of the unlock steps, but they are just there for the most avid players that want to squeeze the gameplay possibilities and go through every level and Achievement by themselves so I didn’t feel too bad about it.
However solving all those demanding puzzles is a very pleasant experience thanks to its charming visuals and soothing music. The levels are just a joy to look at despite the simplicity of their graphics; the few recurring characters and items are both quirky and lovable and there are some brilliant visual jokes in some levels that put a smile on your face and are super fun to mess with. The soundtrack makes for a good company while your brain is melting trying to figure out what to do, it is never intrusive but helps keeping the boredom away.
If you like puzzle games, you’ll love Baba is You. Just don’t expect a simple and easy game and you’ll be delighted.
PUZZLE IS HARD
GAME IS BUY
BABA IS YOU
It’s hard for me to talk about my experience with Baba is You, the same way it was hard as heck to complete the game. Playing Baba is You was a humbling experience as a creator because this is one of the most groundbreaking games I have ever experienced in terms of what even a ‘game’ is. Initially, it seems to be a nice puzzle title with a rather unique gimmick but after some hours it evolves into an absolute madness.
Arvi Teikari managed to come up with extremely clever uses of the game’s concept and the core mechanic gets expanded to an unexpected degree, and in the end you play not just by messing with words, but with characters, levels and even abstract concepts too (heck, even with the map itself!). I have never seen an approach like this to puzzle games before but I am so happy the creator decided to go all out with the gameplay concept since it gave birth to an exceptional videogame that has a lot to learn from.
Baba is You keeps breaking the classic concept of what a game is by allowing you to change its rules and hack the game’s behaviour in brilliant ways. It takes some time to get used to, but once you understand that you must be constantly thinking outside the box and forgetting how a game is traditionally played, you are in for plenty of surprises. Fortunately, the game is very forgiving and you can always undo unintended actions and keep trying instead of being forced to restart the puzzle from scratch.
I must admit that I had some tough times near the end, though, as the secret levels become insanely meta and obtuse, and had to look up some of the unlock steps, but they are just there for the most avid players that want to squeeze the gameplay possibilities and go through every level and Achievement by themselves so I didn’t feel too bad about it.
However solving all those demanding puzzles is a very pleasant experience thanks to its charming visuals and soothing music. The levels are just a joy to look at despite the simplicity of their graphics; the few recurring characters and items are both quirky and lovable and there are some brilliant visual jokes in some levels that put a smile on your face and are super fun to mess with. The soundtrack makes for a good company while your brain is melting trying to figure out what to do, it is never intrusive but helps keeping the boredom away.
If you like puzzle games, you’ll love Baba is You. Just don’t expect a simple and easy game and you’ll be delighted.
PUZZLE IS HARD
GAME IS BUY
BABA IS YOU
One of the most interesting, compelling, and fun puzzle games I've ever played
I graduated from MIT. This game made me feel like I had shit for brains. If you beat this, you're smarted than an MIT grad. 10/10 perfect puzzle game.
Baba is Rock
Rock is Win
Win is Amazing
Amazing is Baba
Rock is Win
Win is Amazing
Amazing is Baba
Baba Is Amazing
Selten ein Puzzlespiel erlebt, das seinen Content so dermaßen gut ausspielt und dabei noch so unfrustrierend bleibt. Bei anderen Genrevertretern besteht oftmals das Problem, dass sie ab einem gewissen Punkt anfangen, die Rätsel mit einem "Haha, das hättest du nicht gedacht, Trottel" zu designen, was zur Demotivation und auch zum Vertrauensbruch gegenüber des Titels führt - man kann sich ab dem Punkt nie sicher sein, ob nicht etwas derart abwegiges wiederholt wird.
"Baba Is You" vermeidet solche Zustände nicht nur durch Desing-Konzepte, wie dass man alle interagierbaren Objekte stets auf einem Screen hat oder man die Regeln des Level beeinflussen kann, sondern primär auch, da die Machenden ein gutes Verständnis dafür besitzen, wann eine Mechanik ausgereizt genug ist und wie die Spielendenschaft an die Aufgaben herangeht. Oftmals hätten Level unnötig komplexer sein oder ihre Gimmicks ad absurdum treiben können. Dies war aber nicht der Fall, was mich mehr als nur positiv stimmte.
Zu schade, dass dieses Lob gegen Ende des Contents etwas einstürzt. Nachdem der Titel eine Special-Special-Special-Welt auspackt, werden einige Rätsel in der Kombination mit der Oberwelt recht anstrengend und machen genau das, wofür ich andere Genrevertreter kritisert habe. Zum Glück trifft dies aber nur auf ein paar der 230 Level zu, sodass sie in der Masse aus Qualität untergehen.
Das Prestige von "Baba Is You" lässt sich am besten damit zusammenfassen, dass, wenn nach langer Zeit eine Stage gelöst wurde, ich mir nie dachte, wie undurchsichtig denn das Spiel sei, sondern stets erstaunt gewesen bin, was für ein intelligentes Design angewendet wurde.
Selten ein Puzzlespiel erlebt, das seinen Content so dermaßen gut ausspielt und dabei noch so unfrustrierend bleibt. Bei anderen Genrevertretern besteht oftmals das Problem, dass sie ab einem gewissen Punkt anfangen, die Rätsel mit einem "Haha, das hättest du nicht gedacht, Trottel" zu designen, was zur Demotivation und auch zum Vertrauensbruch gegenüber des Titels führt - man kann sich ab dem Punkt nie sicher sein, ob nicht etwas derart abwegiges wiederholt wird.
"Baba Is You" vermeidet solche Zustände nicht nur durch Desing-Konzepte, wie dass man alle interagierbaren Objekte stets auf einem Screen hat oder man die Regeln des Level beeinflussen kann, sondern primär auch, da die Machenden ein gutes Verständnis dafür besitzen, wann eine Mechanik ausgereizt genug ist und wie die Spielendenschaft an die Aufgaben herangeht. Oftmals hätten Level unnötig komplexer sein oder ihre Gimmicks ad absurdum treiben können. Dies war aber nicht der Fall, was mich mehr als nur positiv stimmte.
Zu schade, dass dieses Lob gegen Ende des Contents etwas einstürzt. Nachdem der Titel eine Special-Special-Special-Welt auspackt, werden einige Rätsel in der Kombination mit der Oberwelt recht anstrengend und machen genau das, wofür ich andere Genrevertreter kritisert habe. Zum Glück trifft dies aber nur auf ein paar der 230 Level zu, sodass sie in der Masse aus Qualität untergehen.
Das Prestige von "Baba Is You" lässt sich am besten damit zusammenfassen, dass, wenn nach langer Zeit eine Stage gelöst wurde, ich mir nie dachte, wie undurchsichtig denn das Spiel sei, sondern stets erstaunt gewesen bin, was für ein intelligentes Design angewendet wurde.
makes my brain hurt :(