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One of my favorite puzzles games just turned 5, and it’s still outstanding
13.03.2024 - 10:17 / digitaltrends.com / Tomas Franzese / Nintendo
Baba is You, one of the most mind-bending indie puzzle games I’ve ever played turns five years old today.
Released for PC and Nintendo Switch on March 13, 2019, it’s a puzzle game where players manipulate the rules of a level in their favor to meet a win condition. That may seem simple, but Baba is You ramps up considerably in complexity as it goes on, enabling some genuinely head-scratching puzzles that will have you rethinking what’s possible within the game’s mechanics.
Five years later, I haven’t played another game quite like Baba is You. Since its release, it has only gotten bigger, with more puzzles and the addition of a level editor. If you’ve never played Baba is You before, its fifth anniversary gives you the perfect excuse to check the game out for the first time. And if you haven’t played it since 2019, that additional content provides ample reason to return.
Baba Is You — release date trailerPushing the rules
In Baba is You, words appear on-screen that can be pushed around like blocks. When linking them with other words, players create a new rule within the level. Parameters like “rock is push” will make rocks movable, while “flag is win” allows players to complete a stage by touching a flag. In early levels, you might just need to push that rock to open a pathway to the flag. Later on, though, you may have to seek out that directive within the level itself and turn “rock is push” into “rock is win” so that touching that rock is the level’s win condition.
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Even the phrase “Baba is You” can be modified, meaning the player can take control of any object in the game if the level allows it. The best puzzle games create moments where the player feels clever for figuring out a solution that’s outside the box or combines systems in unexpected ways. Baba is You is entirely made up of moments like that; almost every level makes me feel like an idiot when I’m unsure what to do and then like a genius when I figure out the result. An always-available undo button also means that a trial and error approach is encouraged when solving puzzles.
As more parameters like that are added to levels, the number of permutations of those rules grows. Baba is You gets more complex over time, and you’ll need to spend a lot of time tinkering around with each level’s words to get an idea of what the level’s solution might be. The experience feels emergent, although Baba is You’s puzzles are intricately crafted. Although that can get frustrating at times, the minimalist pixelated visuals of the game
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