For the most recent instalment of Games Club we played Baba is You, and boy howdy did it make us feel DUMB!
Baba Is You teaches us how to appreciate rules by asking us to break them
Baba Is You
Baba Is You, by Arvi Teikari, is a puzzle game where you are (usually) Baba.
To solve the puzzles you must manipulate the physical objects in the world to change and readjust their rules and, by doing soā¦ change how the game works entirely!
Baba is a cute, white, bunny-rabbit looking creature who you control on the world map and then delve into the various levels of the game with. And, as I said before, āusuallyā play as within these levels š°
Baba is You
Wall is Stop
Door is Shut
Flag is Win
These are just some of the objects and rules that you can encounter in the levels of this game! But imagine if you could then push those aroundā¦ if you could manipulate them to your will!!
What ifā¦
Wall is Shut
Door is You
Flag is Stop
Baba is Win
Baba is then the end goal, Wallās canāt be entered into without a Key, Flagās are no longer the Win condition and block your path and you are nowā¦ a Door!?
I hope you can appreciate and see how this can then quickly, and confusingly get out of hand, especially when the complexities and rules of the levels get increasingly harder and harder!
But before I break my brain againā¦ letās get into the Likes and Dislikes
Likes: š
The Audio
The sound effects and audio used in this game were one of the highlights for me whilst playing and immediately stood out to me as soon as I picked it up!
The movement SFX are arguably my favourite, for some reason š¤·āāļø, itās just a unique sound and I sometimes move the character just to hear itā¦
More importantly though, the music is easy to listen to, doesnāt distract my thoughts and doesnāt feel repetitive or make me frustrated! Some puzzle games really get this wrong where the audio can stress you out to the point where you actually blame YOUR stupidity on the music! With this game, unfortunately, I can only blame my stupidity on, wellā¦ my stupidity! š
Keeping things Simpleā¦ Sort of
For a game with such endless possibilities and scenarios I really appreciate how simple the developers kept some other aspects of the game such as the cute, doodle-style art of the 2D assets. If the art was as chaotic as the rules in the levels then I think that this game would be too much of a sensory overload! Instead, while Iām trying to figure out how to push a Rock thatās currently Floating I can also appreciate the aesthetically pleasing and adorable Jellyfish, which I canāt touch or theyāll kill me š
The World Map
I havenāt explored the World Map, or try to fuck with it as much as some others in the Games Club did, but I just think that the World Map is a really nice touch to the game. It takes me back to Super Mario times and I probably like it due to that nostalgic feeling it gives me!
I love how it isnāt just a linear line, itās branching and there are different areas you can delve into and explore. Unlike Candy Crush which is just a big line up a big mountain!
The Rewind Feature
The ability to rewind your moves in this game are a God send and I feel that, without it, this game would have been 1000x more hair ripping, console throwing, frustrating!
With the ability to rewind it promotes the player to be able to try out things they probably know wonāt work but are like āWhat the hell, Iāll give it a go anyway!ā
More importantly, if your set on trying to solve a level a certain way and then find out you went horribly wrong 20-30 or so moves before hand, rather than having to restart the level you can just rewind to the point where you think you messed up and give it another shot!
Dislikes: š
How the Game made meā¦ Feel
As I mentioned before, you canāt blame not being able to complete a level in this game on anything other than your own stupidity!
Myself, and others in the Games Club, agreed that this game made us feel REAAALLL DUMB! and it was a feeling that, usually in puzzle games, you donāt want to feel after having actually completed a levelā¦
You want that sense of victory and accomplishment when you finally realise how to get around the Crabs of Death! but sometimes this game just felt mentally exhausted you and made you feel just like a plain olāidiotā¦ but then again, this could be the desired effect of the game and if so, I hate you but well done!
Now Iām going to go cry to my Mum and let her tell me how clever I am!
Rules Never seemed to Stay the Same
On the back of the above point, in some levels I just feltā¦ a bit cheated... š
Rules that I manipulated and changed in the level before didnāt then always necessarily apply to the next. Saaayyyyā¦ I moved the Win to make Baba Is Win, in one level it then resulted in me completing it! But then the next time I tried thatā¦ I failed that levelā¦ š
With a game with such simple, seemingly straight-forward set rules it would be nice if those rules applied to every level rather than just a few. For such an integral mechanic of the game, it seemed liked a feature that should have been more consistent, at least to me.
Final Score
All in all, I think Baba Is You is too hard to explain and bring into words, especially in someoneās Blog Post who couldnāt even complete the 7th Level on their own!!!
This game IS one of the best puzzle games that I have played in a long time and, I think, that if I had played it on Mobile rather than on the Switch I would have enjoyed it a lot more and would have given me more opportunities to dive deeper into the hidden levels of this game! It would be a great time waster on public transport and... heck! even on the looš©
I might revisit this game on Mobile and try to see if I can unlock anymore secrets it can unfold, but till thenā¦
Baba Is You Is 6.5/10