Baba Is You Review

Baba Is You is a puzzle game about playing with the rules.

Baba Is You is a new puzzle game released by Hepuli. You mostly control Baba, a dog-like sprite around a simple 2D world pushing blocks as you go to solve the puzzle. Other objects on the screen might be trying to block your way, for example a wall or water. Manipulate the rules, get to the flag and congratulations… you’ve beaten the level.

There’s simple coding-like instructions on the screen letting you know the rules. The rules are made up of nouns, conjunctions and verbs and they are combined to create the rules for the board. The rules can be changed by moving the blocks.

For example, ‘Baba is you’ means you control Baba allowing you to move around the screen. ‘Flag is win’ means you have to get to the flag to complete the level. ‘Wall is stop’ means you can’t get through the wall so you will have to change up the instructions. Instructions for Baba and objects can be chained together layering on mind-bending complexity to the puzzles.

If you make a mistake, or you disconnect the ‘is you’ in the game you can go back and try again. If you really get stuck you can restart the level. The game can be tricky to describe through writing, so here’s a clip that explains the game perfectly.

There’s over 200 levels in the game and the puzzles move from simple tutorial levels to complex levels fairly rapidly. Sometimes the solution is so delightfully simple, it’s all a matter of trying things out. However the later you progress in the game the puzzles get pretty tough and the game can feel a little frustrating.

Baba Is You is a fun, innovative title and great on the Nintendo Switch as you can tackle levels on a commute or when you have a little time on the move. As you move through the later levels the earlier satisfaction does stand a side a little as the layers of rules build up.

As the game is only approx £11 (or $15) I would recommend picking up this interesting little puzzle game. There’s more than a few wow-moments in here when you manipulate the environment in surprising ways.

Baba Is You is available on Nintendo eShop and PC via Steam and was released on March 13th 2019.

Graphics	65
Audio	70
Gameplay	90
Replay	70
Fun	80
Value	80
Final Score	76