Baba is You
Wordplay puzzling is simply amazing
$6.99 From hempuli.com
Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac Needs iOS 9.0 or later/ macOS 11.0 or later, and a Mac with Apple M1 chip
This is a little work of genius. Winner of the Excellence in Design award from the Independent Games Festival in 2018, it’s taken a long time for this game, created by Finnish student Arvi “Hempuli” Teikari, to get to iOS. And now it’s here.
The basis of the game is pushing blocks around so a little bunny rabbit called Baba (is You) can get to the flag (is Win). In your way are walls (is Stop), lava (is Hot), skulls (is Defeat), and many other obstacles. Any block you can access can be moved, however, and that includes the text descriptions that give objects their properties. Want to fail a level instantly? Push away any part of the statement “Baba is You” — you’re not you any more. Replace Baba with Flag, however, and you’ll move the flag around the screen in just the same way as the bunny.
Likewise, Rock is Push can become Rock is Win, if you can access the right bits to walk into the rock, and then victory! Push a vital part of a statement into the corner, however, and it’s all over — initially, at least, you can only push and not pull. There’s no limit to what you can push — put together the statement “Wall is Push”, and you can move the entire infrastructure of the level to your advantage.
It’s a beautiful system that sees ever more fiendish traps and mazes set for you. Sometimes there’s a shortcut, for instance — a level with a crab near the victory flag can be completed with Crab is You. The “Is” part of a statement can be used twice, lining words up in a cross formation to make two things happen, while later levels introduce “And”... and we already feel like we’ve said too much. As with all the best puzzle games, the joy of Baba is You lies in discovery, of how the rules of its universe work, and how they can be exploited in the best way.
The simple movement style used here — swipes in any direction to move, a large restart button, and an easily available rewind — make a good home on the touchscreen. The game has been available on PC and Switch, but flicking Baba around with a finger is the superior way to play.
THE BOTTOM LINE. A superb puzzle game. The only downside is that it has to end.
BABA IS YOU
Like nothing else
Excellent puzzling
Moreish
Looks a bit primitive