Exploring the BABA IS YOUNIVERSE
January 7, 2024 2:15 AM Subscribe
Hempuli, the brilliant designer behind the rule-modification puzzle game Baba Is You ($15 for Windows, Mac and Linux, previously, again), hasn't rested since that came out. (Everything mentioned is free and for Windows unless otherwise noted.) Baba Is You was so successful that now we have to help Baba File Taxes! Covemount (Web) is a simple Sokoban clone with an interesting numeric gimmick. Baba Is You XTREME adds an extra feature to Baba for reasons of "fun." And there's a collection of 16 Solitaire games! And a little Neko-like Baba friend/desktop toy! And... Mobile Suit Baba, a mashup of Baba Is You and Into The Breach?! ($4, Windows) There's lots more i left out only for brevity's sake: the rest is on Hempuli's itch.io page.
I had every interactive desktop pet you could find back then. Probably gave my computer a virus, haha!
posted by tiny frying pan at 6:10 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]
posted by tiny frying pan at 6:10 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]
Sokoban and Into the Breach are two of my favorite games so I am definitely in the target demographic here! Thanks JHarris!!
posted by vacapinta at 7:25 AM on January 7
posted by vacapinta at 7:25 AM on January 7
There's a Baba Is You level editor on his itch page, too. Baba Is You is really a mind-opening game, once you get into it. It feels like a koan, like it was somehow discovered more than created. It deserves all the praise it gets.
posted by mhoye at 8:13 AM on January 7 [4 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 8:13 AM on January 7 [4 favorites]
Waah - the link for the desktop toy is broken for me.
Maybe it's all for the best. I realized I was playing the game too much when I went back to work this week and found myself trying to push words while I was drafting a contract. Scrunch scrunch scrunch scrunch
posted by queensissy at 10:34 AM on January 7 [2 favorites]
Maybe it's all for the best. I realized I was playing the game too much when I went back to work this week and found myself trying to push words while I was drafting a contract. Scrunch scrunch scrunch scrunch
posted by queensissy at 10:34 AM on January 7 [2 favorites]
More of his games at hempuli.com
Including Noita the amazing (multi-year collaboration) falling sand roguelite (Noita wiki).
posted by Penumbra at 11:42 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]
Including Noita the amazing (multi-year collaboration) falling sand roguelite (Noita wiki).
posted by Penumbra at 11:42 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]
Oh! I forgot to mention Cavern Sweeper specifically. It's a variant of minesweeper, where the mines are monsters with different danger levels, that are emitted around them in different patterns depending on the monster type. It might sound like it'd be hard, but you can choose which kinds of monsters will be in your game, and so make it as tricky as you want it to be. It's nice, and playable on the web!
posted by JHarris at 1:46 PM on January 7
posted by JHarris at 1:46 PM on January 7
Unofficial Baba Is Youniverse: SUPER IS HOT.
posted by egypturnash at 3:52 PM on January 7 [2 favorites]
posted by egypturnash at 3:52 PM on January 7 [2 favorites]
Wow, this is exactly the sort of puzzle game I love, I don't know how I missed it. Thanks :D
posted by silentbicycle at 4:22 PM on January 7 [2 favorites]
posted by silentbicycle at 4:22 PM on January 7 [2 favorites]
If you're talking about the original Baba Is You, you are in for a RIDE.
posted by JHarris at 5:25 PM on January 7 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 5:25 PM on January 7 [1 favorite]
I am, I'm an hour or so in and having a blast.
posted by silentbicycle at 6:00 PM on January 7
posted by silentbicycle at 6:00 PM on January 7
I really don't want to spoil anything, but Baba Is You goes to such fun places eventually. It's an experience.
posted by JHarris at 6:28 PM on January 7
posted by JHarris at 6:28 PM on January 7
Baba is you is such a clever and interesting game! And these links made my kid and me giggle. Thanks!!
posted by Vatnesine at 7:53 PM on January 7 [1 favorite]
posted by Vatnesine at 7:53 PM on January 7 [1 favorite]
I want to thank you, JHarris, for this post, because it introduced me to Baba is You. It filled a Baba-shaped void in my life I didn’t know I had. What a wonderful game!
posted by malthas at 9:02 AM on January 8 [2 favorites]
posted by malthas at 9:02 AM on January 8 [2 favorites]
All you newcomers to Baba Is You, just you wait. I know of no game that takes its premise to the ludicrous extents that it does, and just when you think, that's as far as it will go, no, no it isn't. You might find it too difficult before that happens, but if you stick with it, maybe consult a guide if you get really stuck, you'll see what I mean.
posted by JHarris at 6:24 PM on January 8 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 6:24 PM on January 8 [1 favorite]
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A perfect callback to that strange period in the '90s when seemingly half the people had a little cat or dog that would cause mild mischief on their desktop if they didn't play with it regularly. Closely related was the group that had the interactive fish tank screensavers.
posted by mystyk at 5:00 AM on January 7 [5 favorites]