History VideoGame / BabaIsYou

** The Baba Make Level update features several new levels that make use of objects and rules formerly only appearing in the beta level editor. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4W_9rfjSus trailer]] alone showcases levels made only of circles and squares and levels utilizing keywords such as "FEAR"[[note]]A FEAR B makes A move away from B if they're adjacent[[/note]], "MIMIC"[[note]]A MIMIC B makes A copy all the game rules applying to B[[/note]], "SEEING"[[note]]The condition A SEEING B applies is B is directly in front of A at any distance[[/note]], "REVERSE"[[note]]YOU objects [[InterfaceScrew have their controls reversed]] and verbs that forcibly move objects take effect in the opposite direction[[/note]], and multidirectional "FALL"[[note]]Objects with FALL instantly move to the closest solid object in the indicated direction; the property did exist in the initial release but it always defaulted to down[[/note]]. A number of levels that show up early on in the update also make extensive use of the [[FirstPersonPerspective 3D]] keyword.

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Invoked; certain puzzles will require you to fully grasp the rules of a level instead of thinking in terms of conventional block puzzle games. One early level gets this point across by only being possible to solve when you realize [[spoiler:there is no actual rule stating "Wall is Stop", only "''Grass'' is Stop"]].

The game was released on March 13, 2019, for UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch. You can find the Steam version [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/736260/Baba_Is_You/ here]]. Additionally, the Nordic Game Jam prototype of the game is available on Hempuli's [[https://hempuli.itch.io/baba-is-you itch.io]] page.

* ConfusingMultipleNegatives: Several puzzles give you multiple "Not" keywords, and it's possible to stack them together to negate each other. (e.g. "Rock is Not Not Push" equates to "Rock is Push")

* RepetitiveName: Most creatures' names consist of two identical syllables - Baba, Keke, Jiji, and Fofo.

!! '''PAGE IS READ''':

* DugTooDeep: [[spoiler: When you get past the Depths and the Meta overworlds, there's one last area, the Center. There, you can find the level titled ''The End'', surrounded by flower petals like the similar function "End" in Level Finale, which has one last keyword to play with, "Done". However, that keyword turns out to be incredibly powerful, capable of erasing objects outright (more so than making "X is Empty"), and to get the secret ending you'll need to use the keyword in relation to "All".]]

* FloatingPlatforms: The theme of Mountaintop's levels "Floaty Platforms" and "The Floatiest Platforms." [[spoiler: The name of the latter is a RedHerring, though; it misleads you into thinking you can't leave the "platform" spaces, which is part of the solution.]]

** The last "normal" world, [[spoiler:ABC]], uses large individual letters to spell out phrases instead of tiles containing words. It's also notably shorter than the other endgame worlds, though some of its concepts return in [[spoiler: Meta]].

** All rules are derived from Text, with three exceptions: Text Is Push, which is only disabled if "Text is not Push" is assembled within the level; [[spoiler:Cursor Is Select, which allows the player to move the overworld map selector cursor, but only on the designated pathways and the levels]]; and [[spoiler: Level Is Stop, which means only the Cursor object, or anything else explicitly defined to be Select, may move onto a Level object. Level Is Stop also defines the ''edges'' of a level as impassable--once you gain access to Level keywords, you'll find that they do a ''lot'' of work]].
** The word ALL does not include Text, Empty or [[spoiler:Level]], because that would've seriously complicated things -- [[spoiler: or in the case of Level, spoiled the endgame.]]

* OffTheRails: [[spoiler: [[LogicalExtreme Taken to a ludicrous degree]] with the "Level" object, which lets you alter an '''entire''' level. This lets you change a level to any object, and that level will show up on the overworld as that object, meaning you can change a level into "Baba" and another into "Flag", meaning you can '''win''' the overworld and be taken to the overworld above the overworld. And this is only the ''tutorial'' for the "Level" object. You can go above and beyond, positioning the level selector over a controlled object that used to be a level, allowing you to ''ride'' that level anywhere. Entire lategame areas have their map essentially become levels themselves, and you have to play the levels [[RecursiveReality inside levels to turn levels into rideable objects to turn more levels into objects for the level.]] You can even turn objects on a map into even more levels. At one point on an overworld map, even the ''level cursor'' can be transformed into a hidden level. Yep.]]

* RewritingReality: The other main theme of the game. The rules exist in-game as basic sentences that define the behaviors of certain objects (e.g. "Wall is Stop" or "Rock is Push"). Altering the sentences will alter those rules (hence, you could push away the "Stop" from "Wall is Stop" to walk through walls). That said, there are certain limitations to add to the challenge:

** [[ShapedLikeItself Tautological rules]] override transformative rules (e.g. if there is a rule saying "Box is Box", any rule saying "Box is [Anything Else]" will do nothing).
** When spelling out rules with letters (as in one late game area), all readings of letters will apply to functions. So "W-A-L-L Is Box" will also be read as "A-L-L Is Box". However, words which don't define functions in the game will not be active, so something like [[spoiler: "Box Is G-H-O-S-T-A-R Is Fall" will be read as "Box Is Ghost" and "Star Is Fall", but not "Ghostar Is Fall" because "Ghostar" is not a valid function. This is in fact the solution to one of the endgame puzzles.]]

* RosesAreRedVioletsAreBlue: The aptly named level Island-0, "Poem", is centered around the rules "ROSE IS RED", "VIOLET IS BLUE", "FLAG IS WIN", and "BABA IS YOU".

** The endgame worlds are all treated as these, as they're not shown on the map [[spoiler: and all require successive layers of going deeper and deeper into levels within levels into and then eventually manipulating levels themselves.]]

** The final endgame world, [[spoiler: Meta]] has two deviously hidden Extras. The only clue for the first is [[spoiler: noticing that one of the blossoms on the overworld is yellow instead of red like the others]]. The other one involves some outside-the-box thinking to form [[spoiler:"Cursor is Level", transforming the ''level cursor'' into a level itself. In fact, this level is so secret that its completion doesn't even count towards your score.]]

** [[spoiler: "All is Done" causes a black hole which then expands on the main map.]]

* DroneOfDread: Altering the "[X] Is You" in any level such that you can no longer control any object in a level stops the music and plays an ominous low hum instead. The level will stay like this as long as no object is "You." [[spoiler:The secret ending replaces the title screen music with the same sound, and the only way to return the normal music is to quit the game.]]

** If you push text around such that nothing is You, the music cuts out, leaving only a DroneOfDread. If you wait a few moments in this state, the game will remind you of the Undo and Restart commands.

** The Chasm world, as well as [[spoiler:the endgame worlds ???, ABC, Depths, and Meta]], don't stick to one solitary level theme]].

* AllTheWorldsAreAStage: The Chasm world, as well as [[spoiler:ABC and the endgame worlds ???, Depths, and Meta don't stick to one solitary level theme.]]

** The word ALL does not include Text, Empty or [[spoiler:Level]], because that would've seriously complicated things.

* FloatingPlatforms: The theme of Mountaintop's levels "Floaty Platforms" and "The Floatiest Platforms." [[spoiler: Except on the latter, the name is a bit of a RedHerring.]]

** The New Adventures! level pack adds a level called "Exactly As It Says" which has the rule "not baba without not hedge is win". That is, to win, all objects except hedges must be gone. Alternately, you must control a single baba and touch a hedge.

** The New Adventures! level pack adds a level called "Exactly As It Says" which has the rule "not baba without not hedge is win". That is, to win, you must be anything other than Baba, and all objects except hedges must be gone.

->[[RosesAreRedVioletsAreBlue ROSE is RED]]\\

[[TitleDrop BABA is YOU]]

** Negative rules (which contain the special connector "NOT") override their positive counterparts (hence, "Wall Is NOT You" overrides "Wall Is You"). Multiple negatives are even taken into consideration, as "Wall Is NOT NOT You" is equivalent to "Wall Is You". However, no matter how many NOTs are used, negative rulings always take priority.

** Negative rules (which contain the special connector "NOT") override their positive counterparts (hence, "Wall Is NOT You" overrides "Wall Is You"). It can even override itself and bring the rule back into a positive by stacking NOT rules ("Wall Is NOT You" is overridden by "Wall Is NOT NOT You", which itself can be overridden by "Wall Is NOT NOT NOT You", and so on).

** The New Adventures! level pack adds a level called "Exactly As It Says" which has the rule "not baba without not hedge is win".

* WhosOnFirst: Reading out loud any rules where the keyword "You" is relevant easily results in this, especially when the keyword "Me" is also involved.

* WhosOnNext: Reading out loud any rules where the keyword "You" is relevant easily results in this, especially when the keyword "Me" is also involved.

->[[RosesAreRedVioletsAreBlue Rose is Red]]\\
Violet is Blue\\
Flag is Win\\
[[TitleDrop Baba is You]]

* InstantWinCondition: If, at any time, the same object is both "You" and "Win", you immediately complete the level. This is required to clear some levels.

* ConfusingMultipleNegatives: Several puzzles give you multiple "Not" keywords, and it's possible to stack them together to negate each other. (e.g. "Rock is Not Not Push" equates to "Rock is Push") Exaggerated by [[spoiler:Meta-10, "Just No"]], which gives you ''nine'' "Not"s for the sole purpose of building a rule across an uncrossable line of deadly skulls. Make sure the "Not"-bridge has the right parity!

** The final endgame world, [[spoiler: Meta]] has two deviously hidden Extras. The only clue for the first is [[spoiler: noticing that one of the blossoms on the overworld is yellow instead of red like the others]]. The other one involves some outside-the-box thinking to form [[spoiler:"Cursor is Level". However, completion of this one level yields no rewards.]]

* OffTheRails: [[spoiler: [[LogicalExtreme Taken to a ludicrous degree]] with the "Level" object, which lets you alter an '''entire''' level. This lets you change a level to any object, and that level will show up on the overworld as that object, meaning you can change a level into "Baba" and another into "Flag", meaning you can '''win''' the overworld and be taken to the overworld above the overworld. And this is only the ''tutorial'' for the "Level" object. You can go above and beyond, positioning the level selector over a controlled object that used to be a level, allowing you to ''ride'' that level anywhere. Entire lategame areas have their map essentially become levels themselves, and you have to play the levels [[RecursiveReality inside levels to turn levels into rideable objects to turn more levels into objects for the level.]] You can even turn objects on a map into even more levels. Yep.]]

* UnexpectedGameplayChange: Several levels in the Space area that revolve around "Fall" turn into more of a platforming challenge about shepherding objects across each other to reach a destination.

* LevelEditor: The prototype has a crude edit mode enabled by pressing "~" or "\". The initial release of the full game had a better (but clearly still incomplete) editor unused, which can be [[https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1686041344 enabled relatively easily]], and an official version of this editor is in a public beta as of December 2020. This beta editor featured words like Eat, Safe, and Still, as well as new words like Idle, Power, and Feeling. It also included a new Crystal level palette, with a new music track to accompany it! The completed level editor was eventually released with the "Baba Make Level" update in November 2021, with all of the additional aforementioned keywords added along with it.

** A level in the final world is also unsolvable within itself and requires an unconventional solution. [[spoiler: Level Meta-15 "The Box" cannot be solved if the adjacent level Meta-14 is not a flag, as the only way to clear Meta-15 is to make "Level Near Flag Is Win" ]]

* WorldWreckingWave: [[spoiler: "All is Done" causes a black hole which then expands on the main map.]]

* ExactWords: Quite a fundamental aspect of the gameplay. For example. Changing things from Baba Is You to Baba is Win doesn't count as a win because baba IS the goal, and you are now NOT the goal. However, Baba Is You And Win does count.

* RulesLawyer: Aside from the unwritten rules around text, only the literal rules matter. If the rules don't ''say'' "Wall" is "Stop"...