I played Baba Is You. This is a game created by Arvi Teikari . One can play it on PC. The game’s target audience are people who enjoy creative problem-solving. One thing I noticed about the game is that it requires a pretty strong level of English and grammar rules, so age wise, the target audience cannot be young people still learning the basics of grammar in school.
This game is particularly interesting because the core mechanic involves rewriting the rules of the game itself. For example, if the blocks say “Wall Is Stop,” that means walls can’t be passed through. But if you change it to “Wall Is You,” suddenly you control the wall. This mechanic directly shapes the player’s experience and follows the MDA framework. The mechanics are the movable word blocks. For example, each block has simple phrases on it like like “Push,” “You,” and “Stop”. This simple nature keeps the game very cohesive, especially considering that there are no direct instruction, which is something that I will explain later. The dynamics are the trial-and-error experiments coming from trying to piece these blocks together. The aesthetics come from the surprise, discovery, and satisfaction that come from finally getting a breakthrough and solving the puzzle. I experienced this on a level where I had to make “Rock Is You” in order to switch characters mid-level. It was confusing at first, but once I figured it out, it felt super rewarding.
I like this game because it doesn’t have direct, clear instructions. On one hand, this could cause immense confusion, as players may not know how to proceed when they get stuck. Personally, though, I enjoyed this, because it just added to the puzzle experience. I was able to figure out the game by trial and error, which I really enjoyed. One of the puzzle hints says, “Not everything is what it seems,” which really sums up the tone of the game. One player commented this, “Baba Is You doesn’t just encourage you to think outside the box—it erases the box entirely.” This is a statement that I agree with, as I feel like the game forced me to think in a way that I have never experienced through a game before.
From an ethical perspective, the game may not be the best in terms of accessibility. This is because it relies so heavily on understanding English sentence structure and logical reasoning. This unintentionally excludes players who don’t speak English fluently. For example, as I was playing the game, I was thinking about my parents, who are immigrants and do not speak English the best. This means that this game isn’t something that I can enjoy with them, which is something to note and may keep my from playing the game at home. To combat this, the designers could include a version with symbols or more language-independent mechanics.
