Baba Is You is one of those games that makes you feel dumb and smart in the space of a couple of breaths. It’s packed full of sudden, euphoric realisations, where everything clicks and you wonder how you hadn’t seen it before. It is, in short, one of the finest puzzling experiences available on mobile.
The core of the game involves pushing blocks around. But those blocks shuffle the rules of the game, allowing you to change things to your advantage. You start off with simple concepts Baba is You isn’t just the name of the game, it’s the a formulation of behavior. Shove things around so it says Wall is You, and you can control the walls in the level.
As you play the game will throw new ideas into the mix. And blocks let you control multiple objects, for example. You’re not just changing what you’re moving around the level, though. You can stop walls from stopping you, take the sting out of enemies and so much more.
That’s the real beauty of Baba Is You. It takes this simple central conceit and runs off with it with a giddy passion. You think you’ve got the hang of things and then it’ll throw you a glorious curveball that forces you to think around the problem in gloriously innovative ways.
There’s never any resting on laurels here, never any levels that you feel like you’ve overcome before. Every challenge is fresh and fantastic, and while some of the seem difficult, when that eureka moment comes and you find the solution you’re often staggered at the elegance of it all.
Baba Is You is a workout for your facial muscles. You’ll go from furrowed brow to beaming grin in seconds, from head-scratching disconcertion to barely-contained glee. This is an audacious, engaging puzzle game that’s every bit as good on mobile as it is on PC and Switch.
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