0:00:04.590,0:00:09.330 Every December, I use my last video of the[br]year to celebrate the most innovative and 0:00:09.330,0:00:12.990 inventive game I played in the last 12 months. 0:00:12.990,0:00:18.500 In previous years I’ve looked at the YouTube[br]detective drama Her Story, the uncanny chatbot 0:00:18.500,0:00:24.700 game Event[0], the serpent simulator Snake[br]Pass, and the time-travelling murder mystery, 0:00:24.700,0:00:26.410 Return of the Obra Dinn. 0:00:26.410,0:00:30.160 These games have done things I’ve never[br]seen before, and are impressive in both their 0:00:30.160,0:00:32.760 idea and their execution. 0:00:32.760,0:00:37.530 They might not be the very best games of their[br]respective years, but when it comes to fresh 0:00:37.530,0:00:40.810 concepts done well, these are the games I[br]would recommend. 0:00:40.810,0:00:46.420 I certainly had lots of choices to pick from[br]for 2019, like the combat-free role playing 0:00:46.420,0:00:52.590 game Disco Elysium, the hilarious honk ‘em[br]up Untitled Goose Game, the sci-fi archeology 0:00:52.590,0:00:57.829 game Outer Wilds, and the other sci-fi archeology[br]game, Heaven’s Vault. 0:00:57.829,0:01:04.770 But this year, nothing quite beat the mind-melting[br]puzzle game, Baba Is You. 0:01:04.770,0:01:09.060 Now, from first glance, this game looks pretty[br]simple. 0:01:09.060,0:01:15.030 You hop around a grid and push blocks - making[br]it part of a sub genre of block-shoving puzzlers, 0:01:15.030,0:01:18.090 all inspired by the Japanese game Sokoban. 0:01:18.090,0:01:23.140 Here’s where things start getting strange,[br]though: in each level, the rules of the game 0:01:23.140,0:01:25.640 are written on screen as simple sentences. 0:01:25.640,0:01:30.530 Like, “Baba Is You”, which means you control[br]this funny white critter called Baba. 0:01:30.530,0:01:34.530 Or “Wall Is Stop”, which means you can’t[br]walk through walls. 0:01:34.530,0:01:39.600 “Rock Is Push” means you can shove rocks[br]around, and “Flag Is Win” means touching 0:01:39.600,0:01:42.349 the flag will finish the level. 0:01:42.349,0:01:47.350 And then here’s the kicker: those rules[br]are, themselves, blocks that can be pushed 0:01:47.350,0:01:52.440 around - allowing you to break the logic that[br]dictates the level at hand, and create entirely 0:01:52.440,0:01:55.500 new gameplay by rewriting the rules. 0:01:55.500,0:01:59.690 Remove the word “Stop” from “Wall Is[br]Stop”, for example, and now you can waltz 0:01:59.690,0:02:01.039 straight past walls. 0:02:01.039,0:02:06.540 Change “Flag Is Win” to “Rock Is Win”,[br]and now the rock becomes your goal. 0:02:06.540,0:02:11.310 Or push "Rock: into this sentence, and you switch[br]the main character of the game into a tiny 0:02:11.310,0:02:12.620 brown boulder. 0:02:12.620,0:02:13.700 Cheeky. 0:02:13.700,0:02:18.110 And thus begins a few hundred levels where[br]the solution is never to simply reach the 0:02:18.110,0:02:23.580 goal - but to rewrite the rules of the universe[br]until you’re in a world where the goal is 0:02:23.580,0:02:25.020 now reachable. 0:02:25.020,0:02:28.209 It is infinitely intelligent and endlessly[br]surprising. 0:02:28.209,0:02:33.489 It’s tough, but far from impossible, and[br]practically every level is a revalatory experience 0:02:33.489,0:02:35.609 with a satisfying aha! moment. 0:02:35.609,0:02:40.219 And if you haven’t played it yet, now’s[br]your time to pause the video, head to Steam 0:02:40.219,0:02:42.840 or the Switch eShop, and get the game. 0:02:42.840,0:02:44.870 I hope that you love it. 0:02:44.870,0:02:48.760 When you’re done, remember to come back,[br]and we’ll chat more about how the game builds 0:02:48.760,0:02:52.170 its brain-busting puzzles 0:02:52.170,0:02:56.500 Baba Is You is the brain-child of Finnish[br]indie developer Arvi Teikari. 0:02:56.500,0:03:01.450 He told me over email back in April that he[br]was inspired to make the game as part of the 0:03:01.450,0:03:03.810 2017 Nordic Game Jam. 0:03:03.810,0:03:08.650 The jam’s theme was “Not There”, and[br]the word “Not” made him think of logic 0:03:08.650,0:03:11.180 operators in programming languages. 0:03:11.180,0:03:15.860 Combine that with a block-pushing puzzle game[br]like Snakebird or Stephen’s Sausage Roll, 0:03:15.860,0:03:21.040 and this “resulted in a mental image of[br]a block of ice not melting in hot lava due 0:03:21.040,0:03:24.609 to the statement "Ice Is Not Melt”. 0:03:24.609,0:03:29.209 The scrappy, prototypical Baba Is You ended[br]up winning that Game Jam, and the reaction 0:03:29.209,0:03:34.120 was so positive that Teikari decided to take[br]his underbaked jam game and turn it into a 0:03:34.120,0:03:35.379 full fat release. 0:03:35.379,0:03:42.120 Two years later, and the designer had about[br]219 ultra clever levels for players to work through. 0:03:42.120,0:03:46.829 So how, exactly, is one of these Baba Is You[br]levels made? 0:03:46.829,0:03:52.930 To start, Teikari tries to think of an interesting[br]interaction, or set-up that could come out 0:03:52.930,0:03:56.040 of the game’s encyclopaedia of words and[br]rules. 0:03:56.040,0:04:01.379 “Pull”, for example, could lead to a level[br]where Keke needs to drag a key across a lake. 0:04:01.379,0:04:06.279 A teleporter doesn’t have to just move objects,[br]but could also be used to move around the 0:04:06.279,0:04:07.879 rules themselves. 0:04:07.879,0:04:12.099 And the word “Has”, could lend itself[br]to a level where you drop a box every-time 0:04:12.100,0:04:15.940 Keke dies, but that box immediately turns[br]back into Keke. 0:04:15.940,0:04:17.140 Bonkers. 0:04:17.140,0:04:22.000 Speaking at the Gamelab conference in Barcelona[br]this summer, Teikari said, “when I’ve 0:04:22.000,0:04:26.780 got this idea of ‘hey, that would be cool[br]to see in a level’, I try to figure out 0:04:26.780,0:04:31.880 what kind of level do I have to build so that[br]when the player is playing the level they 0:04:31.880,0:04:34.260 have to use that interaction”. 0:04:34.260,0:04:38.340 And that’s where we get to the fascinating[br]contradiction at the heart of Baba Is You. 0:04:38.340,0:04:42.379 Because while this is a game that offers a[br]seemingly infinite world of possibilities 0:04:42.379,0:04:46.669 - its puzzles are largely defined by what[br]you can’t do. 0:04:46.669,0:04:52.130 Because while making an open ended puzzle[br]game sounds great, it’s open to easy answers 0:04:52.130,0:04:57.630 - like Scribblenauts, where half of the levels[br]can be finished by writing in the word jetpack. 0:04:57.630,0:05:02.710 So the designer’s job is actually to lock[br]you in and force restrictions on you. 0:05:02.710,0:05:07.500 And in Baba Is You that’s achieved by the[br]words that are and aren’t on screen, the 0:05:07.500,0:05:11.940 way some sentences are pushed against walls[br]or locked behind fences, and the claustrophobic 0:05:11.940,0:05:14.270 grid that constricts your movements. 0:05:14.270,0:05:19.069 With these restrictions in place, the designer[br]can lock off easy answers - and force you 0:05:19.069,0:05:22.169 to find the clever trick at the heart of the[br]puzzle. 0:05:22.169,0:05:27.039 Teikari calls this process reverse engineering[br]- of essentially starting with the solution 0:05:27.039,0:05:32.139 and then working backwards to throw up restrictions[br]and make a puzzle that supports it. 0:05:32.139,0:05:36.479 As an example, take the level Baba Doesn’t[br]Respond. 0:05:36.479,0:05:42.870 In this level we play as Keke, and the solution[br]is to use two belts to redirect a moving Baba. 0:05:42.870,0:05:46.430 So how does the designer force this interaction? 0:05:46.430,0:05:52.180 Let’s start by putting a wall and a locked[br]door between Keke and the Flag. 0:05:52.180,0:05:57.440 If we put a rule here like “Door Is Shut[br]And Open”, we can just push the word “Shut” 0:05:57.440,0:06:00.340 over and then go to the flag. 0:06:03.930,0:06:09.080 But if we put a reed here, and make it so[br]creating that first sentence simultaneously 0:06:09.099,0:06:16.159 makes the rule “Reed Is Defeat”, we suddenly[br]put Keke in a pickle - opening the door also 0:06:16.160,0:06:18.220 denies access to that door. 0:06:18.220,0:06:20.420 Hm! Quite the catch! 0:06:20.430,0:06:25.400 So, the player will hopefully realise that[br]they need to have Keke be stood in this exact 0:06:25.400,0:06:30.370 spot when the rule is triggered - and they just[br]need to figure out how to move the sentence 0:06:30.370,0:06:31.569 from afar. 0:06:31.569,0:06:34.080 Answer: “Baba Is Move”. 0:06:34.080,0:06:39.020 Now the level would be way too easy if we[br]could just put Baba here, make “Baba Is 0:06:39.020,0:06:43.889 Move”, and then walk to the right spot and[br]wait for Baba to walk into the words. 0:06:43.889,0:06:46.960 So, some restrictions are added. 0:06:46.960,0:06:50.479 This single hedge block means Baba only has[br]a tiny run-up. 0:06:50.479,0:06:55.490 And having “Move” be in the corner makes[br]it impossible to, well, move, so the sentence 0:06:55.490,0:07:00.360 “Baba Is Move” has to be made on the furthest[br]left edge of the screen. 0:07:00.360,0:07:05.129 These two things combine to make it impossible[br]to make “Baba Is Move” and then walk to 0:07:05.129,0:07:09.530 that all-important spot, because Baba will[br]have already made the reed deadly by the time 0:07:09.530,0:07:10.800 you get there. 0:07:10.800,0:07:16.189 And thus, you must use these belts to create[br]a much longer path for Baba to take, Chu Chu 0:07:16.189,0:07:20.780 Rocket style, which will give you enough time[br]to walk across the level before he triggers 0:07:20.780,0:07:22.449 the sentence change. 0:07:22.449,0:07:26.439 Then it’s just a case of sprinkling on some[br]pretty decoration, and putting in some other 0:07:26.439,0:07:30.389 bits to restrict your movement or stop unintended[br]solutions. 0:07:30.389,0:07:32.940 Though, many of those are left in by the designer 0:07:32.940,0:07:36.100 - provided they don’t make the real solution trivial. 0:07:39.060,0:07:43.000 So as you can see, the solution to the puzzle[br]is actually pretty simple. 0:07:43.000,0:07:48.120 But by obfuscating the answer behind a sequence[br]of problems, it creates this interesting phenomenon 0:07:48.120,0:07:52.780 where Teikari is working backwards from the[br]solution, locking up doors behind him as he 0:07:52.780,0:07:54.659 gets to the starting conditions for the puzzle. 0:07:54.659,0:07:59.789 And then the player then moves in the opposite[br]direction, opening each door in turn until 0:07:59.789,0:08:00.919 they get to the solution. 0:08:00.919,0:08:06.379 And by setting the stage up in this way, the[br]player is actually somewhat lured towards 0:08:06.379,0:08:07.379 the solution. 0:08:07.379,0:08:12.009 Each level contains a number of tiny problems[br]that render something impossible - forcing 0:08:12.009,0:08:16.349 the player to find a different, more creative[br]way to overcome the problem. 0:08:16.349,0:08:21.450 These stumbling blocks then stack together,[br]creating a pathway to the level’s solution. 0:08:21.450,0:08:25.470 Here’s how that looks in a favourite stage[br]of mine: Tiny Pond. 0:08:25.470,0:08:29.590 In this level, the word “Win” needs to[br]be released from a pond. 0:08:29.590,0:08:34.800 The water is tagged as “Shut”, and Baba[br]is tagged as “Open”, which means you can walk 0:08:34.800,0:08:39.260 into the water to unlock it and gain access[br]- but this also destroys Baba. 0:08:39.260,0:08:42.260 So, we’re going to need to try something[br]else. 0:08:42.260,0:08:46.821 We’ve got two other words: “Key” and[br]“Flag”, and so we could make “Key Is 0:08:46.821,0:08:50.920 Open”, but there’s no “Push” verb,[br]meaning the key just sits there. 0:08:50.920,0:08:55.700 The only way to make it move is to write “Key[br]Is You”, but we run into the same problem: 0:08:55.710,0:08:59.900 you’re destroyed as soon as you touch the[br]water. 0:08:59.900,0:09:05.910 By now you should hopefully be thinking, “okay,[br]maybe I can be both key and Baba at the same 0:09:05.910,0:09:09.360 time, because when one dies, I can still control[br]the other one”. 0:09:09.360,0:09:13.020 But, sadly, there aren’t enough words to[br]make that sentence work. 0:09:13.020,0:09:17.670 However, the sequence of logical leaps have[br]got you this far and there’s only one possible 0:09:17.670,0:09:22.340 way forward now: if you make flag is key,[br]you’ve got two keys. 0:09:22.340,0:09:27.230 And now if you have “Key Is You”, you[br]can control both, sacrifice one to open a 0:09:27.230,0:09:32.690 hole in the water, and use the remaining key[br]to finish the stage. 0:09:32.690,0:09:35.650 It’s really clever. 0:09:35.650,0:09:41.000 The set-up for the stage walked us right into[br]the central problem of the level: we need 0:09:41.000,0:09:44.810 to be “Open”, but we also don’t want[br]to disappear when we use ourselves. 0:09:44.810,0:09:49.640 And so we’re in the perfect spot to try[br]and figure out the actual solution - and go 0:09:49.640,0:09:52.640 “aha!” when we get there. 0:09:52.640,0:09:56.720 If this was the first level that you played[br]in this game, you would be - I think - 0:09:56.720,0:09:58.220 completely stumped. 0:09:58.220,0:10:03.000 But luckily, playing Baba Is You means constantly[br]adding to an ever expanding knowledge base 0:10:03.000,0:10:05.710 that grows with every stage you play. 0:10:05.710,0:10:12.010 So Tiny Pond builds on the level Jelly Throne,[br]where you control two characters at once. 0:10:12.010,0:10:17.260 And Tiny Pond’s solution reappears in the[br]stage Unreachable Shores, where you sacrifice 0:10:17.260,0:10:20.760 one Keke, so the survivor can move forward. 0:10:20.760,0:10:23.960 But this sort of learning starts from the[br]very beginning of the game. 0:10:23.960,0:10:28.850 Baba Is You is a pretty complicated puzzler,[br]after all, and there’s not a single tutorial 0:10:28.850,0:10:29.850 in sight. 0:10:29.850,0:10:35.500 Instead, the game’s first crop of puzzles[br]all subtly and silently tell you how the game 0:10:35.500,0:10:37.740 works through their solutions. 0:10:37.740,0:10:40.460 So in Level 1, we’re stuck inside a tiny[br]box. 0:10:40.460,0:10:44.570 There’s only one way to get out and that’s[br]to break the sentence “Wall Is Stop”, 0:10:44.570,0:10:47.490 and make the wall no longer a solid object. 0:10:47.490,0:10:51.670 Then, we can make a sentence - “Flag Is[br]Win” - to finish the level. 0:10:51.670,0:10:57.150 That’s breaking and making sentences: the[br]two most fundamental concepts of the game. 0:10:57.150,0:11:01.630 Level 2 is the exact same stage as before[br]but now everything is wrong. 0:11:01.630,0:11:06.780 You play as a wall, the walls are made of[br]flags, and Baba is nowhere to be found. 0:11:06.780,0:11:11.350 This teaches players that nothing in the game[br]has an intrinsic value: it’s only given 0:11:11.350,0:11:13.640 purpose when part of a rule. 0:11:13.640,0:11:18.160 The game keeps this up throughout its first[br]few stages, with solutions that clue us in 0:11:18.160,0:11:21.620 to some fundamental concept we’ll definitely[br]need to know later. 0:11:21.620,0:11:26.370 Here, “Lava Is Push overrides” the rule[br]“Lava Is Hot”. 0:11:26.370,0:11:30.730 In this puzzle, we learn that we can create[br]two sentences from the same “Is” block, 0:11:30.730,0:11:32.820 by creating them in a cross. 0:11:32.820,0:11:37.670 And the game will continue to teach new concepts[br]and ideas throughout the adventure. 0:11:37.670,0:11:42.760 Every time a new concept is introduced - like[br]the operator “And” or the words “Open” 0:11:42.760,0:11:48.120 and “Shut”, we’re treated to introductory[br]puzzles that make these new mechanics crystal clear. 0:11:48.120,0:11:53.700 I asked Teikari how he went about making these[br]introductory stages, and he said “If I exhaustively 0:11:53.710,0:11:58.010 go through all the meaningful interactions[br]between elements, eventually I get levels 0:11:58.010,0:12:03.060 where the ‘trick’ is mostly just the basic[br]functionality of a specific element in itself”. 0:12:03.060,0:12:07.990 that can then be put at the beginning of the[br]world, to act as a tutorial for the stages 0:12:07.990,0:12:09.760 to come. 0:12:09.780,0:12:14.060 While Baba Is You is full of puzzles that[br]will make you feel stumped when you first 0:12:14.070,0:12:18.910 play them, and make you feel smart when you[br]solve them, Teikari’s real goal is to create 0:12:18.910,0:12:21.710 moments of surprise and laughter. 0:12:21.710,0:12:23.760 YOUTUBER: [Laughter]. 0:12:23.760,0:12:29.980 YOUTUBER: “There’s no rule saying ‘Wall[br]Is Stop’. [Laughter] 0:12:29.980,0:12:35.730 I was confining myself to this stupid little[br]area and I didn’t need to.” 0:12:35.730,0:12:40.960 That’s certainly one way it’s done - by playing[br]with your expectations for how things work. 0:12:40.960,0:12:45.490 In this level, for example, most players will[br]assume they need to unlock the door. 0:12:45.490,0:12:47.940 But actually they need to unlock the wall. 0:12:47.940,0:12:52.860 There are also just bonkers rules that go[br]way beyond the basic set-up. 0:12:52.860,0:12:57.270 “Empty” allows you to control or fill[br]the empty space in each stage. 0:12:57.270,0:13:00.330 “Make” lets you create a trail of objects[br]when you move. 0:13:00.330,0:13:04.710 “More” lets you duplicate keys until they[br]fill every spot in the space. 0:13:04.710,0:13:10.480 And just like the original idea for the game,[br]“Not” allows you to flip rules on their head. 0:13:10.480,0:13:15.280 Plus, in an attempt to make sure every single[br]interaction is explored - a similar design 0:13:15.290,0:13:20.380 philosophy as one used by Braid developer[br]Jonathan Blow - Teikari has “Text” be 0:13:20.380,0:13:23.950 a word, allowing you to manipulate the rules[br]with other rules. 0:13:23.950,0:13:27.850 And by the time “Level” is introduced,[br]you’re not only moving the entire screen 0:13:27.850,0:13:32.940 around - but breaking out the stage and bouncing[br]around the map screen in a mind-melting meta 0:13:32.940,0:13:36.220 exploration of the game’s fundamental logic. 0:13:36.220,0:13:38.880 There were more ideas that didn’t make the[br]cut, of course. 0:13:38.880,0:13:42.920 Teikari told me that “Stick”, which would[br]make objects clump together, was removed because 0:13:42.920,0:13:45.490 it created nightmare programming problems. 0:13:45.490,0:13:49.670 And “Safe”, which would render an object[br]invulnerable, was left on the cutting room 0:13:49.670,0:13:52.880 floor because it was hazy, and uninteresting. 0:13:52.880,0:13:56.460 Not everything that made it into the game is a [br]complete winner, if you ask me: 0:13:56.460,0:13:58.490 a stage where you trap Keke 0:13:58.490,0:14:03.041 under words and then push them away from the[br]corner is awkward and confusing, and the word 0:14:03.041,0:14:06.250 “Swap” is like “Tele” but not as cool. 0:14:06.250,0:14:11.370 With 200-odd stages, though, there’s always[br]going to be a few that don’t click for everyone. 0:14:11.370,0:14:16.010 But Teikari points to an army of playtesters[br]who gave feedback on stages, and discovered 0:14:16.010,0:14:17.050 alternative solutions.. 0:14:17.050,0:14:21.450 “I’m extremely thankful for how much testers[br]have done for the game”, he says. 0:14:21.450,0:14:25.920 That group of testers, it turns out, is a[br]who’s-who of puzzle game wizards, and includes 0:14:25.920,0:14:31.970 the designers behind Ending, A Good Snowman[br]is Hard to Build, Pipe Push Paradise, Starseed 0:14:31.970,0:14:35.180 Pilgrim, Minit, and The Witness. 0:14:37.550,0:14:42.780 Baba Is You is a surprising, silly, and mind-bogglingly[br]complex game. 0:14:42.790,0:14:48.200 And it had every chance of becoming too difficult[br]to grasp, too esoteric to understand, or too 0:14:48.200,0:14:50.640 freeform to actually produce good puzzles. 0:14:50.640,0:14:54.660 But Arvi Teikari has proven himself as a master[br]of puzzle design. 0:14:54.660,0:15:00.640 He introduces the loopy logic of Baba Is You[br]slowly and subtly, so everyone can understand it. 0:15:00.640,0:15:05.380 With his reverse-engineering process, he buries[br]a clever trick under layers of problems. 0:15:05.380,0:15:09.740 But they’re never red herrings or pointless[br]busy work - they’re about leading the player 0:15:09.740,0:15:11.910 to the catch at the centre of the puzzle. 0:15:11.910,0:15:16.390 And he’s more interested in surprises and[br]silliness than rock-hard challenge, making 0:15:16.390,0:15:20.050 for a game that will make you laugh more than[br]it will make you frustrated. 0:15:20.050,0:15:24.970 It’s simply a really great puzzle game,[br]built on a fresh concept that was executed 0:15:24.970,0:15:25.970 perfectly. 0:15:25.970,0:15:28.680 A no-brainer for this year’s final video. 0:15:31.060,0:15:33.310 Hey, thank you so much for watching! 0:15:33.310,0:15:37.240 I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks for[br]all of your support in 2019. 0:15:37.240,0:15:41.890 I’m really proud of the stuff I made and [br]your support has meant the world. 0:15:41.890,0:15:47.060 I’ve already got so many video ideas lined[br]up for 2020 but it's time for a quick break. 0:15:47.060,0:15:51.340 So I hope you'll have an amazing Christmas, and[br]I’ll see you in the new year.