Baba is You, the hit 2019 puzzle game from Hempuli Oy is being adapted into a tabletop experience by Bitewing Games! Joining other esteemed videogames like Cult of the Lamb, the transition from screen to board is being facilitated by a Kickstarter campaign.
So, how do you turn a single player puzzle-solving masterpiece into a physical board game? Apparently you make it a two player versus strategy experience! Forgive my blythness here, because I’m incredibly excited by this.
Firstly, the original videogame. Baba is You is an award-winning puzzle game that involves pushing blocks to alter the logic of a level. You see, the rules of the game are literally written into the playing field as blocks. So, you see the blocks that say “flag is win” but the flag is trapped behind a wall? Find the block that says wall, push it into the phrase so it says “wall is win” instead and go touch the wall!
To say anything else about the original would be to spoil the fun. It’s a mind-bending adventure that I would truly recommend everyone give a try at least once, but that isn’t what we’re here to talk about today.
As we were saying, we’re looking at a two-player strategy game now, It’s Baba vs Keke. The concept is the same, you need to touch the win condition. At the start of a round, one player is given Baba and the other is given Keke (based on how you position the board) and there is no win condition. Not only can you make things “Win”, but also “Strong” or “Scared”. The possibilities are (relatively) endless here!
Played across seven worlds, with five scenarios each (with each world supposedly taking an hour), there’s a multitude of different “levels” to test yourself against a friend. Unlike other campaign games, each world tells its own story, so you don’t necessarily have to play against the same player every time either. Typically you score whoever wins the most scenarios in a single world, but if you do want to play an epic run with the same player, why not try scoring who wins the most worlds too for a huge showdown?
Pricing remains to be seen, though bonus content has already been announced for anybody that backs the Kickstarter. Full details will be revealed when the Kickstarter launches on September 15th, though you can sign up to follow now (the campaign is being combined by a card game release of Party House from the UFO 50). Will either of these grace our coveted “Best Board Games currently crowdfunding” list (Maybe we need a catchier title John?)? We shall see!
Baba is You (the video game) is currently available on Steam, itch.io, Humble Store, Switch, and app stores.