Last updated: 7/28/21
Rules you should know
To get here, you need to have cleared at least six worlds. I won’t assume you’ve cleared everything up to now beyond those six, but I will assume you’ve learned everything from previous worlds, including the following:
On (Garden 01, 03, 04)
Make (Cavern 02, 06)
Chasm
And this is my favorite world of the main game!
The Initial Chasm Map.
You need to complete a whopping 9 levels here! If you don’t want to try to complete everything, divide your attention evenly between each of the three sections. The top branch teaches More, the bottom branch All, and the middle branch Word.
I recommend solving at least A and C on the bottom branch; B, D, and F from the top branch; and Extras 01-04. Those will give you the stuff you need to know.
Remember that hints are invisible until the text is highlighted. Bold text discusses the rules. Italic text discusses all objects of the named type. Regular text discusses the actual instances. Text “in quotes” refers to the actual text in the level.
Stuck elsewhere? Navigate using the following pictures:
Chasm A: Rocky Prison
Difficulty: *
About the Level
New material: noun All
All is another one of those tricky nouns like Empty or Group. What does All refer to - every single possible object in the whole entire game or something else? Make an X is All statement and see what happens. How about All is [noun]? Or All is [property]?
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Can you get rid of the Walls? If not, can you at least get them out of the way?
Chasm B: Siege
Difficulty: *
About the Level
New material: property More
What happens if you make Rock is More? Does this effect happen only once? Are there things which block further duplication?
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Getting across the Water will be easy. How about getting across the Belt? Is there any way to get a Baba more than one space away at a time?
Chasm C: Elusive Condition
Difficulty: *
Hints
Gentle Nudge: A transformation must be made. Is there a way to prevent at least one object from transforming?Think back to a much earlier level.
Chasm D: Treasury
Difficulty: **
Hints
Gentle Nudge: What will prevent a Key from spawning when it is More?
Bigger Nudge: Where will you place the Rock ahead of time?
Chasm E: Looking For A Heart
Difficulty: ****
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Wait, there's no Love in the level. Why do you have the text "Love"? Is this related to the text "All"?
Another Big Nudge: Why is there a space to the right of "All"?
Specific Hint: How many things are created if you make [X] is All? How many of those things do you have access to as nouns? How many Doors are there?
Chasm F: Lava Flood
Difficulty: **
Hints
Gentle Nudge: What will prevent something that is More from growing?
Specific Hint: Can you get to Flag is Melt before the Lava overtakes the Flag? Or do you need to do something else?
Chasm G: Entropy
Difficulty: ****
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Remember your solution to Chasm C. Could you do something similar here?
Bigger Nudge: Think of which piece of text must go the right of "All." Which is more useful, Is or Has?
Specific Hint: Why do you have two Babas? Is there some way you can form rules with two Babas that you cannot with one?
Chasm H: Floodgates
Difficulty: ***
Hints
Gentle Nudge: How many objects do you have which block More?
Bigger Nudge: Can you fully block the Star's growth? Do you even want to?
Specific Hint: Remember that the Star will not continue to grow if you break up the rule Star is More.
Chasm I: Lonely Sight
Difficulty: **
About the Level
Personally, I found this level easy to figure out, but it is tedious to solve.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: You have access to two tiles of "Baba." Why?
Specific Hint: Clearly you are going to perform some transformations. What are they going to be? In what order?
Chasm Extra 1: Metacognition
Difficulty: *
About the Level
New property: Word
This level got a major change - the whole compartment on the top left. Frankly, it was overdue, because it really helps you understand what the heck Word means. I had to solve it with an older version and I ended up googling what Word was even supposed to do. But you might figure it out simply by walking Baba to the right. What happens? Why do you think that happens?
Also note that, unlike every other world, the extra levels here are not remixes of earlier levels but with harder solutions. These are their own levels revolving around the Word property.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Isn't it a coincidence how the "Is Open" can be placed next to the Door?
Chasm Extra 2: Multitool
Difficulty: **
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Is Keke of any use to you? If so, in what exact way?
Bigger Nudge: You need to break up Box is Hot. But you are also going to need that rule. How can you get around this?
Chasm Extra 3: Broken
Difficulty: ***
About the Level
This is one of two levels where Text is Not Push. It means you’re going to have to find some other way to manipulate the rules at first.
As a side note, it is possible to get a “special ending” from this level. If you find a way to create two simultaneous rules which cause an infinite loop, you see a special end-card. It’s not that interesting of an ending, but it is a pretty cool glitch. The setup is extremely difficult. If you are interested, you can just look it up on YouTube. I have no interest walking you through the many, many steps required.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: You can't move any Text around, but is there something else you can move? How is that something else just a little bit like Text?
Bigger Nudge: Why do you suppose you have two Rocks?
Specific Hint: Can you make one rule change which will allow for Text is Push? What is it? What other change do you need to make it happen?
Chasm Extra 4: Alley
Difficulty: ****
About the Level
Okay, this is one of those levels... everything depends on the first few moves. If you’re stuck, you might have the right idea but your first moves were wrong. Just restart and try again.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Start by trying to get to the right side of the level, to break Rock and Water is Stop. What rules need to exist in order to do that?
Bigger Nudge: Now think about the left passage. How will you get past the first Rock and Water?
Even Bigger Nudge: How will you get past the second tile of Water? Then the final Rock?
Specific Hint: You need three rules to exist simultaneously. If you have the exact right rules in the right orientation, then you will be able to turn them into only two rules. What will each rule say? Will any of those be made with the object instead of the noun? What are their orientations?
Chasm Extra 5: Keke And The Star
Difficulty: *****
About the Level
New and extremely important: property Sleep
Just kidding. It’s only in this level, and if there were no “Sleep” tile this level wouldn’t change at all. But Keke is cute.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Breaking up Keke is Sleep shouldn't be difficult, but it won't help you solve the level. Keke needs to be something else.
Bigger Nudge: Don't you think it's convenient how there's a nice horizontal hallway that aligns perfectly with "Sleep"?
Another Big Nudge: Isn't it convenient how "Is Float" is situated just one space below the hallway?
Specific Hint: Is there a way to have Baba or Lava have three properties simultaneously?
Chasm 6: Visiting Baba
Difficulty: ***
Hints
Gentle Nudge: You will have to break up the initial Fungus is Push rule. But you still need it. Where and how can you build it again?
Bigger Nudge: Why do you suppose there is a Skull separating the upper and lower areas?
Specific Hint: Can you make both Rock and Fungus be Word at the same time?
Chasm 7: Automated Doors
Difficulty: *****
About the Level
This level is famously difficult and is also a serious contender for my absolute favorite.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Baba will enter one of the two chambers and never leave. Which one?
Bigger Nudge: The Rock will enter the other chamber and never leave. How will this happen?
Another Big Nudge: Does the "Not" go into one of the chambers? If so, which one?
Specific Hint: Your very first move in this level will end up being the placement of the "Not."
World Complete
Clearing the Chasm opens nothing new. If it’s your seventh cleared world, you unlock the final area of the overworld, though. This final area is not important to finishing the game normally and is only important in the endgame. Don’t go there until you’ve at least attempted every world and learned what you need. After this world comes the Volcano. (Once again, this and the Volcano used to be switched, so my pages are out of order. I trust you to figure out how to find the page you are looking for.)
In the meantime, do these hints work? Anything spoil too much? Do the hints actually help or are they too vague? Maybe you thought of a really good hint yourself? Send them to me. (Don’t comment them below.) You can find me @keyofw on Twitter or keyofw on Reddit. DM me anytime.