Last updated: 7/27/21
Rules you should know
In order to get here, you definitely have to clear the first three worlds. I won’t assume you cleared Forest of Fall and Deep Forest, but you should have gone through enough of them to learn the rules, including the following:
Shift (Forest 01, 03, 04, 07)
Up and Right (Forest 06, 08, 10), and by extrapolation, if you ever see Down or Left you’d know what that means too.
Swap (Forest A-C)
Rocket Trip
It’s... it’s by the rocket.
The initial Rocket Trip map.
You only need to finish 8 levels, but there are 15, including the extras, so you need to complete a lot of them! The world is divided in half. The left side features levels teaching the Empty noun, and the right side the Fall property. I recommend completing levels 01-08, simply because they aren’t too difficult. The first 5 levels are crazy easy (for this part of the game), but then the difficulty ramps up sharply.
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:
Space 01: Empty
Difficulty: *
About the Level
New material: noun Cloud - looks a lot like Water but it isn’t. Also noun Empty.
Empty sort of does what you think. What happens when it is the first noun in a statement, such as Empty is Cloud? What happens when it has a property, as in Empty is Stop? How about if it’s the second noun, as in Baba is Empty?
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Honestly? Okay, there is literally only one or two feasible rules you can make that I didn't describe above, so try those.
Space 02: Lonely Flag
Difficulty: *
About the Level
The most important thing to learn from this level is that Anni is Best.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: You can easily get rid of Door. You can't get rid of Wall. Find another way in the pen.
Space 03: Babas Are You
Difficulty: *
About the Level
It might not be totally clear what’s happening in this level and it quickly gets overwhelming. So I’ll explain here. When you move Baba, the space she leaves behind is now Empty. Since Empty is Baba, a new Baba appears in that Empty space. Move enough times and you’ll overrun the level with Babas.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: What if you could create a new Empty space above the Wall?
Space 04: Please Hold My Key
Difficulty: *
About the Level
New material: property Fall
Weird question: Anyone out there play that old shareware game Goldpusher (from the 90s)? If so, send me a message @keyofw on Twitter/Reddit/whatever. I want to know I’m not the only one. I bring this up because the Fall mechanic makes levels such as this almost exactly like levels in Golpusher.
Anyway, I hope Fall is obvious, but if not, just push the Key and see what happens.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Why doesn't the Key fall through the Cloud?
Space 05: Horror Story
Difficulty: *
About the Level
New material: noun Rocket. It’s the... it’s the rocket.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: What happens when you make Empty is You? Now what happens when you move? Why does that happen? Does this tell you how you will win the level?
Space 06: Aiming High
Difficulty: ***
About the Level
New material: nouns Star and Moon. Both are yellow shape outlines. (We’ve seen Star in the Lake, but that one had a special palette to look like a starfish. The same noun refers to both.)
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Why do you think you have two Babas?
Bigger Nudge: Why do you have access to the "Is" next to "Dust" and "Win"?
Specific Hint: What property do you need in order to carry the Moon?
Space 07: Trio
Difficulty: ****
About the Level
This might be my favorite level in this world.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: You need to break up Skull is Defeat. Why? Does Baba need to cross a Skull?
Bigger Nudge: It looks like Keke and Me are both positioned in a very specific way. Is there a change you could make to this position that would grant you access somewhere?
Specific Hint: Keke need to push the word "Defeat" to the left. What is the path Keke will take, and how will you get them on that path?
Space 08: Bottleneck
Difficulty: ****
About the Level
And this is my least favorite.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: You will have to make Skull is Defeat while you are on the far right side of the level. What can you use to make that happen? Where should Baba be when you make this move?
Bigger Nudge: Try Empty is Push and notice that it usually traps you in place. Why is this? Is there a way to have Empty is Push and still move around? Why does that work?
Specific Hint: Can you use something to allow Baba to move around while Empty is Push? Where does that rule need to be made?
Space 09: Platformer
Difficulty: ***
About the Level
This level had a noticable overhaul some time after the initial release. In my opinion this makes it much easier, not only making the solution more obvious but making the execution less fiddly.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Which object will open the Door?
Bigger Nudge: Why is this level called "Platformer"? Is there something about that game genre that is similar to this one, besides the use of Fall?
Specific Hint: Which exact path will Keke take? Which spot will it drop down beneath the first layer of Clouds?
Space 10: The Pit
Difficulty: ****
Hints
Gentle Nudge: How will you get an object down through the Skulls? Can you still control an object afterward?
Bigger Nudge: Can you get both the Moon and the Star through the Skulls? Is there a way you can repeat the solution to a previous level in this world using both those objects?
Specific Hint: What shape can the rules take to allow for four simultaneous rules? What should those rules be to allow you to be both below the Skulls and able to move upwards?
Space 11: Heavy Words
Difficulty: *****
About the Level
This is also a contender for my favorite level in this world.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: How will you form the rule Star is Push? What will you do with the Star?
Bigger Nudge: Can you get any Text from the upper left into the chamber with the Moon? What area stops your progress? Isn't it interesting how much space there is in that area?
Specific Hint: After getting rid of the Star, you will need to form two rules in different places. What are those rules? Where will they be? Which one will be made first?
Space 12: Guardians
Difficulty: ****
Hints
Gentle Nudge: If Empty is Pull, Empty becomes solid.
Bigger Nudge: Why do you have all this Ice?
Specific Hint: You have probably worked out that you need to pull "Win" out of the hallway, but how can you do that while Baba is still able to move freely?
Space 13: Sky Hold
Difficulty: ***
Hints
Gentle Nudge: What are all the things that can be either Open or Shut? When you've worked out the two nouns you need, does it matter which one is which?
Bigger Nudge: Have you noticed that when you Open a Shut object, the Open object never actually overlaps with the Shut object? The Open object just has to be moving toward it.
Space Extra 1: Existential Crisis
The hints for this level are provided by Reddit user jmk_2017. I have edited them for style.
Difficulty: ***
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Why do you have Rocket is Push?
Bigger Nudge: Empty cannot move onto the Flag, and Moon is Defeat. How will you get Baba in there?
Specific Hint: Look at your solution to Space 05. What else can be You? Why do you have access to "Push"?
Space Extra 2: Heavy Cloud
Difficulty: *****
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Now that the Star is up there, what can you do with it you couldn't do before?
Bigger Nudge: In order to get to the Star, you need Dust is Weak. Where should you place that rule? Is there a way you can place it somewhere and then move it somewhere else later?
Specific Hint: Is there a way you can form the rule Dust is Weak, make a single change, and have the rule Moon is Win be made automatically?
World Complete
Clearing this world doesn’t reveal anything new. But if you’ve been clearing everything up to this point you now have six flowers, which will unlock the Chasm. But you should go to the Flower Garden next, as it’s the next world and I’m doing this guide in order. Personally, I found the Flower Garden to be the hardest world (I cleared it last), so if you can’t clear it on your first trip it’s enough to understand the basic rules.
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.