Last edited 7/15/2021
Rules you should know
If you’re reading this page of the guide, I’ll assume you have completed the tutorial levels and that you understand all the concepts therein. But just in case, I’ll write all those concepts here. If any of them feel shaky to you, return to the appropriate levels to experiment some more.
[Noun] is [Property]: It’s what the whole game is about so if you don’t get this you’re going to have a bad time.
You (Levels 02 and 06)
Win (Levels 01, 02, and 03)
Stop (all of them)
Push (levels 04 and 05)
Sink (level 03)
Hot and Melt (level 05)
Defeat (levels 04 and 06)
How to create two statements with only one “Is.”
Reminder: Bold text refers to rules themselves. Italics refer to the objects affected by rules - every one of them in the level. Regular text only refers to specific instances of those objects. “Quoted text” refers to the actual noun, property, and connecting word text you can interact with on the level. All hints are invisible until you highlight text.
The Lake
It’s the only place you can go.
Initial Lake Map
Each world has a dozen or so puzzles, but you don’t need to solve all of them. You only need to clear 8 of the 15 puzzles in The Lake. If you want to complete the world, but some of the puzzles give you trouble, you can always leave and come back. I recommend completing through level 11 on your first visit so you understand all the concepts you need. You might need to return later for levels 12-13 and the extras.
Notice also how the map is divided into three distinct sections: bottom, top, and right. Each section deals with a different mechanic. The bottom section teaches the operator And; the top teaches Open and Shut; and the right section deals with transformations.
Stuck elsewhere? Navigate using the following pictures:
Lake 01: Icy Waters
Difficulty: *
About the Level
New material: noun Jelly; property And.
What properties does Baba have at level start? So, how does And work? Just for fun, try replacing the “Sink” with “Wall.” What happens here? Is it different from what you expected? How does the game parse a sentence with And?
Hints
Gentle Nudge: What can you do with that extra "Wall"?
Lake 02: Turns
Difficulty: **
About the Level
New material: nouns Crab, Star. In this case “Star” refers to the Starfish object. In other worlds “Star” refers to the outline of a Star.
Some puzzles in this game seem to be made of a series of smaller puzzles. In these cases, you need to figure out what those smaller puzzles are and then solve them in sequence. It’s much easier to break things down into their smaller parts. For this level, you have two puzzles: how will you get Baba past the Skull, and how will you reach the Flag? Solve one at a time.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: You is never going to walk across the Walls.
Bigger Nudge: There are three potential obstacles: the Rock, the Star, and the Skull. Which one has properties you cannot change? Which one do you need to get rid of?
Lake 03: Affection
Difficulty: **
About the Level
New material: nouns Keke, Love, Algae. Love is easy - it’s the heart. Algae is the green plants surrounding Love. Keke is the red blob with feet. Also new property Move.
This is the only level in The Lake which has the property Move. It’s okay if you don’t quite get it yet. In fact, you can solve this puzzle without using “Move” at all! I’ve found six solutions to this one. However, I’m just going to list the one I think is developer-intended.
Hints
Gentle Nudge:
Which exact object cannot cross the Algae?Bigger Nudge:
Keke seems to be stuck on its path. Is there any way that can be changed?Lake 04: Pillar Yard
Difficulty: **
About the Level
New material: noun Pillar.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: You does need to get into that square of Stars.
Bigger Nudge: Do you recall which objects cannot interact with an object that is Defeat?
Lake 05: Brick Wall
Difficulty: *
About the Level
This is another level whose solution turns out to be useful in a number of later levels.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Baba will never get into the pen with the Flag. Baba will never collide with the Flag.
Lake 06: Lock
Difficulty: *
About the Level
New material: nouns Key and Door. Should be obvious which is which. Also properties Open and Shut.
Push that first Key into the Door. What does this tell you about Open and Shut? It seems similar to the concept of Sink. What are the differences between Open/Shut and Sink? There are also similarities to Hot and Melt. But what are the differences there?
Hints
Gentle Nudge: It is very natural that Key is Open and Door is Shut. Must this always be the case?
Lake 07: Novice Locksmith
Difficulty: **
Hints
Gentle Nudge: To get through the first Door, remember your solution to the Overworld Level 07.
Bigger Nudge: Have you made an assumption that both doors must be removed in the same way?
Lake 08: Locked In
Difficulty: **
Hints
Gentle Nudge: How have you created all your statements so far? Have you convinced yourself this is the only way?
Lake 09: Changeless
Difficulty: *
About the Level
Knowing the solution to the previous level makes this and future levels with the same trick much easier. I’ll call these tricks “transformations.”
Pay special attention in this level. Before you even take a step, take note of what you see. After making a step, what happens? Why does this happen, and why can’t it be reversed?
Hints
Gentle Nudge: The statement [X] is [X] will always overrule [X] is [Y], so long as it exists.
Lake 10: Two Doors
Difficulty: ***
About the Level
New material: noun Hedge, used as an alternative to Wall.
This is another level known for having multiple solutions. Honestly, I’m not sure which one is developer intended. They’re all similarly difficult and weird. I just picked one.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: What is the title of this level?
Bigger Nudge: You might always imagine that an Open object must always be brought to a Shut object. Can this interaction be done another way?
Lake 11: Jelly Throne
Difficulty: **
Hints
Gentle Nudge: There are suspicious gaps around the rule "Baba is You."
Bigger Nudge: An object does not carry over properties once it is transformed into another object.
Lake 12: Crab Storage
Difficulty: *****
About the Level
This was the first level I had to leave for later. It is nowhere near as tough as later levels, but it is tough for world one. Don’t feel bad if you get stuck here. You can always come back later when you are more experienced.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: What noun do you need to be Win?
Gentle Nudge #2: If the Door and "Crab" noun were removed, would this level be solvable?
Bigger Nudge: If you try to push "Crab" up to make Crab is Win, what happens that stops you?
Bigger Nudge #2: There is a suspicious space underneath the word "Baba."
Specific Hint: The initial state of Lake 09 should tell you something about how to solve this puzzle.
Lake 13: Burglary
Difficulty: ***
About the Level
Sometimes rules are completely blocked off and sometimes they are completely accessible. But you’ve probably seen, and will continue to see, rules which only are partially accessible. Usually this means the accessible part and only that part will be changed.
This level also has a pretty gnarly alternate solution if you’re willing to try anything.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: It is very natural for Key to be Open and Door to be Shut, but do you think that might be giving you a false assumption on how you will escape the pen?
Bigger Nudge: If you can't think how you will escape the pen, imagine what would happen if every Wall were a Door and ever Door a Wall.
Lake Extra 1: Submerged Ruins
Difficulty: ****
About the Level
Each world contains at least one “extra” level. These are revealed only after completing other levels - in this case, Lake 05. Many times these extra levels are remixes of earlier levels with a twist that requires a completely new solution. Other times, such as with this level, it’s just a twist on a previously learned concept. No extra level is required in order to win the game, so if they’re too hard, leave them for later.
Hints
Gentle Nudge: Yes, you will have to push the Text at the top right to form both Crab is Defeat and Flag is Win. But when?
Bigger Nudge: Your solution to Lake 05 should remind you that two statements can deal with either the same noun or same property. How can you use that here?
Specific Hint: First get in the pen with the Flag, and then create the win condition.
Lake Extra 2: Sunken Temple
Difficulty: *****
Hints
Gentle Nudge: In the solution to the previous level, do you notice how you had an extra word that wasn't being used?
Bigger Nudge: What are the things you can do with this leftover word that do not involve making it into a rule?
Another Big Nudge: Only You cannot overlap with Crab. This time there is only one Crab.
Specific Hint: This time you will create the win condition, and then get... something... into the pen.
World Complete!
You have to clear this world to get anywhere, and when you do, only one path opens to you: Solitary Island. If you think you’ve grasped the concepts in The Lake, feel free to move on.
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.