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Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning

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Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning
The original cover art depicting the game's title screen, and the main character, Baldi
Developer(s)Micah McGonigal[a]
Publisher(s)Basically, Games!
EngineUnity
Platform(s)Windows
macOS
Linux
Android
iOS
Release
March 31, 2018[not verified in body]
  • Windows, macOS, Linux
    • WW: March 31, 2018
    Android, iOS
    • WW: December 17, 2019
    Baldi's Basics Classic Remastered
    (Windows, macOS, Linux)
    • WW: October 21, 2022
Genre(s)
Mode(s)Single-player

Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning is a 2018 puzzle horror game developed and published by Micah McGonigal. Disguised as an educational game, the game is set in a schoolhouse, where the objective is to locate and collect notebooks, while avoiding being caught by Baldi. It parodies 1990s educational games by deconstructing their elements into metafictional horror. The game received positive reception upon release.

Gameplay

A screenshot of Baldi's Basics Classic Remastered before the player collects any notebooks. Baldi, the game's titular antagonist, stands in the distance.

Baldi's Basics is a 3D puzzle horror game which satirizes 1990s educational games. The player has to locate seven notebooks scattered around a school without being caught by Baldi.[1] Each notebook typically contains two simple arithmetic problems using the mathematics subject, but the third question is unsolvable in the second notebook onwards. As the player continues to fail the impossible and possible questions, Baldi becomes more agressive, moves faster and becomes harder to avoid.[2] Baldi also chases the player with his ruler, making with it a noise when he moves.[3] Player can encounter other characters that can be used to his advantage or should be avoided, such as: Principal or Playtime. The first one will lock player in a room as a punishment for a short period of time. And the latter will force player to jump on rope for certain amount of time.[3][4]

The game features both a story mode and an endless mode. In the latter, the player must keep collecting notebooks until Baldi catches him.[5]

Development and release

Baldi's Basics was created by Micah McGonigal, and it was initially made as an entry in the 2018 Meta-GameJam on Itch.io,[3][6] where it placed in second. In an interview with Game Developer, McGonigal cited the 1996 game Sonic's Schoolhouse as his main inspiration.[7][8]

McGonigal launched a Kickstarter campaign, where he announced that a "full game," titled Baldi's Basics Plus, would be released in early 2020 as an early access title.[5] On April 1, 2019, for the first anniversary of the game, a birthday-themed version titled Baldi's Basics Birthday Bash was released. It added randomly-chosen items, two of which introduced in, as well as birthday decorations and costumes for the characters.[1] Later that same year, the original game was ported to iOS and Android under the named Baldi's Basics Classic.[5][4]

Reception

Cultural impact

The game became an online success for its absurdist humor, difficulty, and nostalgic gameplay. Several YouTubers such as Markiplier and PewDiePie have made videos on the game, which have gained popularity on YouTube.[9][10] Various other content created by fans of the game, including a song adaptation by video game musical group Random Encounters, further contributed to its popularity.[6][1]

Notes

  1. ^ Known online as "mystman12"

References

  1. ^ a b c "PC download charts: Why are 'Baldi's Basics' and 'Totally Accurate Battle Simulator' so popular again?". Philippine Daily Inquirer. AFP-Relaxnews. April 9, 2019. Archived from the original on February 21, 2025. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  2. ^ Jackson, Gita (April 12, 2018). "A Free Game That Makes Math More Scary". Kotaku. Archived from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Faribeault, Francois (October 13, 2022). "Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning, le jeu qui mélange éducation et horreur" [Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning, the game that mixes education and horror]. Konbini (in French). Retrieved September 4, 2023.[better source needed]
  4. ^ a b Andre (December 30, 2019). "Basically Games veröffentlicht Baldi's Basics Classic" [Basically Games publishes Baldi's Basics Classic]. Pixel (in German). Retrieved September 4, 2023.[better source needed]
  5. ^ a b c Bald, Cameron (December 23, 2019). "Baldi's Basics Classic, a mobile version of the game, creeps onto Android and iOS". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Zarzycka, Agata (2022). "Ridiculing the Player: Live-Action Visualisations of Game Experience in YouTube Parody Videos as an Ambivalent Strategy of Self-Fashioning". In Giappone, Krista Bonello Rutter; Majkowski, Tomasz Z.; Švelch, Jaroslav (eds.). Video Games and Comedy. Palgrave Studies in Comedy. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 226–230. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-88338-6_11. ISBN 978-3-030-88337-9.
  7. ^ Couture, Joel (August 13, 2018). "How Baldie's Basics taps into the real horror of '90s edutainment". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on May 3, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  8. ^ Cameron, Phill (August 13, 2018). "How Baldi's Basics taps into the real horror of '90s edutainment". Game Developer. Archived from the original on August 27, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  9. ^ Nguyen, Keoni (June 25, 2018). "A Fake Edutainment Game Is Now A YouTube Hit". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  10. ^ Wöbbeking, Jan (June 8, 2018). "Baldie's Basics in Education and Learning: Bizarrer Überlebenskampf in der Edutainment-Schule". 4Players (in German). Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
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