Bigger Map = Better Game
Imagine this: a goat, a wall, and the word “is” walk into a store, competing with hundreds of thousand-dollar games.
Of course, whether you’re an indie game developer, or a avid gamer, we know exactly how the story goes: the games with the big marketing, big budget, and big worlds always get the money.
But when you sit down to really play the game, you start to realize that Baba isn’t You—Baba is Genius.
For the uninitiated, Baba Is You is a puzzle game where the rules are literally words you can push around. Change “Baba Is You” to “Rock Is You” and suddenly you’re a rock. Make “Flag Is Win” into “Lava Is Win” and now walking into lava is victory, not death.
It’s minimalistic. It’s weird. And my gosh, it’s brilliant.
Made by a tiny indie team without a 500-person mocap department or a single cameo, the game has already generated $5-$13 million in gross revenue!
It’s proof that you don’t need photorealistic sweat physics to make players feel clever—you just need an idea worth playing with.
How to Take Baba is You, and improve your own games
Looking at other games and tweaking your own is a skill that you grow and nurture as a game developer, or as someone who wants to make the most with their time.
Depth over Breadth
The best mechanics are like Lego bricks: a few simple shapes that combine into endless builds.
Most big budget games pile on dozens of mechanics that barely interact. Baba Is You works because every mechanic can touch every other mechanic, and the fun comes from those combinations, not from adding more stuff.
What you can learn from Baba is You’s game mechanics:
Pick 2-3 mechanics in any game that you make, and push them till they break.
If adding some new mechanic (say, leaf blower) doesn’t create at least 3 interesting interactions with what’s already in your game (the leaf blower can disperse puddles, sand, and can scare away animals), then cut it.
Depth over Breadth
Players remember what they figure out, not what you tell them. In Baba, the first puzzles are lessons disguised as levels—safe spaces to fail, try something else, and suddenly “get it.”
Baba is You uses this mechanic all over the place: the game introduces a mechanic by giving the player the mechanic and letting the player play around with it (for example, “wall”), then makes the player do it again slightly harder (say that the wall block is behind lava), then combine it with something they already know (“wall” and “is” blocks).
Respect Your Player’s Time
Every extra click, slow animation, or backtrack is a tax on fun. Baba keeps its loop tight: instant resets, short levels, no busywork. I go over this a lot in my previous blog posts: how less buttons are more fun because the player can actually play the game, and experiment for themselves.
For games that are as simple as Baba is You, keeping each level small and compact adds a niche to the game: it makes you feel like you can get a quick game in during study breaks, on the go, or right before bed.
When indie games focus on tight mechanics, intuitive teaching, and respect for player time, they don’t just compete with big companies—they embarrass them. If you’re curious about more innovative games—or looking for ways to level up your own creations—check out the rest of my blog posts.!
