Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning
 | This article possibly contains original research. (April 2025) |
| Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Micah McGonigal[a] |
| Publisher(s) | Basically, Games! |
| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | Windows macOS Linux Android iOS |
| Release | March 31, 2018
|
| Genre(s) | |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning, retrospectively known as Baldi's Basics Classic, is a 2018 horror game developed and published by Micah McGonigal. Disguised as an educational game, Baldi's Basics is set in a schoolhouse, where the objective is to locate notebooks and avoid being caught by Baldi or other NPCs. The game became popular for its difficulty, nostalgic gameplay and graphics and elements of surreal humour and simplicity. It parodies 1990s educational games by deconstructing their elements into metafictional horror.
Gameplay
[edit]
Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning intentionally misleads first-time players into thinking it is a children's educational video game, with its main screen resembling a children's educational video game. Baldi's Basics follows a student who enters a schoolhouse. There are two modes available, Story Mode and Endless Mode. In Story Mode, the player has to locate seven notebooks scattered around a schoolhouse without being caught by Baldi. The first notebook will be three simple arithmetic problems. However, the following notebooks contain only two simple arithmetic problems, and an unsolvable problem that must be failed to progress the game. As the player continues to fail the impossible problems, Baldi moves faster and becomes harder to avoid. Additionally, the player has to face six non-player characters: It's a Bully, Principal of the Thing, Playtime, Gotta Sweep, 1st Prize and Arts and Crafters. After collecting all notebooks, the player then has to locate all four exits to complete the game.[1]
If the player gets all of the math problems wrong, a secret ending will be triggered in which they meet with a character named NULL, who warns that the game must be "destroyed". NULL is also heard after the player collects all notebooks, screaming "get out while you still can" over Baldi's voice.
In Baldi's Basics Plus, there is more content, including characters such as Cloudy Copter,[b] Chalkles, Beans, Mrs. Pomp, The Test, Dr. Reflex, Johnny, other unnamed students, multiple procedurally generated floors, a Challenge Mode, Field Trips, and more.[2]
Development and release
[edit]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][4] where it placed in second. In an interview with Game Developer, McGonigal cited the 1996 game Sonic's Schoolhouse as his main inspiration.[5] The game used the concept of using video games and other entertainment mediums of education for kids.[6]
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.[7] In late 2019, the original game was ported to iOS and Android under the title Baldi's Basics Classic.[8]
Reception and legacy
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Cultural impact
[edit]The game became an online success for its absurdist humor, difficulty, and nostalgic gameplay. Several YouTubers such as DanTDM, Markiplier, jacksepticeye, PewDiePie and CoryxKenshin 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.[4][11]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ 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.
- ^ Kurosawa, Yuki (June 13, 2020). "サイコ90年代教育ゲーム風ホラー『Baldi's Basics Plus』Steamなどで早期アクセス配信開始。インターネット老人会を恐怖させるローポリ教師との鬼ごっこ" [Psycho 90's educational game-style horror "Baldi's Basics Plus" Early access distribution started on Steam etc. A game of tag with a low-poly teacher who terrifies the Internet Senior Citizens Association]. Automaton (in Japanese). Active Gaming Media. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Bycer, Joshua (September 20, 2019). Game Design Deep Dive: Horror. CRC Press. p. 85. ISBN 9781000451016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
