Baldi's Basics Plus

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Collect the notebooks before Baldi and his ruler find you.

Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Price: Paid
Rated: Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam (98% of 11,789 reviews)
Length: open-ended
Players: 1
Made by: Basically Games
Released: 2020

What frightens A parody of 1990s learning games in which the cheerful teacher, Baldi, slaps his ruler and hunts you by sound through a randomly built school while you collect notebooks; get a maths problem wrong and he comes faster.
Content: jumpscares, loud sounds.

The expanded, roguelike follow-up to Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning, by Basically Games. You explore a randomly generated schoolhouse to collect notebooks while Baldi, a teacher with very good hearing, hunts you down, and odd characters, items and events get in your way.

About Baldi's Basics Plus

Baldi's Basics Plus is a game by Basically Games, released in early access on Steam and itch.io in June 2020 for Windows, Mac and Linux. It grew out of Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning, a short free game that parodied the cheap educational software of the 1990s. The store page calls Plus an active stealth roguelike that parodies '90s edutainment with a subtle horror twist.

You enter Baldi's Super Schoolhouse to collect the notebooks hidden in its classrooms. Each one opens a maths quiz. Baldi, the smiling green-shirted teacher, uses his hearing to track you, slapping his ruler as he gets closer, so doors, running and noise all draw him in. A stamina bar limits how long you can run, and the other characters in the school help or hinder you in their own ways.

In Hide and Seek mode you play through a series of randomly generated floors of rising difficulty, and if you run out of lives you start again from the beginning. Layouts, rooms, characters and random events change every run: the school might flood or flip upside down without warning. Items such as keys, snacks and a grappling hook give you ways out of tight spots, and there are field trips and a shop between floors. An Endless mode counts how many notebooks you can collect before Baldi catches you.

Its horror comes from its look as much as from the chase: deliberately ugly 1990s 3D, harsh noises and cheerful characters that are not quite right. The store page also promises that the game is not what it seems. It is still in early access, with a full 1.0 version in development. It suits players who like tense chase games with lots of replay value and odd humour.

How to play Baldi's Basics Plus

Enter a floor of the schoolhouse and look for the notebooks in its classrooms.
Answer the maths questions in each notebook; wrong answers make Baldi angrier and faster.
Listen for Baldi's ruler and keep out of his way; he finds you by sound.
Pick up items and use them to escape trouble, then head for the way out once you have the notebooks.
Clear each floor in Hide and Seek mode without running out of lives to win the run.

Screenshots

Baldi's Basics Plus screenshot: Baldi stands at the end of a white-tiled school corridor beside an Exit sign, a stamina bar at the bottom

Baldi's Basics Plus screenshot: a man in a red shirt thinks about a lost floppy disk in a classroom full of number balloons and a maths machine

Baldi's Basics Plus screenshot: a shop counter of items with a description of the grappling hook and a points total

Baldi's Basics Plus screenshot: a creepy clown head on a pedestal in a locker-lined hallway while Baldi approaches behind it

Tips

Walk instead of running when Baldi is not near; noise brings him to you.
Save stamina for when Baldi is close rather than sprinting everywhere.
Learn what each character does; some can be used to slow Baldi down.
Spend your points in the shop on items that get you out of corners.

Questions

Is Baldi's Basics Plus finished?

No. It is in early access, and the developer is working on a full 1.0 version.

Is Baldi's Basics Plus scary?

It is more tense and strange than gory. Baldi's chase, loud noises and the game's deliberately ugly look make it unsettling, and it has jump scares.

Is Baldi's Basics Plus on consoles or mobile?

Not yet. It is on PC, Mac and Linux. The developer plans console versions after the game leaves early access.

What is the difference from the original Baldi's Basics?

The original is a short free game with one fixed school. Plus has randomly generated floors, many more characters, items and events, and several modes.