Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning

Baldi's Basics is a puzzle horror game which satirizes 1990s educational games. The player has to locate seven notebooks scattered around a school without being caught by Baldi. 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 questions, Baldi moves faster and becomes harder to avoid.[1] In the expansion Baldi's Basics Plus 11 non-player characters were added, such as It's a Bully, Principal of the Thing and Playtime.[2]

A friend of the protagonist forgets seven notebooks at Baldi's schoolhouse but cannot get them himself because he would be late for "eating practice", so he asks the protagonist to fetch them. Once the player arrives, Baldi quizzes the player with simple math problems every time they find a notebook (three per book), offering a chance of getting "something special" if they answer all of them correctly. Once the questions are all answered correctly, Baldi offers the protagonist a quarter, granting them access to use a vending machine that distributes boosters when they first get past the yellow swinging doors. Baldi is prone to getting angry, and after presenting the player with impossible math problems he will start to chase them when they inevitably fail to answer them correctly. The protagonist has to continue to search for all the other notebooks while also avoiding other students and various obstacles.[1]

Baldi's Basics was created by Micah McGonigal and it was initially made as an entry in the annual Meta-Game Jam on Itch.io,[3][4] where it received 2nd place. 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 educate kids.[6]

McGonigal launched a Kickstarter campaign, where he announced that an early access prototype, titled Baldi's Basics Plus, would be released in early 2020.[7] In late 2019, it was ported for iOS and Android as Baldi's Basics Classic.[8]

The game became popular for its absurdist humor, difficulty and nostalgic gameplay. YouTubers such as DanTDM, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, PewDiePie, and CoryxKenshin have made videos on the game, helping to boost its popularity.[9] In 2021, Baldimore's Highschool, a horror game inspired by the Five Nights at Freddy's series, was released for Android.[10]

• Official website