Baba Is You
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 6 of 45 puzzle games by recommenders
People recommend it for mechanics that make puzzles feel endlessly clever and rewarding. Some find the late game frustrating, and few players seem to finish it.
People recommend it for mechanics that make puzzles feel endlessly clever and rewarding. Some find the late game frustrating, and few players seem to finish it.
25 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 25
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 25 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Praised as a top puzzle game
“it's the best puzzle game ever made, full stop.”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Time Travel in Braid (2015)” “Lovely game overall though, highly recommend!”
Comment from 17 Jan 2026 in “Which is "Bouba", and which is "Kiki"? [video]” “Really fun and unique puzzle game”
Comment from 10 Mar 2026 in “Ask HN: Favorite Non-Spammy iPhone Games?” - Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “In a genre where spoilers are devastating, how do we talk about puzzle games?”
Mechanics make you feel clever
“Baba Is You does some wild things with the mechanics that make you feel super clever when you figure it out.”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Why are coding agents so dumb?” “the "a-ha"s feel to me more like having a grand insight than finding the right very specific sequence of moves”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “10 years: Stephen's Sausage Roll still one of the most influential puzzle games” Endless, deep puzzle possibilities
“the amount of interesting puzzles you can do with the mechanics of Baba is You is virtually endless”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “10 years: Stephen's Sausage Roll still one of the most influential puzzle games” “The wonder and the sense of… a sort of abyssal depth of the mechanics”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “'500-hour' Order of the Sinking Star is as complex and exhausting as it sounds” Experimental, original design
“There are more experimental games, sometimes in established genres, like Inscription, Undertale, or Baba Is You.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “PlayStation 2 Recompilation Project Is Absolutely Incredible” “Original, phenomenal games covering damm near every genre”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “PlayStation 2 Recompilation Project Is Absolutely Incredible”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Frustrating late game, few finish
“it absolutely does become quite frustrating at the end, and you can see from achievements that very few people actually stick with the game”
Comment from 17 Jan 2026 in “Which is "Bouba", and which is "Kiki"? [video]”
Other puzzle games people recommend
The four most recommended other puzzle games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outer Wilds | 65 | 7 | 90% | 9 | — | Approved |
| enclose.horse | 64 | 10 | 86% | 4 | — | Approved |
| The Witness | 60 | 19 | 76% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Braid | 36 | 5 | 88% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Baba Is YouThis page | 25 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
What people said
22 of the 30 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“they never caught me long term”
“The wonder and the sense of… a sort of abyssal depth of the mechanics”
“gets difficult and interesting after like 10 minutes”
“Baba Is You does some wild things with the mechanics that make you feel super clever when you figure it out.”
“it's the best puzzle game ever made, full stop.”
“Both games present the same sort of enjoyable mindscrew.”
“maybe it's happy memories from Baba Is You”
“requires a copy of the lovely game”
“All of these are highly reknowned.”
“the "a-ha"s feel to me more like having a grand insight than finding the right very specific sequence of moves”
“My list of must play puzzle games is far too short”
“the amount of interesting puzzles you can do with the mechanics of Baba is You is virtually endless”
“I like Baba better, but I'm not sure if it's the better game.”
“Really fun and unique puzzle game”
“There are more experimental games, sometimes in established genres, like Inscription, Undertale, or Baba Is You.”
“Original, phenomenal games covering damm near every genre”
“Baba is You is literally a sokoban for software engineers, highly recommended.”
“Should be very appealing to programmers.”
“it absolutely does become quite frustrating at the end, and you can see from achievements that very few people actually stick with the game”
“Lovely game overall though, highly recommend!”
“meaning itself is one of the core gameplay elements”
“I really loved baba is you, inscryption a lot.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.