Baldi
Baldi is the teacher you play hide and seek with, and the only character in Baldi’s Basics Plus who can end your attempt on a level. He doesn’t know where you are: he follows what he hears and sees, and he gets faster as you make progress. Once you understand how he hunts, most of his catches stop being bad luck.
How a level starts
Every level in Hide & Seek begins the same way: Baldi greets you in front of the elevator. As soon as you walk a little away from him, or hide in a blue locker, he covers his eyes and counts down from 10. At the end he says “Ready or not, here I come!” and the hunt begins.
Use the countdown well. Get out of his sight, turn a corner or two and head for the classrooms. He starts at the elevator, so the further you are when he finishes counting, the more time you have before your first notebook.
Rarely, Baldi peeks during the countdown with his right eye open. He only does it when you are out of his line of sight, and he closes the eye again when you come back into view.
How he finds you
Baldi has no map of where you are. He works only with two senses:
- Sound. Opening a door, a locker, a wrong answer and many other actions make noise. Baldi goes to the sound he heard, even if you have already left. The Baldicator icon in the corner of the screen shows when he is heading towards a sound.
- Sight. If he sees you, he comes straight at you. He sees through yellow swinging doors, but not through intact windows. Broken windows no longer block his view.
When he loses you, he does not keep tracking you: after a couple of turns without seeing or hearing you, he starts wandering. That is your chance to get back to work.
What makes him faster
Baldi moves in steps, with a slap of his ruler between them. The shorter the pause between slaps, the faster he is. These things shorten it:
| Trigger | What happens |
|---|---|
| Collecting a notebook | He gets a little faster with every notebook |
| A failed activity or wrong answer | He gets faster and hears where you are |
| Level 4 | His speed ramps up more aggressively than on earlier levels |
| The time limit runs out | He keeps getting faster as time goes on |
Two practical rules follow from this. First, the last notebook on a level makes him faster exactly when you need to reach the elevators, so plan your route to the exit before you collect it. Second, every failed activity costs you twice: he speeds up and comes to the room you are in.
Don’t guess in activities. A careful answer takes a few seconds longer, a wrong one makes the rest of the level harder.
Lockers, doors and noise
Blue lockers are a hiding place, not a safe room. If Baldi hears you get into one, he walks up and pulls you out. They work best when he did not hear you go in.
Noise can also work for you. Open a door or a locker, then walk away in the opposite direction: Baldi goes to check the sound, then starts wandering. Opening another door on the way cancels the trick, because he goes to the newest sound instead.
Every door you open is a sound. If you need to pass quietly, wait for another character to open the door for you, or use the WD-NoSquee to silence it.
Items that help against Baldi
| Item | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| BSODA | Sprays a wave that pushes him away | In a long, straight hallway |
| Baldi’s Least Favorite Tape | Plays static he can’t stand, keeping him away for a while | When you need time in one place, for example in detention |
| An Apple for Baldi | He stops to eat it, happily, then goes after you again | When he is right behind you |
| Alarm Clock | Rings and draws him to where it is | To pull him to the other side of the level |
| WD-NoSquee | Makes a door silent | On doors you use often |
| Dirty Chalk Eraser | Creates a cloud that hides everyone inside it | To break his line of sight |
| Invisibility Elixir | Makes you invisible for 30 seconds | To get past him, but don’t walk into him: he can still bump into you |
The pay phone works much like the tape: with a quarter it makes static that keeps him away. And watch out for the Portal Poster: Baldi can see you and follow you through it.
Detention draws him in
Baldi and the Principal of the Thing work together, even if they don’t mean to. When the Principal sends you to detention, the noise attracts Baldi to his office, and you are locked inside until the timer runs out. Long detentions are very dangerous without an item. Baldi’s Least Favorite Tape, the pay phone, the Alarm Clock and the Dirty Chalk Eraser can all save you there.
When he is close
- Don’t panic-sprint into the unknown. A dead end is the worst place to meet him. Open the map with Tab and pick a route with turns.
- Break his line of sight. Turn corners and go through rooms. Once he can’t see you, he can only follow sounds.
- Look back. Space shows what is behind you without turning around, so you can check the distance while you run.
- Use an item early. A BSODA or an apple used two steps too late is a wasted item and a lost life.
- Use other characters. Gotta Sweep, 1st Prize or the wind of Cloudy Copter can carry you away faster than you can run.
Baldi in other modes
- Explorer play style. Baldi counts down as usual and then disappears, so you can learn the school without being chased.
- Endless mode. He hunts you on one level while you collect as many notebooks as you can.
- Field trips. On the camping trip Baldi is part of the minigames: in Pick-Quick-Nic you quickly choose food before he gets hungry, and you must not take his favorite food.
- Tutorial. Baldi teaches you the basics himself, and the chalkboards there show your current controls.
Plus and Classic
| Baldi’s Basics Classic | Baldi’s Basics Plus | |
|---|---|---|
| The school | One fixed layout | New levels generated from a seed |
| Notebooks | Seven, each opens a math pad | A set number per level, many locked behind activities |
| The way out | Four exits | Elevators |
| If he catches you | Game over | You lose a power tube and replay the level |
FAQ
Can you outrun Baldi?
For a while, yes: early in a level he is slow. But with every notebook and every failed activity he gets faster, so later you need turns, doors, items and other characters rather than pure speed.
Does hiding in a locker work?
Only if he didn’t hear you get in. If he did, he walks up to the locker and pulls you out.
What happens when Baldi catches you?
You lose a power tube, go back to the Pitstop and replay the level from the start. With no power tubes left, the run is over.
Can Baldi see through windows?
Not through intact ones. Once a window is broken, he can see through it. Yellow swinging doors don’t block his view either.
Baldi is the main threat, but not the only one. See all school characters in the Characters section, and if you are new to the game, start with the Beginner Guide.
