Beginner Guide
Baldi’s Basics Plus looks like a silly 90s edutainment game, but it plays like a stealth roguelike: the school is generated anew…
Guides
New to Baldi’s Basics Plus or stuck on the same level again? This section collects practical guides for the main Hide & Seek mode: how a run works, what to do on each level and how to stay one step ahead of Baldi. If this is your first time, start with the Beginner Guide.
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How a run works
Baldi’s Basics Plus is a stealth roguelike: every level is generated from a seed, so the school layout changes from run to run. In Hide & Seek you go through five levels in a row. On each one you collect the required notebooks, wait for the elevators to open and get out before you run out of lives.
Between levels the elevator takes you to the Pitstop, a small rest area with Johnny’s Store, a storage locker and a Save & Quit spot. Here you spend the YTPs (You Thought Points) you earned on items, maps and sticker packs, and get ready for the next level.
The first three levels are always the school. Levels 4 and 5 can be a Maintenance, Factory or Laboratory level, each with its own mechanics, and the same type never repeats twice in one run.
Modes at a glance
| Mode | What you do | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Hide & Seek | Clear five generated levels in a row | The main game and most guides here |
| Endless | Collect as many notebooks as you can before Baldi catches you | Practice and high scores |
| Field Trips | Play the field trip minigames on their own | Learning minigames before a run |
| Challenges | Legacy challenge maps | A different kind of test |
Inside Hide & Seek you also choose a play style. Normal starts every level with three power tubes, Arcade starts you with three but gives no new ones between levels, Strict gives you a single tube for the whole run, and Explorer removes Baldi after his countdown so you can learn the school in peace.
Words you will see in our guides
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| YTPs | You Thought Points, the in-game currency. You earn them on levels and spend them in Johnny’s Store |
| Power tubes | Your lives. They are shown as green tubes in the elevator |
| Pitstop | The rest area between levels with the store, the storage locker, Save & Quit and, before level 3, the field trip bus |
| Activities | The classroom puzzles that guard notebooks: Math Machine, Balloon Buster and Match Machine |
| Stickers | Bonuses from sticker packs. Up to four fit on the back of the You Can Think Pad |
| Baldicator | The icon in the corner of the screen that shows when Baldi is heading towards a sound |
| Seed | The number a level is generated from. The same seed gives the same layout, and the Hide & Seek menu has a field for entering one |
What gets harder each level
Later levels ask for more notebooks than the first one and give you more to deal with. Later levels have several elevators instead of one, and you have to reach each of them before the last one takes you out. Every level has a time limit: when it runs out, the lights go off, Baldi speeds up and the Principal starts punishing you just for being in the halls. On levels 4 and 5 the special level types add their own rules, from power levers and outages in Maintenance to teleporter rooms in the Laboratory.
Where to start
- Play the tutorial. It is on the mode select screen and teaches the basics with Baldi himself.
- Read the Beginner Guide. It covers controls, notebooks, school rules, elevators and the Pitstop.
- Learn the characters. Baldi is not the only threat: the Principal of the Thing sends you to detention, Playtime stops you for a game of jump rope and It’s a Bully takes your items. Knowing who does what saves a lot of time.
- Know your items. A BSODA pushes characters away, Baldi’s Least Favorite Tape keeps him at a distance for a while, and a Zesty Bar refills your stamina. Used at the right moment, one item can save a life.
- Prepare for the later levels. Maintenance, Factory and Laboratory levels play very differently from the school, so check the chalkboard in the Pitstop to see which type is next.
Keeping up with updates
Baldi’s Basics Plus is still in Early Access, and updates regularly change mechanics: version 0.13 added stickers and removed the old grade system, and version 0.14 added an exit button inside the elevator. Our guides are written for version 0.14.5 and are updated when the game changes, so a tip that worked in an older version does not mislead you.
