Baldi's Basics Classic

Baldi's Basics Classic is the original game in the Baldi's Basics series. This game serves as a type of “demo” for the full game that is later known as Baldi's Basics Classic Remastered (which is, in turn, also a “demo” for Baldi's Basics Plus).

Overview

Baldi's Basics Classic is the most original version of the Baldi's Basics series. As such, it has the fewest features out of all the games in the series, featuring only 9 characters and 11 items to be used. The map of the Schoolhouse is also pre-generated, meaning that all the games are essentially the same.

Baldi's Basics Classic serves as the foundation for future games, most notably Baldi's Basics Classic Remastered and Plus. A successful Kickstarter campaign enables Baldi's Basics Plus to be made with greatly enhanced features. In addition, Baldi's Basics Classic has been ported to the Android and iOS platforms, featuring no ads.

Inspired by the unintentionally creepy edu-tainment games from the 1990s, such as Sonic's Schoolhouse and I.M. Meen, Baldi's Basics Classic is referred to as being a “meta horror game that has no real educational value to be found.”

Summary

Baldi's Basics Classic is a survival horror game set inside a school-like building known as the "Schoolhouse" The story begins with the player's friend asking them to retrieve his 7 forgotten notebooks since he is busy with his “eating practice." The player arrives at the Schoolhouse and is welcomed by Baldi, who will then instruct them on the general gameplay. To find the notebooks, they will have to roam around the school and answer the math questions with each notebook taken. Unfortunately, Baldi gets angrier with each question answered incorrectly, and he will start chasing down the player with his wooden ruler.

To escape from Baldi and the Schoolhouse, the player needs to collect all 7 notebooks and ultimately reach the 4 exit routes. However, there are also other characters that are usually obstacles to the player, either slowing them down or putting them at risk of being caught by Baldi. To win the game, the player will need to learn how to avoid their attention and even use their abilities to their advantage.

Gameplay

The player's objective is to get away from Baldi while discovering the rest of the notebooks in order to get away from the Schoolhouse. The player can keep up to three items and use them, run with limited stamina, and quickly look back. As they progress, they will encounter more characters who act as obstacles to them, such as slowing them down or blocking their path altogether. To win the game, the player will need to be resourceful with the helpful items and discover the best routes to avoid Baldi.

Baldi's Basics Classic features two game modes:

• Story Mode: The player's goal is to find all 7 notebooks and then escape from the Schoolhouse. With each notebook found, Baldi gets faster and faster.
• Endless Mode: This mode challenges the player to retrieve as many notebooks as possible while being hunted down by Baldi. With each math problem solved correctly, Baldi will slow down a little bit.

In Story Mode, once the player manages to find all 7 notebooks, they will be congratulated by Baldi before the chase continues. During this time, his movement speed is the fastest. The player needs to find the four exits and go through them one by one in any order. Passing through the first exit will turn the school red, and any exits that have been passed through will become a wall with a map attached to it, showing the player's location. The background noise will grow more intense until the player goes through the fourth exit and completes the game.

Version History

Trivia

• Baldi's Basics Classic is notorious for its near-impossible level of difficulty, which can take days or even weeks for players to clear the game for the first time. Even the game creator himself had to admit that he hadn't won the game before. 
• One of the primary reasons for the game's portability to mobile devices is due to the knock-off Baldi's Basics games dominating the application markets.
• Even though the creator of the game stated that the game would have no more updates, the remastered version of the game, Baldi's Basics Classic Remastered, was released later. The updated version for the Android platform of the game was also released on October 5th, 2023.
• The game has been removed from Google Play due to issues with age rating policies at the end of 2021, but it has since been reuploaded.