BABBDI: The Weirdest Game You Must Play

[@eurothug4000]

If you'd like to support me, you can do so via Nebula using my link: go.nebula.tv/eurothug4000 You can get early access to vids AND watch loads of other amazing creators, as well as Nebula exclusives!

[@S-Soulloom]

cool, most detailed video i have ever seen

[@upsidedowntriangle]

@@S-Soulloom Yeah and the LSD Dream Emulator OSTS added to it.

[@S-Soulloom]

@@upsidedowntriangle ?

[@upsidedowntriangle]

@@S-Soulloom OST = music.

[@adamkrzeslak4326]

as a slavic (polish) person this gave me a feel of exploring some other eastern european country, starting with architecture that's very prominent in those countries, characters design with their sad faces and gray colors, but most importantly language, I feel like most of those countries have very similar language but you can't really fully understand it you'll be hearing or reading something that sounds like ur language but can't fully grasp what those words mean, and I felt the same in babbdi with signs leading to train station or informing of the building's purpose with their misspelings. Idk if I'm making sense rn, it's hard for me to fully explain my point and also I'm not native english speaker, but I hope I got it across

[@eurothug4000]

I completely understand! I'm half Serbian and I would visit the country very often growing up, a lot of the towns/cities look and feel a lot like Babbdi!

[@Fxmbro]

I understand what you mean. I’m Dominican but when I go to South America near the borders of Brazil I cant understand Portuguese but it sounds so similar to spanish

[@parkerwebb3470]

​@@Fxmbroyeah they say south American Spanish/Portuguese is a completely different language. where Spanish people can't understand the Spanish spoken kinda like swiss German.

[@FurasCebulowy]

POLSKA TAKKK 🎉

[@SOFRA799]

Brutalism, connecting the slavs

[@Jinfinitas]

This game looks like the equivalent of urban exploring with a dream-like feel. There's something unsettling, but soothing about looking through an old, abandoned place closed down to the public and seeing remnants of what was there. This looks like something I can enjoy. 😊

[@julphines]

When I think of concrete buildings like these, I tend to think of Soviet architecture, though that tends to be more box-y and less all over the place. Living in a Soviet apartment block felt very liminal to me, like a building out of time (even if it had wifi). I like this short format! Not every video has to be super long, especially for these smaller games. It just means you get to talk about even more games!

[@halkiierid4084]

Brutalism always reminds me of the library where I used to work. It had this insane, angular design that, combined with the fact that it was built as cheaply as possible, meant that the roof leaked really badly. (For context, my home region has a very wet climate.) The concrete floors were also cracked and buckled, so getting a cart full of books over them was a real pain.

[@maraganger]

Absolutely love your take on Babbdi, the whole game did feel very cozy past the first couple minutes. Also spotting that Hylics and Gregory Horror Show footage at the start made my day lmao B)

[@eurothug4000]

I loooooove hylics and gregory horror show 🥺 I’ll probs cover the latter sometime this year

[@maraganger]

@@eurothug4000 Aw hell yeah, same !

[@sourlab]

​@@eurothug4000it just feels so big , literally everything is explorable !? You can walk miles without seeing anyone

[@kpvideography1042]

Jacob Geller's "Games that Don't Fake the Space" video brought my attention to this game and I wanted to look more into it. I'm absolutely convinced now and can't wait to play it.

[@wemustkungfufite]

looks like he's one of her patrons too which is kinda funny

[@duroburo7039]

@@wemustkungfufite Its probably an impersonator altough I agree that it is quite funny

[@jassykat]

I also played it because of Jacob, but he was lying. This game fakes the space. Just some floors have interiors and there are invisible walls. So...

[@Coffeepanda294]

Same.

[@Echpochlimakli_Rey]

@@jassykat Did you know that there`s a perfect hole in invisible wall outside?)) (I`m not good at English, so I can Fuc-up)

[@Resuarus]

I always find it interesting how much meaning people can derive from such simple things. I always wonder how much is intended when I analyze things or find meaning myself, so it's really fun to see a creator just straight up say "Oh, we didn't mean that at all, we just wanted a style that was easier to produce." It just goes to show the meaning that matters most is the meaning you take from a work of art.

[@Table53]

I played this game just yesterday, it is soo strange - but such an interesting place to explore and really well polished. And creepy.

[@drunkensergeant]

It's an effective bit of writing, starting with a hook, and you explain quite reasonably and rationally why it makes sense; still, I did have to pause the video, giggling with glee, when after building up the creepy / horror aspects, you cut to "Babbdi gave me a sense of comfort". Of course it did, that's the most on-brand thing I've heard. If you didn't work your way up to this point, I'd have assumed you had been replaced by aliens. Bonus point for making a sincere and serious video, and dropping "ok nerd" for a few frames. :D I love all your work, but this one was pure joy.

[@DrySushi]

Having grown up in an Urban decay city, Babbdi gets it.

[@Jupa]

Fr man

[@THICCTHICCTHICC]

Yep. My towns shopping centre looks like this game lmao

[@ItsJabo]

Love the video once again, visited the Barbican myself and it’s quite a unique sight. Also 13:00 fable 2 music 😭😭so nostalgic

[@cloud__zero]

One of the first things I did was jump out of a window at the very start of the game thinking, "oh there's no way all of this is explorable, there's got to be a kill plane down there". And then the game just carried on. 10/10

[@Alex_Barbosa]

I literally just did the exact same thing lol

[@zombie_catgirl]

its games like Babbdi and NaissanceE that make me adore random architecture, i love the mystery surrounding these environments! always pushing forward, looking through any small details to make sense of the absurd reality you're in.

[@luken7959]

What a great video, I loved how you delved into brutalissimo and I found it very interesting how it can be considered almost as liminal space in architecture

[@mutt_bebop]

I've been obsessed by your videos since I watched your Death Stranding essay, I strongly feel that you are one of the greatest game content creators on youtube, great work!

[@Sp1cyP3pp3r]

Babbdi felt so personal to me. The will to flee from your town/country somewhere else but here

[@DualDexx]

You're probably my favorite video essayist on youtube right now. Found you through your video on the thief games, and saw you did a bunch of silent hill videos, and it just snowballed. Love your style and your voice is perfect for this kinda content. Keep up the awesome work ^-^

[@vosgner]

For those who liked this game's aesthetics and also like reading manga, may try checking "BLAME!". This liminal space, brutalism and emptiness that build Babbdi is abundant in the manga aesthetics. Specially with the buildings and stairs that connect them and the residents that all seem so creepy and shady. The only exception between the aesthetics of these two works is that BLAME! is set on somewhat of a futuristic world and BABBDI seems to be set on a recent era. Great video btw, i loved watching it! Please, continue with the good work. (I'm new to the channel :])

[@frog6054]

Blame is great!

[@wildercerrate7295]

The team that made this just released a 1v1 quake x duck game type of arena shooter called straftat and it is amazing!

[@TM12GB]

The weird wave of nostalgia I got from hearing The Woods and the Goddess at 15:00 was great. Another great vid euro and such a great game to get lost in!

[@danielcantiego9374]

Eeee thanks for the song😊

[@ky0bu]

Great work as usual! I absolutely adore the architecture and atmosphere in this game, it’s phenomenal. Also, I can’t explain why but the image at 11:06 made me oddly emotional.

[@danielcantiego9374]

Your brain probably recognized that image as a special and nostalgic place from your past

[@minochanel]

I just found this channel, love your videos.

[@Readydaer]

I just played it and looked up videos only to see you describe it perfectly! Honestly a top 20 or maybe even 10 game, nothing compares to the sense of hugeness the city of babbdi gives

[@nodisponible8]

it looked so interesting at first glance that I paused the video, played the game and then came back i loved the game whole vibe, its really lonely but chill and its super surreal, even though 5 minutes in i discovered that it have movement tech to zoom around with slide-jumps and that made the game non-oppressive at all, it felt super free and fast from the begging and I had to force myself to stop to actually take in the vibe, but after that i liked it a lot, it made me think of girls last tour and that's always cool

[@johnblue5399]

BABBDI is, above all else, an absolute trip. Weirdly comforting yet consistently ominous. A minimalist masterclass in how to make an interesting and believable world.

[@Vrethagon]

LBP music was a great oddly eerie choice for this video. Great stuff. Enjoyed it highly. Keep it up!

[@mike_wake]

Stumbled across this game right after it was released, and I’m still thinking about it from time to time. Playing it, I felt the same as you described in the video. Such an effective combination of unsettling and unserious! And it manages so well to be weird without being incoherent - that’s a rare and welcome quality.

[@FurasCebulowy]

Finally, someone is talking about it again. I'm a huge fan of Babbdi. It needs a continuation / sequel. Edit: How did you get a free camera to fly around smoothly and get a view? Like for example: 00:25

[@eurothug4000]

I used a unity editor to remove the crosshair and slow the game speed down, turned off head bobbing in settings and just moved (or crouched) left to right 😁

[@plado1]

They are working on a fps game, im not sure about a Babbdi Sequel/similar aesthetic game though

[@eurothug4000]

The developers told me they are working on a sequel as well as the FPS.

[@FurasCebulowy]

@@plado1 They are working on both, the first person shooter game can already be wishlisted on Steam, it's called "Straftat" which means criminal activity in German.

[@arrei_s]

@@eurothug4000 THEY ARE WORKING ON A SEQUEL!? HELL YEAH

[@VandenBoss]

I love how there is no lore practically for each character. Its so rich in atmosphere and aesthetic. The characters seem to blend with the limital spaces

[@anttam117]

I started playing this game just an hour ago, and I too got that strange sense of comfort. For some reason, going through these spaces and meeting the strange characters reminded me of the derelict buildings and run down towns visited throughout Russia and former Soviet territories by Benjamin from the “Bald and Bankrupt” KZbin channel. All those place consumed by poverty, corruption and dire circumstances, yet people are happy and having as good a time as they can.

[@greatrulo]

New Eurothug video, it's like an early Christmas.

[@chrisg.3902]

Thank you for putting me on! I liked playing this game a lot more than I thought I would. Something about the atmosphere that makes me feel a lot of things at once and I love it.

[@McMissile3612]

Very good video and nice choice of music in the background really fitting.

[@shiroanimationxoxo]

LETS GOOOOO!!! We are blessed! New video on a great game ❤

[@kittyb992]

This was excellent. Had this game on my Steam wishlist for awhile now. I was immediately entranced by the atmosphere the game gave off. Kudos for covering it in such a thorough manner. I also really enjoyed your choice of music. The Yume Nikki and Fable songs were good choices.

[@Fxmbro]

The moment I saw stuff like hylics in your intro, I knew you were very cultured in these psychedelic games. I am now subscribed.

[@Aless4..]

"The biggest praise I can give Babbdi is that it got me to leave the house". that reminded me this line: "My name is Joseph Anderson and I've played Fallout 76 for almost 100 hours"

[@ThisSourKraut]

A really good dissection of a game I never heard of. Splendidly well thought out and lovingly narrated. ❤ Will definitely look at your older stuff.

[@GabrieleLima-fg1op]

Just discovered your channel trough you Death Stranding video. Amazing content! This game is amazing and so your analysis of it! I'm a architect doing masters on history and theory of architecture and urban planning and I would like to say that your Brutalism explanations was on point, really well made! I only would like to add that from a theory standpoint, our nostalgia for that brutal European architecture comes from a social perspective. Those buildings, even the low quality ones, had a social meaning. That's why it fill us with an eerie comfort. But today because of how our economic logic erase the social there's little space aiming the social, most spaces are aiming for profit. And so we try to search for that social that lacks in our environment and our soul. I believe, with no certainty tho, that's the same for liminal spaces, is the ghost of the socialization and the social, be it "capitalist social" or "non-capitalist social". In countries were there is brutalist architecture but it wasn't made from a social standpoint, there's no such nostalgia for it. But great video, amazing channel!

[@Imcoldallthetime]

I love the creative descriptions in your scripts you're a very good writer

[@MurphySchrecengost]

To me, this game reads almost like a piece of surrealist art, in both style and also the vague thematic undertones, and I absolutely love it

[@lemontree9518]

I got to say you are of my favorite youtubers. Almost all of the videos you make are catered to my interests and your the first female youtuber Ive seen that covers this sort of content. Male youtubers are good too but they have a different eye when it comes to portrayals of women in horror as a whole. I never even consider an analysis of women in horror before seeing your videos. Thank you.

[@MontyZander]

Commenting for engagement. Loved every second of this. Guess I’ll need to check out!

[@revanne2028]

It is pretty awesome how having listened to your interpretation and then the developers' intentions, the game isn't one that funnels everyone into the same feelings or observations of its world, it is simple enough to give different people different interpretations of its world with so little, yet very complex and impressive for the same reason

[@revanne2028]

I hope this doesn't come off as pretentious, but media that can give that sort of effect, having all different people feel different ways about its world, especially despite such simplicity in its constructiom is truly some great art

[@alyseb630channel3]

This was fun watching. I’m glad you found a game you enjoyed. Thanks for making this.

[@L7CK7]

I completely forgot the name of Sludge Life after watching it on a stream a long while back. Thank you so much for giving it a shoutout here - it filled a huge knowledge gap for me.

[@fl4avv721]

Im so used to hearing men talking on youtube and in these type of videos that im going to sit through this video just for the femenine voice, what a breath of fresh air

[@ВладГамович]

Wow another great underground game reviewer i accidently found Great work!

[@SEiiBUTSU]

So nostalgic seeing the tricorn footage. Absolutely did not expect that today.

[@SariniyaKiyu]

This video gave me peace to my soul in very harsh times. I feel comfort in the uneasiness I have found myself in. Thank you.

[@bellatorpopo430]

Garage: Bad Dream Adventure is another very weird game

[@farquhaad3209]

Great cinematic shots! Loved the review

[@julesdudes853]

this game's vibe is exactly how some nightmares feel

[@irishguy167]

Some legend for having the song list in the description. Couldn't place that deadly premonition song at the end

[@King_KAZ]

love the video, it was cozy and such a vibe! keep it up

[@TheClairesable]

I found you through Eyepatchwolf's charity stream and I'm absolutely checking this out

[@JimmyJoeBob420]

Fun fact: there is actually 2 ways to leave babbdi :D

[@RaincoatVideos]

Was very enjoyable! You used a lot of great footage.

[@ChromaticLion]

this feels like an antithesis of the game "Paradise Killer", i love it

[@RainbowRenegade]

This looks like something I might have seen in a long forgotten dream years ago. This game is a whole vibe and I love it.

[@IconicBoar097]

awesome video as always friendo this game is real strange and interesting ya never fail to glue me to my seat with your takes on a game and their subject matter weather it be built in or speculated

[@MaxYari]

Heard Temple of Light from Fable, subscribed. One of my favourite OST pieces of all time. Perfectly fits the early and sad nostalgic mood.

[@GVLSCH]

THERES FISH literally cruelty squad

[@YumeYuugure]

macron eating salad is such a vibe ngl

[@EmoLad95]

Will definitely have to check this out! I've always been both drawn to and repulsed by dense urban environments and this game feels like the perfect place to explore those feelings.

[@FeatheredCreature]

These kinds of empty old places have been something ive been around for a long time. As my parents would often go to abandoned houses. It gives such a strange feeling wether the house is completely empty, or is full of random old dirty stuff. I tend to think about how at one point it was someones most visited space. But now its either a distant memory, or forgotten all together.

[@SunshineAndBumblebees]

i swear ive been playing this game for like an hour with no hope of train tickets, its such an odd game but weirdly fun to explore... this video helped me understand that its meant to be hopeless lol

[@PunchFaceChamp9]

Thank you for plaming this glame. I ❤ Babbdi

[@halkiierid4084]

I've had the exact jumpscare with the doll in the window in real life. One of my neighbors used to have a cardboard standee of Edward Cullen, and for reasons known only to them, they would leave it in the front window of their house. Every time I went by, I got startled, thinking some weirdo was standing completely motionless and staring at me.

[@onetitwndr]

I had a joke prepared for when this vid dropped but uhhh I completely forgot it. Anyways here's for the algorithm

[@NutyRiver]

This game strangely reminds me of world hopping alone in VRChat. Large sprawling worlds that are made to be explored but are mostly static, and simple building and room models with occasional hidden secrets. It especially reminds me of worlds like Japan Street, a map where anyone can submit a model so long as it fits the extremely tight regulations on polygon count, texture size, color palette etc, which leads to huge differences in pixel density on the models. It’s such a weird but interesting thing to do, since it’s extremely lonely but also not since you get to see something someone spent so much time on.

[@shaunspark8036]

Really great video! The British Brutalism section was appreciated, as someone who has edited from giant pools of archive material. Nice inclusion.

[@troggs4832]

I found this game scrolling through steam and I instantly fell in love with the simplistic but dark theme. The architecture just speaks a language you didn’t know existed. 10/10 would recommend

[@mrmythman5001]

I played this game a week ago and loved it (I’d pay good money for a sequel)

[@hulkingbean4972]

The existence and continued work coming from you on this channel is a rare British W

[@hozic9929]

I love tripp and liminal games... This seems like a wonderful game to play

[@zacharywong483]

Fantastic video, as always!

[@semirionu]

babbdi so good it made me speedrun a game for the first time in my life was in top 3 for a while too

[@serbang277]

I haven't played this game, but it reminds me of my childhood growing up in the 90s in Eastern Europe. It almost feels nostalgic

[@imthecoolestguyalive]

Babbdi is just an Eastern European town to me. Liminal Spaces never felt distant to me, I could just walk out of the flat, or pay a visit to one of Grandma's friends, and I'd see those spaces.

[@nekochan1692]

Would you consider making a video on Gravity Rush 😢 I wish more people knew about these...(or learned to appreciate it )

[@endplanets]

Kinda reminds me of The Brunswick Centre in London. A perfectly contained small location with apartments built on a bridge.

[@verstrahlt1907]

amazing game. A pity I cannot play it, on my old computer, on Linux

[@wrenbeck3370]

Honesstly I think it's very interesting that the Barbican comes up in this video, since it kinda _looks_ like a videogame level (personally I think someone should try recreating _at least_ part of it in Quake or Source).

[@Dachusttin]

That developers' insight segment was so cool tho

[@raidexe]

Idk if it was just me, but I remember accidentally stumbling across the window with the doll in it, and getting absolutely freaked tf out lmao.

[@captainbozo01]

8:35 not really sure if you could say that Brutalism originated from the UK considering it was mainly the buildings of Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe that inspired it. But it's so great to see an indepth video on such a wonderfully surreal and at the same time totally grounded game :D

[@eurothug4000]

thanks! it’s been a while but iirc during my research it was mostly agreed that while multiple architects around the world inspired aspects of the movement, their work didn’t wholly represent brutalism as we’ve come to know it. so when I say it “started” in the UK, it just means when it became a fully fledged architectural movement, though all of this info I got from reading a lot of articles online during my research phase!

[@captainbozo01]

@ True it probably was too much of an international phenomenon to narrow it down to one country or person that started it! 😊

[@MrThistleMilk]

Almost the entire city where I'm from was built with brutalism in mind albeit not as "plain" as what was shown in the video. Fast forward to the 2010s instead of demolishing the buildings, the government decided to paint them all with bright colors. It's an absolutely horrendous sight, i wish they kept the concrete look.

[@clementcastro9725]

I've been putting off Steam for a long time (I hate launchers) but within the first minute of this video I decided to bite the bullet and install it. I have to play this game for myself.

[@wasauchimmer4010]

I played BABBDI a few months ago. It was a great experience. The game had way less players back then than now. I knew while playing, that when this game becomes more popular, there will be videos like these about Babbdi.

[@maskedmanpkclysm5327]

I LOVE these types of games, there's so many but also so little, so obscure

[@cristopherj1324]

This reminds me of Beware, that game still hunts me but in the best way possible, such a great mix of liminal and megalophobia feel that im obsessed with.

[@morganrosenfeld5917]

There's something I find fascinating about how the city of Babbdi seems devoid of life, while the player character is incapable of dying and the citizens of Babbdi are almost all sickly and motionless. It's like a picture of Dorian Grey situation where the mortality of the people is exchanged for having to constantly live in the shadow of death and decay.

[@Megamon0001]

I always know that when the words brutalist and liminal are together, interesting shit happens

[@GloriousGrunt]

Great video, I began feeling very uneasing and awaiting some jump scare but once I knew there was none I started having fun and exploring. Honestly a fantastic game

[@pxgvsvs]

Seems cool. I finished NaissanceE a few days ago, it's a brutalist exploration game from 2014 that mixes a few puzzle and parkour mechanics too, and its free on steam.

[@QuintusCunctator]

It may not have been the full intent of the authors, but some of the vistas in this game reminded me both of ICO and the Kowloon Walled City. It's intriguing to say the least!

[@mo3bo]

Paratopic is a beautiful game, I recommend it to everyone

[@Ads-C]

I actually think this game looks modern because of the sheer degree to which it isn't. No one could have predicted this way of viewing the past.

[@SylvesterAshcroft88]

BABBDI is so good, and i spent so long just trying to get to the person at the window before the shutters, along with finding all the secrets, the game is absolutely insane, and i love it! xD Also what the heck is with the orb, except for being a really strange easter egg, as i remember is being really hard to get to, then being really disappointed when i found it, as i had no idea what it was for exactly.