Baba Is You vs NYT Games
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
Baba Is You is the better app overall, scoring 9.0 to 8.4. Baba Is You wins on 2 of the 5 scores, NYT Games on 2, with 1 tied.
Puzzle fans who love the moment a hard problem suddenly clicks
Word and logic fans who like a daily puzzle ritual
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Baba Is You | NYT Games |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Puzzle & Word Games | Puzzle & Word Games |
| Category rank | #1 of 12 | #3 of 12 |
| Developer | Hempuli | The New York Times Company |
| Pricing | Paid | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | No | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mac | ✓ | — |
| Windows | ✓ | — |
| Linux | ✓ | — |
| Web | — | ✓ |
Common questions
Is Baba Is You better than NYT Games?
Baba Is You is the better app overall, scoring 9.0 to 8.4. Baba Is You wins on 2 of the 5 scores, NYT Games on 2, with 1 tied.
Which is cheaper, Baba Is You or NYT Games?
Baba Is You: $6.99 on the App Store and Google Play, with no in-app purchases. NYT Games: Wordle, Connections and Strands are free; a Games subscription unlocks the rest. On value for money, Baba Is You scores higher.
Do Baba Is You and NYT Games work on the same devices?
Only Baba Is You runs on Windows, Mac, Linux. Only NYT Games runs on Web.
Which is more private, Baba Is You or NYT Games?
Baba Is You scores higher on privacy (9.8/10). App Store label: Data Not Collected. The developer says the app collects no data at all, so nothing is used to track you or linked to your identity.
Strengths and weaknesses
Baba Is You
- A fresh idea that keeps surprising you level after level
- One price, with no ads and no in-app purchases
- Collects no data at all, per its App Store label
- Hard puzzles can leave you stuck for a long time
- Simple pixel art won't wow you
Baba Is You is the puzzle game that rewires how you think. Each level's rules sit on the board as word blocks you can push around, so a few shoves can turn you into a rock, make grass dangerously hot or move the goal somewhere else entirely. The best solutions feel like cheats you found yourself. It's tough and the pixel art is plain, but few games make you feel this clever.
Full Baba Is You review
NYT Games
- Fresh puzzles every day across many styles
- The biggest names, Wordle and Connections, stay free
- Stats, streaks and friend leaderboards built in
- Heavy tracking listed on the App Store label
- The Crossword and archive need a subscription
- The App Store listing notes ads in the app
NYT Games is the best daily puzzle habit you can build on a phone. Wordle, Connections and Strands cost nothing, and a subscription adds the famous Crossword, the new Midi, the full Spelling Bee and an archive of more than 10,000 past puzzles. Bots that grade your Wordle and Connections play add a nice coaching layer. The catch is privacy: the App Store label lists a lot of tracking.
Full NYT Games review
