Inspirations and references

The Baldi's Basics series contains a lot of inspirations and references to elements (e.g., educational computer games and computer technologies of the 1990s) gathered by mystman12.

Video games

3D Dinosaur Adventure: Save the Dinosaurs

• The characters having an inconsistent art style is inspired from 3D Dinosaur Adventure: Save the Dinosaur's art style.

Bailey's Book House

• Baldi's face glitching out in the Baldi's Basics Full Game Early Demo ending is most likely a reference to the game Bailey's Book House, where a bug can happen that causes Bailey's face to disappear.^{[citation needed]}

Donkey Kong Country

• Arts and Crafters' screeching noise was created using a ROM corruption from Donkey Kong Country 2.
• The code 11211994, which activates/deactivates the Chaos Mode, is a reference to the release date of Donkey Kong Country in the United States - November 21, 1994 (11/21/1994).

• 

  A Donkey Kong Country corruption with the 99 image in the bottom-right corner.

  The image used for the 99 death screen came from a Donkey Kong Country corruption.

Hungry Pumpkin

• It's a Bully's "Give me your gift..." quote on Baldi's Basics Birthday Bash and Party Style of Baldi's Basics Classic Remastered is likely inspired by Hungry Pumpkin's line "Give me the (food name)". Hungry Pumpkin was one of the mystman12's favorite memes and the voice in the game is very similar to the one from the original.
• In mystman12's livestream, It's a Bully's line, "No, I don't want that." originally comes from Hungry Pumpkin.

Link: The Faces of Evil

• 

  One of Johnny's unused quotes says "Come back when you're a little... MMM- Richer!". This is a direct reference of the Morshu's quote in Link: The Faces of Evil. The similar quote is also used on one of the You Can Think Pad quotes in Glitch Style, but it consists of random letters.

Mission To McDonaldland

• The video game Mission To McDonaldland gave mystman12 inspiration for future Baldi's Basics updates due to how low-budgeted its graphics looked.

Myst

• The developer's username, mystman12, was derived from the game Myst.
• The code 09241993, which activates/deactivates the Debug Mode, is a reference to the release date of Myst on macOS in the United States - September 24, 1993 (09/24/1993).
• The screen transitions in Baldi's Basics Plus and Classic Remastered are based on Myst's screen transitions.

Sonic's Schoolhouse

The comparison of an appreciation GIF image.

• The gameplay of Baldi's Basics, being a 3D game where the player cannot look up or down but can pan left and right and move forwards and backwards, is nearly identical to how movement and rotation work in Sonic's Schoolhouse. Likewise, the level design of Baldi's Basics does not have the player change elevation, just like in Sonic's Schoolhouse.
• The basic "white brick wall" and "wall with molding" textures are reminiscent of the white brick wall textures seen in the school in Sonic's Schoolhouse.
• The appreciation GIF image of Baldi giving a thumbs up when Baldi's Basics Classic was downloaded over hundred-thousand times is a direct reference to Sonic's Schoolhouse's image screen when beating the level with all 10/10 correct answers.
• The doors' textures have the same exact size as the ones for Sonic's Schoolhouse.
• Baldi's Math Machine's main texture is inspired by the chalkboard with a math problem in Sonic's Schoolhouse.
• The number balloons bear some similarities to Sonic's Schoolhouse's hopping number objects.
• The "Elephant hit" quote file heard in the TestRoom location on occasions is a reference to an unused audio clip of Sonic's Schoolhouse.
• Some of the sprites/textures implemented in Baldi's Basics Plus are very similar or replicas of Sonic's Schoolhouse's sprites/textures, such as the checkerboard "basic" floor or ceiling lamps.
• The title screen in the Baldi's Basics series looks very similar to the Sonic's Schoolhouse boxart.
• The code 10181996, which activates/deactivates the Authentic Mode, is a reference to the release date of Sonic's Schoolhouse - October 18th, 1996 (10/18/1996).

Super Mario

• Baldi's voice may have been inspired by the character Waluigi from the Super Mario franchise.
• 0th Prize's clothes may have been inspired by Mario's outfit, as both of them look similar. It could also be referencing an animation error in the Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episode "Sneaky Lying Giant Koopas".

ToeJam & Earl

• The procedurally generated levels of Baldi's Basics Plus are inspired by ToeJam & Earl's procedurally generated levels.
• The presents in Baldi's Basics Birthday Bash and Party Style of Baldi's Basics Classic Remastered function like the ones in ToeJam & Earl, both of which give a random item.

Computers and technology

Microsoft

• The BSODA item, as well as its name and slogan, reference the Blue Screen of Death, an error screen displayed following a fatal system error in most versions of Microsoft Windows.
• The Gravity Chaos event and the Map in Baldi's Basics Plus are likely inspired by Windows 95's 3D Maze screensaver.
• The fake error screen in Baldi's Basics Classic Remastered has a computer with a Blue Screen of Death.

Products, food, and drinks

Kirkland Signature protein bar

• The Energy Flavored Zesty Bar's sprite is a dithered version of a Kirkland Signature protein bar.

Libman Precision Angle Broom

• Gotta Sweep's design is based on Libman Precision Angle Broom. The previous design was almost same as the original, but the bristles' color was changed in the current one to avoid legal issues.

WD-40

• WD-NoSquee's name and design are inspired by WD-40. It is even internally called Wd40. (WD-3D in Classic and Birthday Bash)

Social media

PilotRedSun

• It's a Bully's "I'm gonna take your candy..." line is a direct reference to PilotRedSun's "preschool bully" video.
• Although unconfirmed, Playtime's appearance, even the eyes and hair, has a very similar style to PilotRedSun's.
• Gotta Sweep's design was originally supposed to be 0th Prize's, which mystman12 tried to draw with a similar style to PilotRedSun's.

Cartoons/Animation

Family Guy

• After entering a room with a shrink machine in Baldi's Basement before completing NULL Style, there is a white outlined Baldi in the book room. His pose resembles Peter Griffin's recurring "hurt/death pose" meme in the animated sitcom Family Guy.

Homestar Runner

• One of the chalkboards in Baldi's Basics Classic/Birthday Bash says "Look! A HomestarRunner Reference!".
• The name of "Runner Star Home", a music track used for the Kickstarter promotion video, is also a reference to the series.
• The voice of Gotta Sweep, in addition to Joe's voice, is inspired by the "Powered By The Cheat" version of Bubs, a character in the webseries.

The Amazing World of Gumball

• Principal of the Thing's whistle is inspired by Banana Joe's whistle in one scene from the episode "The Banana".
• Both The Amazing World of Gumball and Baldi's Basics share an approach of making characters from different styles, such as drawn or 3D characters.
• Arts and Crafters' design was based on Sussie from this cartoon.

Two More Eggs

• Two More Eggs' CGI Palz series was a big inspiration for the Baldi's Basics series.

Warner Bros.

• The Portal Poster's slapping sound, number balloon's popping sound, all sound effects from field trips, and the Shrink machine's noise originated from sound libraries used in cartoons produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. These sounds have also been used in many other cartoons as well.

Music

Nursery rhymes

• A-Tisket, A-Tasket seems to be a combination of some nursery rhymes, "Ring a Ring o' Roses", "A-Tisket, A-Tasket", and "It's Raining, It's Pouring". The name "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" is directly coming from one of the nursery rhymes used on this track.
  • Additionally, Party Time is vaguely based on the "Happy Birthday to You" song.
• A part of the 99 soundtrack appears to be a parody of "Mary Had a Little Lamb".