Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning, released in 2018, turned a low-budget horror parody of 1990s educational games into a viral hit, and Baldi's ruler slap became one of its most recognisable audio cues. In the game the sound marks Baldi's growing anger and pursuit as the player answers questions incorrectly, so it quickly became shorthand online for being caught or punished. Clips, edits and soundboards kept it circulating long after the original craze, because the single sharp noise instantly recalls the game's tense classroom chase.