The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Meaningful Decisions I've Ever Faced in Gaming

I've faced some difficult decisions in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section led me to set down my controller for around ten minutes while I considered my choices. I am accountable for so many Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations compare to what possibly is the toughest selection I've ever made in interactive media — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to walk around a vast game world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that navigating this world is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all stems from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to assist him. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps’s key situation of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he finds that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and risky path named The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game provides; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a enormous coiled steps instead and get to the top in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in one absurd moment. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the fact that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Attempting The Challenge could be a time where he can show that he’s as capable as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely paved with more humiliating failures. Is it justified striving just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the flip side, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can opt to allow Nate some relief and opt for the steps. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt anytime you see a simple solution. The game world contains planned obstacles that change a secure way into a obstacle on a dime. Are the stairs yet another trap? Might Nate arrive at the peak just to be fooled by an ending prank? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being forced to call a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Either one leads to a genuine moment of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as others, willingly taking on a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs as well. To select that route is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no secret drawback waiting for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They go on for a long time, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip all the way down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

My Experience

When I played, I selected the steps. Part of me just {wanted to call