Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Faced in Gaming

I've dealt with some difficult decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section made me put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my choices. I am the cause of numerous Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. None of those moments hold a candle to what could be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it involves a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out game, is not really a decision-focused experience. At least not in the conventional way. You simply have to explore a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s not a single instance that showcases that quality like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a magical realm. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a struggle, as a long time spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all stems from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. As he progresses, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a map, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s funniest instant. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of decision. As Nate nears the end his quest, he realizes that he must ascend of a snowy mountain. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can take an extremely long and risky path named The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game includes; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a alternative choice: 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 address the guardian “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in one absurd moment. Part of Nate’s journey is centered around the fact that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Taking on The Challenge could be a time where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be laden with more humiliating failures. Does it merit striving just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the flip side, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can opt to give Nate a break and opt for the steps. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid each time you encounter an easy option. The environment includes design traps that change a secure way into a difficulty suddenly. Is the staircase an additional deception? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be fooled by an ending prank? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished another time by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options leads to a authentic instance of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a moment to show that he’s as competent as anyone else, consciously choosing a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the steps too. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide completely down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, of course, selected The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s fatigued, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

My Choice

During my game, I selected the steps. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call