Baby Steps Features One of the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Faced in a Game

I've encountered some hard choices in gaming. Several of my selections in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments prompted me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I considered my choices. I am the cause of countless Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not one of those instances compare to what now might be the toughest selection I've faced in a video game — and it involves a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out, is hardly a decision-focused experience. At least not in the conventional way. You must explore a sprawling open world as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a challenge, as a long time spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all comes from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to others. During his adventure, he meets a group of unusual individuals in the world who all offer to help him out. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a map, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s one true moment of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he finds that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail called The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game includes; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs instead and arrive at the peak in a short time. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

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 reaching a climax in one absurd moment. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the fact that he’s self-conscious of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be laden with more awkward mishaps. Does it merit suffering just to prove a point?

The steps, 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 turn away a map, but they can decide to give Nate a break and opt for the steps. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about making you feel paranoid whenever you find a gift horse. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a setback instantly. Are the stairs one more trick? Might Nate arrive all the way to the top just to be let down by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished once again by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options brings about a real situation of protagonist evolution and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a moment to show that he’s as competent as anyone else, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and possibly risky, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he needs.

But there’s no embarrassment in the steps either. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, naturally, chosen to take The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Choice

During my game, I selected the steps. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call