The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Meaningful Choices I've Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've faced some hard choices in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments made me put my controller down for around ten minutes while I weighed my options. I am responsible for so many Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations compare to what could be the most difficult decision I've ever made in gaming — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to walk around a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his unsteady feet. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a struggle, as a long time spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all arises from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he meets a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a map, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he doesn’t need the help and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to take support.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s key situation of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his adventure, he discovers that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and risky path called The Challenge. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game provides; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and arrive at the peak in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the fact that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a moment where he can show that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely filled with more awkward mishaps. Does it merit suffering just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about causing suspicion whenever you find a gift horse. The world is filled with design traps that transform an easy path into a difficulty suddenly. Are the stairs an additional deception? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished once again by being forced to call an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options results in a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as capable as everyone else, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the steps too. To select that route is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip all the way down if he stumbles. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s worn out, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this strange individual?

My Experience

In my playthrough, I opted for the stairs. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call