Baby Steps Presents Among 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 series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments prompted me to set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my choices. I am accountable for numerous Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. None of those moments measure up to what could be the hardest choice I've ever made in a video game — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out game, is not really a choice-driven game. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You simply have to explore a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s not a single instance that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that remains on my mind.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a struggle, as a long time spent as a inactive individual have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all comes from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. During his adventure, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to assist him. 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 drops into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he discovers that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and risky path called The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game has to offer; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs in its place and arrive at the peak in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is focused on the truth that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of all he lacks. Undertaking The Challenge could be a time where he can show that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified struggling just to prove a point?

The steps, on the flip side, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It might seem like an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt anytime you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a setback suddenly. Is the staircase one more trick? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be disappointed by a final joke? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path results in a genuine moment of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a moment to show that he’s as able as others, voluntarily accepting a challenging way rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, 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 take support. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no real catch in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he trips. It’s a simple climb after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s worn out, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

My Experience

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