The Game Baby Steps Features One of the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've dealt with some hard choices in gaming. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments made me put my controller down for around ten minutes while I thought through my options. I am accountable for countless Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances compare to what possibly is the most difficult decision I've faced in interactive media — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You only need to navigate a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when it's most unexpected. There’s not a single instance that showcases that quality like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps starts when 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 challenge, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all stems from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to others. As he progresses, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a navigation aid, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he falls into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s key situation of selection. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can take an extremely long and dangerous hiking trail called The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game includes; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps instead and arrive at the peak in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Sir” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an painful decision in the game's narrative. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the reality that he’s self-conscious of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a time where he can show that he’s as capable as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit striving just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in about they decline guidance, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It might seem like an simple decision, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion each time you encounter an easy option. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a difficulty instantly. Is the staircase one more trick? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be let down by a final joke? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being made to address an odd character as Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path leads to a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as able as others, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and possibly risky, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the staircase as well. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no real catch waiting 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 completely down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Halfway up, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so bad. Who has energy for shame by this freak?

My Experience

When I played, I opted for the stairs. Part of me just {wanted to call