The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Impactful Choices I've Ever Encountered in a Game

I've dealt with some difficult choices in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments made me put my controller down for several minutes while I considered my choices. I am the cause of numerous Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. None of those moments hold a candle to what now might be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You simply have to explore a sprawling open world as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his shaky limbs. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s not a single instance that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a challenge, as years spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all arises from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to others. Throughout his hero’s journey, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he can manage alone and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s key situation of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his journey, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Obstacle. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game provides; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps instead and get to the top in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself culminating in a single ridiculous instant. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the truth that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a time where he can show that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth struggling just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can opt to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid whenever you see a simple solution. The environment includes design traps that turn a safe route into a setback instantly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one brings about a real situation of protagonist evolution and catharsis for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an personal triumph. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as competent as others, consciously choosing a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the staircase as well. To select that route is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no secret drawback awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall to the bottom if he trips. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has energy for shame by this freak?

My Choice

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