Baby Steps Features Among the Most Meaningful Choices I've Ever Faced in Video Games

I've dealt with some hard choices in gaming. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments led me to pause the game for several minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am responsible for countless Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what now might be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in gaming — and it concerns a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out game, is not really a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You only need to navigate a vast game world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s not a single instance that demonstrates that power like one major choice that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is needed at this point. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a struggle, as years spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all comes from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has difficulty expressing that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he attempts to act casual like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s key situation of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he finds that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. 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 take an extremely long and risky path named The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game provides; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs as an alternative and get to the top in a few minutes. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Sir” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an painful decision in this situation. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is centered around the fact that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Attempting The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth striving just to demonstrate something?

The steps, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in if they decline guidance, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about causing suspicion whenever you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a setback on a dime. Are the stairs yet another trap? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be fooled by a final joke? And more troubling, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options leads to a genuine moment of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as others, willingly taking on a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s hard, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the steps too. To opt for that way is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no real catch waiting for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he won't slip completely down if he trips. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, of course, selected The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I chose the staircase. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call