Baby Steps Features One of the Most Meaningful Decisions I've Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've encountered some challenging decisions in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments made me put my controller down for around ten minutes while I thought through my choices. I am the cause of 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 hardest choice I’ve had to make in a video game — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You only need to explore a vast game world as Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a key selection that remains on my mind.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that walking through it is a difficulty, as years spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all comes from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off 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 complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s key situation of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps provides; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase instead and arrive at the peak in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in this situation. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the truth that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Taking on The Obstacle could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be laden with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified striving just to demonstrate something?

The steps, 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 reject navigation help, but they can decide to give Nate a break and opt for the steps. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt whenever you find a gift horse. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a difficulty instantly. Are the stairs an additional deception? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be let down by a final joke? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Either one leads to a authentic instance of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as able as others, consciously choosing a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no embarrassment in the steps either. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, naturally, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

Personal Reflection

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