The Game Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Meaningful Decisions I've Ever Faced in a Game

I've faced some challenging decisions in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence made me set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am accountable for countless Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what could be the most difficult decision I've ever made in a video game — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a choice-driven game. At least not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to explore a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can struggle to remain on his shaky limbs. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a challenge, as years spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all comes from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to assist him. A self-assured trekker seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate nears the end his journey, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route named The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and reach the summit in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is centered around the reality that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Taking on The Obstacle could be a time where he can prove that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be filled with more awkward mishaps. Does it merit striving just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the other hand, give Nate another big moment to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can choose to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt each time you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with design traps that turn a safe route into a difficulty on a dime. Could the steps one more trick? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he ready to be diminished another time by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one results in a real situation of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as everyone else, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the steps as well. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no secret drawback in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he won't slip all the way down if he stumbles. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, naturally, selected The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, quietly regretting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

Personal Reflection

In my playthrough, I chose the staircase. Part of me just {wanted to call