Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Impactful Choices I Have Ever Experienced in a Game

I've dealt with some difficult decisions in gaming. Several of my selections in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments made me pause the game for several minutes while I thought through my choices. I am responsible for numerous Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. None of those moments compare to what could be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in gaming — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out game, is hardly a selection-based adventure. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You must explore a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s not a single instance that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a difficulty, as years spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all stems from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has problems articulating that to others. During his adventure, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to assist him. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be confined in the cavity. During the narrative, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his adventure, he realizes 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 up for a challenge, he can choose a very lengthy and hazardous route called The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game provides; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps instead and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself culminating in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the fact that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Challenge could be a time where he can demonstrate that he’s as capable as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be filled with more awkward mishaps. Does it merit struggling just to prove a point?

The stairs, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt whenever you find a gift horse. The game world contains planned obstacles that change a secure way into a setback instantly. Could the steps yet another trap? Might Nate arrive all the way to the top just to be let down by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one leads to a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as everyone else, consciously choosing a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the steps either. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no secret drawback in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he falls. It’s a easy journey after hours of struggle. Halfway up, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, of course, selected The Manbreaker. He strives to appear composed, but you can discern that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Choice

During my game, I chose the staircase. Part of me just {wanted to call