Baby Steps Features One of the Most Significant Choices I've Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've encountered some challenging choices in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section made me pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am the cause of so many Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations compare to what could be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in gaming — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out, is not really a choice-driven game. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You only need to navigate a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his shaky limbs. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a struggle, as a long time spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all arises from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. As he progresses, he comes in contact with a group of unusual individuals in the world who all offer to assist him. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you encounter plenty of frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s one true moment of choice. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he realizes that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can choose a very lengthy and hazardous route named The Obstacle. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game includes; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps instead and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Sir” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself culminating in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the truth that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can show that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth striving just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can opt to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion whenever you encounter an easy option. The game world contains planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a obstacle instantly. Is the staircase one more trick? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be disappointed by a final joke? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being forced to call an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one results in a genuine moment of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Challenge, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as anyone else, consciously choosing a challenging way rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the steps too. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They go on for a long time, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall completely down if he trips. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, naturally, opted for The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so nasty. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

Personal Reflection

When I played, I chose the staircase. Part of me just {wanted to call