Baby Steps Features One of the Most Impactful Decisions I Have Ever Encountered in a Game

I've faced some challenging decisions in gaming. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments led me to put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my options. I am the cause of countless Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. None of those moments measure up to what now might be the most difficult decision I've ever made in interactive media — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You only need to walk around a vast game world as the main character Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all stems from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. As he progresses, he encounters a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to assist him. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a navigation aid, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and genuinely desires to be confined in the cavity. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s key situation of decision. As Nate gets close to finishing his adventure, he finds that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two ways up. 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 has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and reach the summit in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the reality that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Attempting The Obstacle could be a time where he can prove that he’s as capable as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be paved with more humiliating failures. Is it justified struggling just to make a statement?

The steps, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in if they decline guidance, but they can opt to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about causing suspicion each time you see a simple solution. The world is filled with planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a difficulty on a dime. Is the staircase one more trick? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be let down by an ending prank? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path leads to a real situation of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as anyone else, consciously choosing a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the staircase too. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no secret drawback in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this odd character?

My Experience

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