Baby Steps Features Among the Most Meaningful Choices I Have Ever Encountered in a Game

I've encountered some hard decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section made me put my controller down for several minutes while I weighed my choices. I am the cause of numerous Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances compare to what possibly is the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out game, is not really a choice-driven game. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You simply have to walk around a expansive environment as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his shaky limbs. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no moment that demonstrates that power like a key selection that remains on my mind.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps begins as the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that walking through it is a challenge, as a long time spent as a inactive individual have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all comes from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to others. As he progresses, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to help him out. A self-assured trekker seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be confined in the cavity. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps’s one true moment of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his quest, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path named The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps has to offer; choosing it looks risky to anyone.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and get to the top in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself culminating in one absurd moment. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the fact that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Attempting The Challenge could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that route is sure to be paved with more humiliating failures. Is it justified striving just to prove a point?

The stairs, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The user doesn't get to decide in if they decline guidance, but they can opt to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about causing suspicion anytime you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a difficulty suddenly. Could the steps an additional deception? Might Nate arrive all the way to the top just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path brings about a authentic instance of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as others, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s difficult, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the steps either. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he falls. It’s a simple climb after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Experience

When I played, I opted for the stairs. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call