The Game Baby Steps Features One of the Most Significant Choices I Have Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've faced some difficult decisions in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence led me to put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am accountable for so many Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. Not one of those instances hold a candle to what could be the hardest choice I've faced in interactive media — and it involves a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You must walk around a expansive environment as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all stems from users guiding Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A composed outdoorsman tries to give Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s key situation of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and dangerous hiking trail called The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps provides; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can just walk up a enormous coiled steps in its place and reach the summit in a few minutes. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is revolves around the reality that he’s insecure of his body and his masculinity. Each instance he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a painful recollection of all he lacks. Attempting The Manbreaker could be a time where he can demonstrate that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely paved with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified suffering just to prove a point?

The steps, on the contrary, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in about they decline guidance, but they can opt to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion whenever you see a simple solution. The world is filled with planned obstacles that change a secure way into a difficulty instantly. Is the staircase yet another trap? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path brings about a genuine moment of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as able as anyone else, willingly taking on a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the steps either. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall all the way down if he trips. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a chat with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

Personal Reflection

When I played, I opted for the stairs. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call