Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Encountered in a Game

I've faced some hard choices in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments prompted me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am accountable for so many Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. None of those moments measure up to what possibly is the hardest choice I've ever made in interactive media — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. At least not in typical gaming terms. You only need to explore a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Alert: Spoilers

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that walking through it is a struggle, as a long time spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all stems from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s not confident enough to take support.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s key situation of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he finds that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and dangerous hiking trail called The Obstacle. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps provides; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and arrive at the peak in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is focused on the truth that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a painful recollection of all he lacks. Attempting The Challenge could be a moment where he can show that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit suffering just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in if they reject navigation help, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion each time you see a simple solution. The game world contains planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a difficulty instantly. Is the staircase an additional deception? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he ready to be diminished once again by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path results in a genuine moment of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as competent as others, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs either. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no real catch in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he falls. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

My Choice

When I played, I chose the staircase. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call