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

I've dealt with some hard choices in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence led me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my choices. I am responsible for countless Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what could be the toughest selection I've faced in gaming — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out, is hardly a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You must walk around a sprawling open world as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It appears to be an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will catch you off guard when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a struggle, as years spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all comes from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to others. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a group of unusual individuals in the world who all offer to assist him. A self-assured trekker seeks to provide Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s key situation of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his adventure, he discovers that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can take an extremely long and risky path called The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps provides; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps in its place and reach the summit in a few minutes. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is centered around the fact that he’s self-conscious of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of all he lacks. Attempting The Obstacle could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth striving just to prove a point?

The steps, on the other hand, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in if they decline guidance, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and opt for the steps. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about making you feel paranoid each time you find a gift horse. The world is filled with design traps that turn a safe route into a setback instantly. Could the steps one more trick? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be disappointed by a final joke? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being made to address an odd character as Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Both options brings about a real situation of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as competent as anyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs as well. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no secret drawback waiting for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip completely down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, naturally, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s worn out, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the agreement barely appears so nasty. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I selected the steps. Part of me just {wanted to call