Baby Steps Features One of the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've faced some difficult decisions in gaming. Several of my selections in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section made me set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am responsible for so many Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances compare to what now might be the most difficult decision I've faced in gaming — and it involves a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to walk around a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It appears to be a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like one major choice that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

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 fictional universe. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a struggle, as a long time spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all stems from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to others. During his adventure, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to help him out. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a map, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an unavoidable hole 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 annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s not confident enough to take support.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate nears the end his journey, he finds that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can choose a very lengthy and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps has to offer; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps instead and arrive at the peak in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest 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 one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is revolves around the truth that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of all he lacks. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a time where he can show that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that route is sure to be laden with more humiliating failures. Is it worth striving just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in if they reject navigation help, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid whenever you see a simple solution. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a obstacle suddenly. Are the stairs one more trick? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be let down by an ending prank? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one results in a authentic instance of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as others, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs either. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick waiting for him. The staircase is not a trick. They go on for a long time, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall completely down if he falls. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a chat with the outdoorsman who has, of course, chosen to take The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s fatigued, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Experience

When I played, I selected the steps. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call