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

I've dealt with some challenging decisions in gaming. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence prompted me to put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my options. I am the cause of so many Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. None of those moments hold a candle to what could be the toughest selection I've faced in a video game — and it concerns a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. At least not in any traditional sense. You only need to navigate a expansive environment as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a challenge, as years spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all stems from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to help him out. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Defining Decision

This culminates in Baby Steps’s one true moment of selection. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he realizes 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 tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Challenge. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs instead and arrive at the peak in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” 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 all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is centered around the fact that he’s insecure of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a painful recollection of all he lacks. Taking on The Obstacle could be a time where he can prove that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely paved with more awkward mishaps. Is it worth struggling just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in about they turn away a map, but they can decide to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt anytime you see a simple solution. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a difficulty suddenly. Are the stairs one more trick? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be fooled by an ending prank? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Either one brings about a real situation of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as capable as anyone else, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the staircase too. To select that route is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he finds that there’s no secret drawback awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall to the bottom if he falls. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s worn out, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Choice

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