The Game Baby Steps Features One of the Most Impactful Choices I Have Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've encountered some hard decisions in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section prompted me to pause the game for around ten minutes while I weighed my choices. I am accountable for so many Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. None of those moments compare to what now might be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in gaming — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out, is hardly a decision-focused experience. At least not in any traditional sense. You simply have to navigate a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot 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 necessary here. Baby Steps game begins as the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a struggle, as years spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all arises from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to others. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too self-conscious to take support.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he finds that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Obstacle. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and reach the summit in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an painful decision in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is centered around the reality that he’s self-conscious of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Taking on The Obstacle could be a moment where he can prove that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified struggling just to prove a point?

The steps, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in about they decline guidance, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion each time you see a simple solution. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a difficulty on a dime. Could the steps one more trick? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be let down by some last-second gag? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished another time by being made to address an odd character as Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path brings about a real situation of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as capable as anyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he craves.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs as well. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick waiting for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he falls. It’s a simple climb after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, of course, selected The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this strange individual?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I chose the staircase. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call