The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've dealt with some difficult choices in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence led me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am responsible for countless Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. None of those moments measure up to what could be the most difficult decision I've faced in gaming — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. At least not in typical gaming terms. You only need to explore a expansive environment as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can struggle to remain on his shaky limbs. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Alert: Spoilers

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a difficulty, as years spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all comes from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. During his adventure, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to give him a hand. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he requires no assistance and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and hazardous route dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps provides; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps in its place and reach the summit in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Sir” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice 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 revolves around the fact that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Each instance he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Undertaking The Challenge could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely filled with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified suffering just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the flip side, 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 choose to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It might seem like an simple decision, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid anytime you encounter an easy option. The game world contains design traps that change a secure way into a difficulty instantly. Are the stairs one more trick? Might Nate arrive at the peak just to be let down by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path results in a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as anyone else, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase as well. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no secret drawback awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They go on for a long time, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall all the way down if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, of course, chosen to take The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Choice

During my game, I selected the steps. Part of me just {wanted to call