Baby Steps Features One of the Most Significant Choices I Have Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've encountered some hard decisions in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima ending section made me pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my options. I am responsible for numerous Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances compare to what now might be the hardest choice I've ever made in gaming — and it concerns a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out game, is not really a choice-driven game. At least not in any traditional sense. You simply have to navigate a vast game world as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his unsteady feet. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s not a single instance that demonstrates that power like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a magical realm. He quickly discovers that moving around in it is a difficulty, as a long time spent as a inactive individual have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all stems from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to others. As he progresses, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to assist him. A composed outdoorsman tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he doesn’t need the help and actually wants to be confined in the cavity. During the narrative, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of decision. As Nate nears the end his quest, 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) comes to tell him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route dubbed The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game has to offer; taking it seems inadvisable to anyone.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and get to the top in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious 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 a single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the truth that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Each instance he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Attempting The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth struggling just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the other hand, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in if they decline guidance, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion whenever you see a simple solution. The world is filled with design traps that change a secure way into a obstacle instantly. Could the steps an additional deception? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be let down by an ending prank? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one leads to a genuine moment of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as able as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs as well. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no secret drawback waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he stumbles. It’s a easy journey after hours of struggle. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, of course, selected The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s fatigued, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to meet his agreement, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

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