Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Meaningful Choices I've Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've faced some hard choices in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments made me pause the game for several minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am the cause of so many Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances measure up to what now might be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out, is not really a selection-based adventure. At least not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to walk around a sprawling open world as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its deceptively impactful story that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s not a single instance that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that walking through it is a challenge, as years spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all arises from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to assist him. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be confined in the cavity. Throughout the story, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s not confident enough to take support.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he realizes that he must reach the summit of a snowy mountain. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to tell him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and dangerous hiking trail named The Challenge. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and arrive at the peak in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is centered around the fact that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a moment where he can show that he’s as capable as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely paved with more humiliating failures. Does it merit striving just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in if they decline guidance, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It should be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about creating doubt anytime you encounter an easy option. The environment includes design traps that transform an easy path into a difficulty on a dime. Are the stairs one more trick? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be fooled by an ending prank? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being forced to call an odd character as Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Both options brings about a real situation of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as capable as others, consciously choosing a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the stairs too. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They go on for a long time, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall all the way down if he stumbles. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to meet his agreement, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

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