The Game Baby Steps Features Among the Most Meaningful Decisions I've Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've faced some challenging decisions in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section made me set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am accountable for so many Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances hold a candle to what now might be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in gaming — and it involves a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Certainly not in the conventional way. You simply have to walk around a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can struggle to remain on his shaky limbs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its surprisingly deep narrative that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s not a single instance that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game begins as the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all comes from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to others. As he progresses, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to help him out. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to take support.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he finds that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can choose a very lengthy and hazardous route called The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps provides; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can just walk up a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and get to the top in a few minutes. 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 very serious 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 one absurd moment. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the truth 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 Manbreaker could be a time where he can prove that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified suffering just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in about they reject navigation help, but they can decide to give Nate a break and opt for the steps. It should be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion anytime you encounter an easy option. The game world contains design traps that change a secure way into a difficulty instantly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Will Nate get at the peak just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And more troubling, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options results in a genuine moment of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as competent as others, consciously choosing a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs as well. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no real catch in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he won't slip all the way down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

Personal Reflection

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