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

I've encountered some challenging decisions in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence led me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am the cause of countless Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. None of those moments hold a candle to what could be the toughest selection I've faced in gaming — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You simply have to explore a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all arises from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to help him out. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s key situation of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he finds that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and risky path called The Challenge. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps has to offer; choosing it looks risky to anyone.

But there’s a second option: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs as an alternative and arrive at the peak in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself culminating in one absurd moment. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the fact that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, 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 unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be laden with more humiliating failures. Is it worth suffering just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The gamer cannot choose in if they decline guidance, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion each time you encounter an easy option. The environment includes intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a obstacle on a dime. Could the steps an additional deception? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be disappointed by a final joke? And more troubling, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path brings about a authentic instance of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as competent as others, willingly taking on a challenging way rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs too. To opt for that way is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he finds that there’s no secret drawback in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall to the bottom if he trips. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, of course, opted for The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this strange individual?

My Choice

When I played, I selected the steps. Part of me just {wanted to call