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

I've dealt with some challenging decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence led me to put my controller down for around ten minutes while I considered my choices. I am accountable for countless Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. Not one of those instances compare to what possibly is the hardest choice I've faced in interactive media — and it involves a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Definitely not in the conventional way. You simply have to walk around a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s not a single instance that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

A bit of context is required here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that navigating this world is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all arises from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to others. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a group of unusual individuals in the world who all offer to give him a hand. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Pivotal Moment

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s key situation of selection. As Nate nears the end his journey, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears 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 dangerous hiking trail called The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game includes; taking it seems inadvisable to anyone.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and arrive at the peak in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself coming to a head in a single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is centered around the truth that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a time where he can show that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely filled with more awkward mishaps. Is it worth suffering just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion anytime you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a difficulty instantly. Could the steps yet another trap? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be fooled by a final joke? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path results in a authentic instance of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase either. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, he realizes that there’s no secret drawback awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall completely down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Halfway up, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Manbreaker. He strives to appear composed, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Choice

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