The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Encountered in a Game

I've encountered some difficult choices in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments prompted me to pause the game for around ten minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am accountable for countless Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. None of those moments measure up to what could be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in a video game — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You only need to navigate a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that remains on my mind.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that navigating this world is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all stems from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck 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 take an extremely long and hazardous route called The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game includes; taking it seems inadvisable to anyone.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs in its place and arrive at the peak in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Sir” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. 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 dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Taking on The Challenge could be a time where he can prove that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified struggling just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in about they decline guidance, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid anytime you see a simple solution. The world is filled with planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a difficulty suddenly. Could the steps one more trick? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be let down by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path results in a genuine moment of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as able as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the steps either. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no real catch in store for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he won't slip to the bottom if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Halfway up, he even has a chat with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this strange individual?

My Experience

During my game, I selected the steps. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call