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

I've encountered some challenging choices in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence made me put my controller down for around ten minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am the cause of countless Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what could be the toughest selection I've ever made in a video game — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

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 simply have to explore a sprawling open world as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a difficulty, as a long time spent as a inactive individual have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all stems from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to anyone. During his adventure, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he discovers that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can take an extremely long and risky path called The Challenge. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game has to offer; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs instead and get to the top in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Sir” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is centered around the reality that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as capable as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely filled with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified striving just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the other hand, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can opt to give Nate a break and opt for the steps. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion anytime you find a gift horse. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a difficulty instantly. Is the staircase yet another trap? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be let down by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished once again by being made to address an odd character as Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path results in a real situation of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as capable as everyone else, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the dose of confidence that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the steps either. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no real catch in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall completely down if he trips. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, of course, selected The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to meet his agreement, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

My Experience

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