The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Faced in Gaming

I've encountered some difficult choices in gaming. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima ending section led me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am accountable for numerous Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. None of those moments compare to what could be the most difficult decision I've ever made in gaming — and it concerns a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out, is hardly a choice-driven game. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You must explore a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot 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.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that walking through it is a struggle, as years spent as a inactive individual have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all stems from users guiding Nate step by step, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. As he progresses, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to help him out. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a map, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be confined in the cavity. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s one true moment of selection. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he realizes that he must ascend of a snowy mountain. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and hazardous route named The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs instead and reach the summit in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an difficult selection in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is focused on the reality that he’s self-conscious of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Attempting The Manbreaker could be a time where he can show that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit suffering just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The user doesn't get to decide in if they turn away a map, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid anytime you see a simple solution. The world is filled with design traps that transform an easy path into a difficulty on a dime. Could the steps one more trick? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be fooled by a final joke? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being forced to call a strange individual as Master?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path results in a real situation of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as competent as others, consciously choosing a challenging way rather than suffering through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the stairs either. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They go on for a long time, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a easy journey after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, of course, opted for The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to pay his debt, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this freak?

Personal Reflection

During my game, I opted for the stairs. Part of me just {wanted to call