The Game Baby Steps Features One of the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Faced in Gaming

I've encountered some difficult decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments prompted me to put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am responsible for numerous Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances compare to what could be the toughest selection I've ever made in a video game — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out game, is not really a choice-driven game. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You simply have to walk around a vast game world as Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright 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 sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like one major choice that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that walking through it is a difficulty, as years spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all arises from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has difficulty expressing that to other characters. As he progresses, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to help him out. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be confined in the cavity. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to take support.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s key situation of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his quest, he finds that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) shows up to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route called The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game provides; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps instead and reach the summit in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Sir” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest 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. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the truth that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a painful recollection of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that route is sure to be paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit suffering just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the contrary, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in if they reject navigation help, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and opt for the steps. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt whenever you see a simple solution. The world is filled with design traps that transform an easy path into a setback instantly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be fooled by an ending prank? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Both options brings about a genuine moment of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as anyone else, willingly taking on a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs too. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he won't slip to the bottom if he falls. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Choice

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