The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've encountered some difficult decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence made me set down my controller for several minutes while I thought through my options. I am responsible for countless Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances measure up to what possibly is the hardest choice I've ever made in a video game — and it concerns a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out game, is hardly a decision-focused experience. At least not in any traditional sense. You simply have to navigate a vast game world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like one major choice that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is needed at this point. Baby Steps game begins as the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a magical realm. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a challenge, as years spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all comes from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to anyone. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to give him a hand. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he attempts to act casual like he requires no assistance and truly prefers to be confined in the cavity. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Defining Decision

This culminates in Baby Steps’s one true moment of decision. As Nate gets close to finishing his journey, he finds 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) comes to inform him that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail named The Challenge. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps includes; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and get to the top in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” 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 every one of Nate's doubts about himself culminating in one absurd moment. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the truth that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a time where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely filled with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified striving just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the flip side, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can opt to allow Nate some relief and opt for the steps. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion each time you see a simple solution. The game world contains design traps that turn a safe route into a obstacle on a dime. Could the steps one more trick? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be disappointed by a final joke? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path brings about a genuine moment of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as anyone else, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase as well. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick waiting for him. The staircase is not a trick. They go on for a long time, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide completely down if he trips. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to pay his debt, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I chose the staircase. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call