Baby Steps Features One of the Most Meaningful Choices I've Ever Faced in a Game

I've faced some difficult choices in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence made me put my controller down for several minutes while I weighed my choices. I am responsible for countless Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances compare to what now might be the most difficult decision I've faced in a video game — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out game, is hardly a choice-driven game. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You must explore a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s no moment that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that walking through it is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all stems from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a map, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to receive help.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his quest, he finds that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game includes; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can simply ascend a gigantic spiral staircase instead and get to the top in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious 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 one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the reality that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a time where he can show that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be paved with more humiliating failures. Does it merit striving 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 if they turn away a map, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt each time you see a simple solution. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a difficulty suddenly. Could the steps one more trick? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be disappointed by a final joke? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished once again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path results in a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as competent as everyone else, willingly taking on a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and possibly risky, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase too. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no real catch waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They go on for a long time, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he won't slip to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, of course, chosen to take The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

Personal Reflection

When I played, I opted for the stairs. Part of me just {wanted to call