The Game Baby Steps Features One of the Most Significant Choices I Have Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've encountered some challenging choices in gaming. Several of my selections in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence prompted me to pause the game for around ten minutes while I weighed my choices. I am accountable for countless Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. Not one of those instances hold a candle to what possibly is the most difficult decision I've faced in a video game — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. At least not in typical gaming terms. You must walk around a vast game world as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that remains on my mind.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all arises from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to assist him. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he realizes that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Challenge. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps has to offer; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and arrive at the peak in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in this situation. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is centered around the reality that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth suffering just to make a statement?

The steps, on the contrary, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about creating doubt anytime you find a gift horse. The world is filled with planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a difficulty suddenly. Are the stairs one more trick? Might Nate arrive all the way to the top just to be let down by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path brings about a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as competent as anyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the staircase as well. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no real catch in store for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They go on for a long time, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

My Experience

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