The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Meaningful Choices I Have Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've encountered some challenging choices in gaming. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments led me to pause the game for several minutes while I weighed my options. I am the cause of so many Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. None of those moments measure up to what possibly is the hardest choice I've ever made in gaming — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. At least not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to navigate a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his shaky limbs. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when it's most unexpected. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that walking through it is a difficulty, as years spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all arises from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who all offer to give him a hand. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he attempts to act casual like he can manage alone and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s not confident enough to take support.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his journey, he discovers that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and dangerous hiking trail named The Obstacle. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps provides; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and get to the top in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is centered around the reality that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Each instance he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Attempting The Challenge could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as capable as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be laden with more awkward mishaps. Is it worth suffering just to make a statement?

The steps, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in if they turn away a map, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It might seem like an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about creating doubt whenever you see a simple solution. The environment includes planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a setback suddenly. Is the staircase an additional deception? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be disappointed by a final joke? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Both options leads to a real situation of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as competent as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a challenging way rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase too. 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 staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s worn out, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

My Experience

During my game, I selected the steps. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call