Baby Steps Features One of the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've dealt with some difficult choices in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence made me put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my choices. I am responsible for so many Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. None of those moments hold a candle to what could be the most difficult decision I've ever made in interactive media — and it concerns a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out game, is not really a choice-driven game. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You simply have to navigate a sprawling open world as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that walking through it is a difficulty, as a long time spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all stems from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. As he progresses, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to help him out. 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 offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you encounter plenty of frustrating vignettes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too self-conscious to receive help.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he realizes that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can take an extremely long and risky path dubbed The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps has to offer; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs in its place and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself culminating in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is focused on the truth that he’s self-conscious of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Attempting The Challenge could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as capable as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified struggling just to demonstrate something?

The steps, on the other hand, give Nate another big moment to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It should be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid each time you see a simple solution. The environment includes intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a obstacle instantly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Might Nate arrive at the peak just to be let down by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one results in a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as competent as others, willingly taking on a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the stairs either. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Halfway up, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, of course, opted for The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the agreement barely appears so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

My Choice

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