The Game Baby Steps Features One of the Most Meaningful Choices I Have Ever Experienced in a Game

I've encountered some hard decisions in interactive entertainment. Several of my selections in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments made me pause the game for around ten minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am accountable for so many Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. None of those moments compare to what could be the hardest choice I've ever made in gaming — and it involves a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in the conventional way. You simply have to walk around a expansive environment as the protagonist Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a struggle, as a long time spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all stems from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has problems articulating that to anyone. As he progresses, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to help him out. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he can manage alone and actually wants to be confined in the cavity. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Pivotal Moment

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s one true moment of selection. As Nate nears the end his quest, he discovers that he must ascend of a snowy mountain. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided 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 called The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game provides; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and arrive at the peak in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in this situation. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is centered around the truth that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Taking on The Challenge could be a time where he can prove that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that road is bound to be paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth 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 whether or not they turn away a map, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about making you feel paranoid whenever you see a simple solution. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a obstacle instantly. Are the stairs an additional deception? Will Nate get at the peak just to be let down by a final joke? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being forced to call a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options results in a real situation of protagonist evolution and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an personal triumph. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as capable as anyone else, willingly taking on a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs as well. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall all the way down if he falls. It’s a easy journey after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, of course, selected The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the agreement barely appears so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

Personal Reflection

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