Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've dealt with some challenging choices in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section made me pause the game for several minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am the cause of so many Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. None of those moments compare to what could be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in gaming — and it concerns a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out, is hardly a choice-driven game. At least not in any traditional sense. You simply have to walk around a expansive environment as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its surprisingly deep narrative that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that walking through it is a difficulty, as a long time spent as a inactive individual have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all arises from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. During his adventure, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to receive help.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of choice. 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 desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route called The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps provides; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and get to the top in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” 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 reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the reality that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a hard reminder of all he lacks. Undertaking The Challenge could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely paved with more humiliating failures. Does it merit struggling just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in about they turn away a map, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt each time you encounter an easy option. The game world contains planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a difficulty instantly. Could the steps yet another trap? Might Nate arrive all the way to the top just to be fooled by a final joke? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options leads to a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as able as everyone else, consciously choosing a challenging way rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the steps too. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no real catch in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he trips. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, naturally, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

During my game, I chose the staircase. Part of me just {wanted to call