The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Faced in Video Games

I've dealt with some challenging decisions in gaming. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence made me pause the game for several minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am accountable for countless Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. None of those moments hold a candle to what could be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it involves a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out game, is not really a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You must walk around a vast game world as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. 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 demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps begins as the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a challenge, as years spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all comes from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to help him out. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he realizes that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game has to offer; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs instead and arrive at the peak in a short time. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Sir” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself coming to a head in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the reality that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Taking on The Challenge could be a moment where he can prove that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be laden with more humiliating failures. Does it merit striving just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in about they decline guidance, but they can opt to give Nate a break and opt for the steps. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about creating doubt whenever you encounter an easy option. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a setback on a dime. Are the stairs one more trick? Will Nate get at the peak just to be let down by a final joke? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Either one brings about a real situation of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as capable as anyone else, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than suffering 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 needs.

But there’s no shame in the steps as well. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no secret drawback awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They go on for a long time, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall to the bottom if he trips. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

My Experience

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