Baby Steps Features One of the Most Significant Decisions I Have Ever Encountered in a Game

I've encountered some challenging choices in gaming. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments made me put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my options. I am accountable for so many Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. None of those moments measure up to what now might be the hardest choice I've faced in gaming — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You only need to explore a vast game world as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a key selection that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that navigating this world is a difficulty, as a long time spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all arises from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. As he progresses, 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 navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s funniest instant. When he drops into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to take support.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s key situation of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can take an extremely long and risky path called The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps provides; taking it seems inadvisable to anyone.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and reach the summit in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is centered around the truth that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth suffering just to prove a point?

The steps, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in about they decline guidance, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about making you feel paranoid anytime you encounter an easy option. The environment includes design traps that transform an easy path into a setback suddenly. Is the staircase an additional deception? Might Nate arrive at the peak just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being forced to call a strange individual as Master?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options brings about a real situation of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as able as others, willingly taking on a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs as well. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They go on for a long time, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he won't slip all the way down if he falls. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, chosen to take The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to meet his agreement, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks 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