The Game Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Meaningful Choices I Have Ever Encountered in a Game

I've encountered some difficult decisions in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence led me to set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my options. I am the cause of so many Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances compare to what could be the toughest selection I’ve had to make in a video game — and it involves a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out, is hardly a selection-based adventure. At least not in any traditional sense. You simply have to walk around a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s not a single instance that showcases that quality like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a struggle, as years spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all comes from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to others. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to assist him. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s one true moment of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his quest, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs instead and reach the summit in a short time. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax 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 all he lacks. Undertaking The Challenge could be a time where he can demonstrate that he’s as capable as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth suffering just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. 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 should be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt each time you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a setback on a dime. Are the stairs one more trick? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be let down by a final joke? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being forced to call a strange individual as Master?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one leads to a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as others, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the staircase either. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he won't slip completely down if he stumbles. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, opted for The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this strange individual?

My Choice

During my game, I opted for the stairs. Part of me just {wanted to call