The Game Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Impactful Choices I've Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've faced some difficult choices in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments led me to put my controller down for around ten minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am accountable for countless Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. None of those moments hold a candle to what now might be the hardest choice I've ever made in a video game — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You only need to navigate a expansive environment as the protagonist Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can struggle to remain on his shaky limbs. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a challenge, as years spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all stems from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to others. 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 guide, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s not confident enough to take support.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s key situation of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his quest, he finds that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route dubbed The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and reach the summit in a short time. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice in context. 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 fact that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Attempting The Obstacle could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified striving just to demonstrate something?

The steps, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The gamer cannot choose in if they decline guidance, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about making you feel paranoid anytime you encounter an easy option. The game world contains planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a obstacle instantly. Could the steps an additional deception? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be let down by a final joke? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished another time by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path results in a real situation of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as able as anyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs too. To select that route is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip to the bottom if he trips. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, of course, opted for The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

When I played, I selected the steps. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call