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

I've faced some hard choices in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments made me pause the game for several minutes while I thought through my choices. I am accountable for so many Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances compare to what now might be the toughest selection I've ever made in gaming — and it concerns a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out, is hardly a choice-driven game. At least not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to explore a vast game world as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will catch you off guard when it's most unexpected. There’s not a single instance that demonstrates that power like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is required here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that walking through it is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all comes from users guiding Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has problems articulating that to anyone. During his adventure, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he attempts to act casual like he can manage alone and genuinely desires to be confined in the cavity. As the plot unfolds, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his quest, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route named The Obstacle. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a massive winding stairs as an alternative and arrive at the peak in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an painful decision in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is focused on the fact that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Attempting The Obstacle could be a time where he can prove that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely filled with more humiliating failures. Is it worth suffering just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in if they reject navigation help, but they can opt to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion each time you find a gift horse. The environment includes planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a difficulty on a dime. Is the staircase one more trick? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And more troubling, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Either one leads to a genuine moment of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as capable as others, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs as well. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he finds that there’s no hidden trick waiting for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip completely down if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s worn out, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

My Experience

During my game, I selected the steps. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call