The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Meaningful Choices I've Ever Faced in a Game

I've encountered some difficult decisions in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section prompted me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am the cause of countless Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what now might be the toughest selection I've faced in a video game — and it concerns a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You must explore a expansive environment as the protagonist Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can barely stand on his unsteady feet. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s not a single instance that showcases that quality like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all stems from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to others. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and truly prefers to be confined in the cavity. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to receive help.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s key situation of selection. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s up for a challenge, he can choose a very lengthy and hazardous route dubbed The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase instead and reach the summit in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

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 culminating in one absurd moment. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the reality that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Each instance he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a painful recollection of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a moment where he can show that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be laden with more awkward mishaps. Does it merit striving just to prove a point?

The steps, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion whenever you see a simple solution. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a obstacle on a dime. Are the stairs one more trick? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be fooled by a final joke? And more troubling, 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. Both options results in a real situation of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as able as others, willingly taking on a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the dose of confidence that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the stairs too. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he does so, he finds that there’s no real catch waiting for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he won't slip to the bottom if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, opted for The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to meet his agreement, addressing his new Master, the agreement barely appears so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Experience

During my game, I chose the staircase. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call