The Game Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've encountered some difficult decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence prompted me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my choices. I am accountable for so many Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what possibly is the hardest choice I've ever made in a video game — and it involves a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out game, is hardly a decision-focused experience. At least not in the conventional way. You only need to walk around a expansive environment as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that remains on my mind.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a struggle, as a long time spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all comes from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he meets a group of unusual individuals in the world who all offer to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he drops into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he realizes that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path named The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase instead and reach the summit in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an painful decision in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is focused on the reality that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely paved with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified striving just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the other hand, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in if they turn away a map, but they can decide to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid anytime you see a simple solution. The world is filled with design traps that turn a safe route into a difficulty suddenly. Is the staircase an additional deception? Will Nate get at the peak just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he ready to be diminished once again by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path brings about a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as competent as everyone else, willingly taking on a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase too. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no secret drawback waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They go on for a long time, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, of course, selected The Obstacle. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s worn out, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

Personal Reflection

When I played, I opted for the stairs. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call