The Game Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Meaningful Decisions I've Ever Encountered in a Game

I've dealt with some hard choices in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima ending section led me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I considered my options. I am the cause of countless Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. None of those moments compare to what now might be the toughest selection I've ever made in interactive media — and it involves a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a choice-driven game. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to explore a vast game world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his shaky limbs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its surprisingly deep narrative that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a magical realm. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a struggle, as years spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all stems from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has difficulty expressing that to other characters. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate nears the end his quest, he finds that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route called The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps has to offer; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and reach the summit in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in this situation. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is centered around the truth that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Attempting The Obstacle could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be laden with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified suffering just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in about they decline guidance, but they can opt to give Nate a break and opt for the steps. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about creating doubt each time you see a simple solution. The game world contains design traps that change a secure way into a obstacle suddenly. Could the steps an additional deception? Might Nate arrive at the peak just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being forced to call a strange individual as Master?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path results in a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as competent as anyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he needs.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs either. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he falls. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has concern for humiliation by this odd character?

My Choice

When I played, I chose the staircase. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call