The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Significant Choices I Have Ever Faced in Video Games

I've faced some hard decisions in interactive entertainment. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence made me pause the game for around ten minutes while I thought through my options. I am the cause of so many Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what could be the toughest selection I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it involves a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out game, is hardly a decision-focused experience. At least not in the conventional way. You simply have to explore a expansive environment as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It appears to be an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s not a single instance that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a challenge, as a long time spent as a inactive individual have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all comes from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to others. As he progresses, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to give him a hand. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you see numerous irritating episodes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he finds that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes 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 Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps provides; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and get to the top in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” 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 this situation. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the fact that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a hard reminder of all he lacks. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a time where he can prove that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be paved with more humiliating failures. Does it merit struggling just to make a statement?

The steps, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can choose to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It might seem like an simple decision, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt anytime you find a gift horse. The environment includes design traps that change a secure way into a setback on a dime. Could the steps yet another trap? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And even worse, 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 correct or incorrect choice. Either one results in a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase as well. To select that route is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. And when he does so, he finds that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall to the bottom if he trips. It’s a easy journey after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

My Experience

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