The Game Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Significant Choices I Have Ever Faced in Gaming

I've encountered some hard decisions in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence prompted me to pause the game for around ten minutes while I considered my choices. I am the cause of so many Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. None of those moments measure up to what could be the toughest selection I've ever made in interactive media — and it involves a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to walk around a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story 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 keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that walking through it is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all comes from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to others. As he progresses, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a map, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s key situation of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to let him know that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route dubbed The Obstacle. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and get to the top in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in this situation. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the fact that he’s self-conscious of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Attempting The Obstacle could be a time where he can show that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit struggling just to demonstrate something?

The steps, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can opt to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about causing suspicion each time you see a simple solution. The world is filled with design traps that change a secure way into a setback on a dime. Are the stairs yet another trap? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be let down by some last-second gag? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being made to address an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one results in a real situation of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as able as others, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase too. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They go on for a long time, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a chat with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, chosen to take The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Choice

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