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

I've faced some difficult decisions in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima ending section led me to set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am accountable for numerous Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. None of those moments compare to what could be the hardest choice I've faced in interactive media — and it involves a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a choice-driven game. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You must walk around a vast game world as the main character Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is required here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a challenge, as years spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all comes from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has difficulty expressing that to others. As he progresses, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a map, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he can manage alone and genuinely desires to be confined in the cavity. Throughout the story, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate nears the end his journey, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a snowy mountain. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can take an extremely long and risky path dubbed The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps has to offer; taking it seems inadvisable to anyone.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a massive winding stairs in its place and get to the top in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the reality that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Attempting The Obstacle could be a instance where he can show that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that route is sure to be laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit struggling just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the contrary, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt whenever you find a gift horse. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a obstacle instantly. Are the stairs one more trick? Could Nate reach to the very summit just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options results in a real situation of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as competent as anyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the stairs too. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he does, he finds that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall completely down if he falls. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, naturally, chosen to take The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

My Choice

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