Baby Steps was first revealed to the world in June 2023, and upon first viewing it, I didn’t know what to think. Surprises are few and far between when you have been gaming for over 30 years, but the reveal trailer left me with perplexing emotions. I was in a mental tug-of-war between, ‘I’ve never quite seen something quite like this’ and, ‘Does this concept really have a leg to stand on?’ Well, after about an hour of playing the game, I was ten toes down.
The game starts with a snippet of exposition. You’re a grown man named Nate living at home, and without warning, you’re thrown into the game world. You’re taught how to walk and tasked with making it out of a cave that serves as the tutorial area, and then you take the first steps into the open world, with one goal in mind: make it to the mountain in the far off distance.
To the ends of the earth
This wasn’t a mountain separated by cut-scenes and different hub areas, but a specific geographical goal I would have to advance to in real-time, creeping closer with every step. This realization swept me off my feet.
“It started on a much smaller course,” Said Bennett Foddy, one of the creators of Baby Steps. “But just as a test, I made a level that was 100 meters wide, and it was immediately clear to us that that was going to make for much more interesting gameplay, involving strategic route-finding as well as tactical foot placement. And surely it wouldn’t be that hard to make an open-world game!”
Step-by-step
Once the shock of the world’s scope wore off, I instantly bypassed the direct route for something more interesting that caught my eye and headed for what appeared to be a carousel in the distance. Since there is no map or waypoints here, where you go depends on you as the player. With campfires in the distance serving as markers for the ‘true’ direction you should head toward. As I walked through mud, puddles, sticks, and stones, the DualSense controller features began to shine, as every texture was met with the appropriate sensation and the oddly satisfying crunch of the earth and other material under my feet.
“There’s a cutting-edge experimental music system that works in sync with the walking sim,” Foddy said. “I think we’ve woven a pretty thought-provoking story from Nate’s situation as well. And the game is packed full of other surprises.”
Since I breezed through the earlier tutorial and started making tracks through a bizarre, seemingly desolate carnival, I spied a mysterious object atop the carousel, which led me to my first challenge: conquering medium—to medium-high ledges and slippery surfaces.
The object called me like a moth to a flame, and I spent some time figuring out how to raise my knees high enough for a step big enough to clear the ledge and how wide of a step to take to complete the motion without falling over. Though it was only a minute or two, I felt like I had conquered a tough boss battle. What awaited me at the top of the spiral slope? A hat.
A simple hat, yes, but one that held surprises, that I’ll let you discover for yourself. Baby Steps has dozens upon dozens of collectibles to find, and the purpose they serve is part of the journey. Though none of them will help you walk better – that’s always in your hands (or rather, feet).
But don’t worry—the devs assured me the game is something to enjoy for players of all skill levels. That’s the beauty of the open world. If you fail or fall, you can always head toward another point of interest or stumble upon the unexpected.
“I have had a pretty good time in the past putting out difficult games and not turning too many players away,” Foddy said. “But we’ve tried pretty hard to make a game that looks hard but plays pretty chill. Probably we’ve made it too easy.”
Break a leg
There are no checkpoints, you can’t die, and no fast travel. The only change is your ability to walk up straight and the terrain. While there is a story and a definitive end to the narrative, you can explore and see what you can find after the credits roll.
Like many open-world games, how much you’re willing to learn about the world and Nate will depend on the player. I saw Nate as nothing more than a vehicle to experience the world, but after a few discoveries and a cryptic note or two, my desire to find out the who, what, where, when, and why of his strange predicament became my first priority.
While my time was brief, it was still enough to meet a handful of supporting characters, some of whom can be completely missed. There was always a new thread to follow and the proverbial/literal mountain to climb. I asked the team if Nate’s journey had some grander subtext, or if he was just a guy with an objective to complete.
“Everyone has days where they’re feeling a little awkward,” said Foddy. “A little clumsy, maybe a little lost and confused. I think we can all relate a little. But as for his glutes, that’s a power I could only dream of having.”
I didn’t expect to be so enamored with a game where every step you take can be challenging, but I was. I was willing to spend ten minutes or an hour to get that item slightly out of reach or to find out what that out-of-place structure was in the distance. While I have no idea what’s out there in Baby Steps, I’m looking forward to seeing where my feet will take me.
