Baby Steps

And love Baby Steps I did. There are few ways this game could better achieve its aims; in what it is trying to be Baby Steps approaches perfection. Whether what it is trying to be is for you, well that depends on if you feel that a rapturous level of self satisfaction is worth braving a storm of intense frustration and inconsolable rage. For those with the resolve (or stubbornness, or self loathing, or masochism), you won’t find a better test of all of them than Baby Steps. If you have the resilience of a damp tissue and capacity for frustration of a tired toddler, keep on walking by.

Everything Baby Steps does, it executes with excellence, and I can’t think of anything else like it.

Hilarious, bittersweet, surreal and rage-inducing all in equal measure, Baby Steps is a journey that you'll want to join Nate on.

Baby Steps is an infuriating ordeal of intentionally awkward physics that’s brutal, unbelievably stupid, and downright awesome.

A Sisyphean challenge after which you'll never take pressing W to walk for granted again.

Your mileage with Baby Steps will vary greatly. The heavy use of physics and intentionally awkward controls make a game that is designed to be frustrating, even when you feel like you're starting to master the mechanics. This frustration has the potential to be absolutely hilarious if you enjoy misfortune. The absurdity of the cut scenes and how you trigger them only makes the game even funnier. The lack of expected quality of life features somehow makes the game feel more enjoyable. If you frustrate easily and lack the patience to deal with intentional jank, then this game isn't for you. If you are prone to laughing at silly mistakes, then you'll be rewarded with a distinct experience that's worth checking out.

The trauma inflicted by Baby Steps makes me want to give it a 1/10 to get revenge for what it did to me. Luckily for him, I'm a very pragmatic person and behind this continuous torture, this hostility and hatred towards its player, it remains an extremely funny proposition in many ways, with gameplay that is nevertheless mastered. There you go, take your 8/10 and leave me alone, I never want to hear from you again.

Like Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, Baby Steps is a unique and polarizing game. But compared to its predecessor, it offers a more forgiving challenge and deeper mechanics, with absurd storytelling and interactive elements that keep you moving forward almost in spite of yourself.

Despite the overall ugliness of the game (deliberate, I’m sure) and its unappealing aesthetic, I eventually found myself rooting for Nate and hoping that he’d be able to take something away from this journey and grow as a person. The trek to redemption and self-improvement was long and awkward, but the view from the top makes it all worth it.

Baby Steps has given me some of the best – and worst – moments I’ve had in a game in quite some time, and I felt richer for both the good and the bad experiences I had with it.

Baby Steps, at times, struggles to walk the tightrope between frustration and satisfaction, but it stays on the rope at least as often as I was able to keep Nate on a thin wooden plank. I could have done without losing quite as much progress as I did at times, but I still spent most of my time with Baby Steps with a huge grin plastered on my face, and even now, I want to explore this bizarre creation further.

Baby Steps has a simple premise, but a lot of depth. You’re pushed to be patient and persistent by the mechanics. In fact, the whole game is built around punishing you for being foolish or hasty. Every character is begging you to relax, take in the scenery, and have a good time. If you listen, you just might enjoy yourself. But make no mistake, this game can be crazy frustrating. Tiny mistakes can lead to gigantic consequences, after all. If you’re patient enough to master the deranged control scheme, you’ll be shocked by what you can accomplish in Baby Steps.

Baby Steps is, without a doubt, the quirkiest game of 2025 and one of the wildest experiences I've ever had. With an utterly unbearable protagonist and gameplay that makes you want to throw the controller against the wall, I still found myself coming back every day, determined to push Nate forward.

Baby Steps is yet another example of a Bennett Foddy game that can test you, frustrate you, and make you laugh at the silliest situations.. The controls are fantastic, so it feels like they never fail you. The types of terrain and situations can be goofy and challenging. At the same time, there’s a message about growth and development that comes through that made me feel like I wasn’t just having an absolute ball flailing my way through strange spaces, but learning more about Nate and rooting for him in the process.

Baby Steps walks a fine line between frustration and accomplishment to provide a walking simulator and climbing experience quite unlike anything else.

Brutally frustrating, exasperating, and exhilarating, Baby Steps is a journey befitting the legacy of its creators. While the humor may be a bit too crass for some, there’s a surprisingly poignant narrative wrapped around a fairy tale in the bizarre, uncomfortable world Nate finds himself…and a constant reminder to get back up every time you fall, to continue putting one foot in front of the other. Hooroo.

Baby Steps can be considered as Bennett Foddy and company’s best work to date. With the use of physics-based platforming and gameplay mechanics combined with unhinged adult humor, the game is a weird fever dream built on overcoming failure one tiny step at a time.

There is a design challenge here. [Issue#417, p.116]

Baby Steps knows what its fans value, but doesn't jump too high. It brings new ideas to the genre, but its mechanics fall short of other titles.

Baby Steps is a mix between a rage game and a walking simulator, where the player is required to have a lot of precision and patience. And I have no doubt that this title and its protagonist will find a place in the hearts of many gamers. At the same time, however, for some it could be a frustrating game, often involving long periods of downtime where you get stuck in one place or don't know which way to go. Furthermore, apart from the wonderful comic scenes, the game never really rewards the player for the effort made in reaching the goal, whether it be a campsite or a collectible. Perhaps Baby Steps is just a big metaphor teaching the player that life is about putting one foot in front of the other, knowing that falls will be frequent and disastrous, but that you can always get back up; or perhaps it's just a grotesque comedy, a title that knows how to make fun of itself and us, and that amid so much frustration manages to make us laugh a little at both Nate and ourselves.

What we have at the end of the day is a strange, silly game that is a little too sure of itself to stick its landing effectively. It stretches itself too thin to be consistently funny and its story is clumsily told despite its put-on air of poignance. It has its moments though, and for as grumpy as I was by the end I still look back at its early hours with some fondness. Watching a dumpy nerd slide down a muddy hill is pretty funny the first few times; it just doesn’t stay funny as long as Baby Steps wants it to.

Baby Steps, no pun intended, seems like a step backwards for Bennett Foddy and team. Losing the battle between fun and frustrating, frustrating and annoying, always wins when it comes to Baby Steps.

As literal a walking simulator as you could want for, Baby Steps makes no secret of being a challenging, punishing game. It's enjoyable in a way, and the awkward sense of humour laced throughout both the gameplay and the story will appeal to some, but that enthusiasm drains after the opening couple hours.

My feelings about the music extend to the whole of Baby Steps, I suppose. I see what they are going for. I understand why and how it’s funny. And I appreciate how unique it is, but I would be lying if I said I enjoyed it. It’s a truly singular experience, something we will always need more of in games. Some will enjoy struggling to climb sandy dunes and laughing at their friends falling down the same cliffside for the hundredth time, but no amount of creative appreciation will change how I felt playing Baby Steps. Every time I put the controller down, I dreaded picking it back up.