Baby Steps

Baby Steps is not a game for a broad audience. But it’s not just rage bait trying to frustrate players while providing amusement to passive observers. There are lessons to be learned and accomplishments to be felt. It tiptoes on the knife’s edge of punishment and profundity, victimizing or enthralling, depending on the player. That fine line opens the path for both a brilliant anti-game or a fist through your screen, your mileage simply may vary.

This is a game that is tailor-made for my taste, tickling my nerves exactly where I want to be tickled. But I also have to look at the bigger picture, and the truth is that Baby Steps is a polarising game. The adolescent humour, which for me is a huge plus, is also what will make many others want to turn off the game quickly. It's both its greatest strength and its Achilles' heel, quite simply.

Baby Steps surpassed all my expectations and even small grievances to become a thrilling, trying and memorable journey about being better and learning to ask for help. It’s certainly one of the harder ‘one of those’ types of ragebait climbing games, but each step it makes in tackling this niche is as deliberate as the ones you’re making as the clumsy Nate. What’s within is a refinement of the subgenre, providing a layered and surprisingly poignant world and story to explore. Bennett Foddy and co. have made their opus here, and even with every plummet and misstep I made, I had the best experience that in the space I’ve ever had, uniquely hating, loving, loathing and delighting in it. If the devs are reading this, I hate you guys. But also, I bloody love you.

Baby Steps won’t click with everyone, but if you have the patience, it delivers one of the most memorable and oddly inspiring platformers in years. Every laugh comes with frustration, every fall makes the next step sweeter, and the whole thing somehow feels worth it. It’s clumsy and challenging, but also one of the most charmingly human games you’ll play this generation.

Of course, Baby Steps is too ‘out there’ for everyone to like. In reality, it's a very special game that will only appeal to those who are looking for truly new experiences and enjoy delirious, crude, and politically incorrect humor, combined with gameplay that is as challenging as it is frustrating but, despite being difficult and painful, ultimately addictive. Many people will hate it, but for me it's the freshest and most original game I've enjoyed in years.

Baby Steps is a compelling, frustrating mix of wandering and storytelling. Nate is unlikeable and the humour plays off his inability to accept help or advice. Traversal is surprisingly accessible but leaves plenty of room for skill and challenge. The lack of a map really messed with my sense of direction and the later game really tried my patience. It's an accomplished effort that I think is worth playing, if you've got the patience for it.

With intentionally difficult physics-based gameplay, Baby Steps can bring out the worst or best in you. If you're willing to gel with the QWOP-style controls for a sense of self-accomplishment, with an absurd but impactful story, then it may just be worth tripping over yourself for.

Part physics-based, slapstick open world walking sim, part satire of the worst parts of modern gaming, Baby Steps is a stumblecore banger that only those with a penchant for punishment and hyper-realistic donkey dicks will manage.

Baby Steps is more than it first appears, offering up a heartfelt story about a man grappling with his insecurities as he's forced to keep going. The intentionally tricky walking and climbing is a lot of fun to grapple with, and there's plenty of silly stuff to discover in the open world setting. Your mileage may vary due to various factors, not least the amount of punishment you'll take as you scramble up the mountain, but it's a journey worth taking for those willing to persist.

Baby Steps is absurd, clumsy, and oddly heartwarming all at once. Its hilarious ragdoll physics and painfully precise controls turn every step into a slapstick struggle, while the underdog charm of Nate keeps you rooting for him through the frustration. Not for the impatient, but a unique ode to failing, falling, and getting back up again.