Baby steps It’s a video game about hiking. Of course, this is a ridiculous concept.
In the protagonist we enter the game, an adult little kid, is a thin onesie, or an uncertain side character and a ridiculous narrative that we must admit to its ridiculous core. Walking leisurely in nature can be the most organic, minimal technical activity a person can engage in, and the desire to digitize this experience, recreate it for consumption from the butt-shaped mat of the sofa, is stupid. It’s a very obvious Game Developer™ impulse, and I actually find it cute. Just like the rest Baby steps.
Baby steps Is a walking simulator for three experienced game developers: Dance Center Creator Maxi Boch, Apes go out Developers Gabe Cuzzillo and Bennett Foddy QWOP and Overcome it Fame. This year we will be heading to PC and PlayStation 5, and For June 2023, it’s a highly anticipated Curio, and for fans of annoying precise traversal mechanisms and alternative independent shit, it’s a highly anticipated Curio. This is bigger than you think.
I played for about 45 minutes Baby steps At GDC 2025, Boch, Cuzzillo and Foddy looked at it, intermittently telling me how good I was walking. Game star Nate is an unemployed adult who lives in his parents’ basement and explores a shaky and arid mountain landscape, once uncertain. Manipulating your body the right way is the main goal, and it is a tricky goal. Using the game board, you can control Nate’s legs individually, one for each trigger, and his limbs are very sensitive to tiny changes in button depression. Tighten the trigger to lift and bend one of his knees, then release it bit by bit to get rid of his lower leg, then place your feet precisely where they need it. Go forward with the left stick, giving Nate the right amount of motivation to get your trigger rhythm right, and all of a sudden, hey, you’re walking here.
Sounds easier than before. As the game’s precise mechanics are so precise, Nate falls easily, faces in the dirt, and then tumbling backwards like Ragdoll, tumbling backwards over the rocks, covering the mud and sweat in his grey onesie. The same precision also makes Nate at times shockingly solid, as if he pulled his entire body to the ledge step by step, ending in a perfectly balanced flamingo posture. There is room for mastery and confusion in the controls, and as I drop the game board, I am walking around with a completely appropriate five-year-old. I am also proud of this achievement.
Literally, putting one foot in front of the other requires so concentrated in the first few minutes of the game that it is easy to ignore Nate’s surroundings, but as the walk becomes easier, you can finally look around and ask, “What the hell am I doing here?” Baby steps Nestled on the hillside, dotted with rugged rocks, brown grass, long abandoned wooden buildings, random carousels and dirt pits, the only sign you can go is like an orange glow from the Ridgeline above Nate Spawn Point.
The few people Nate meets along the way – a fascinating Aloof Guide, at least another more prepared hiker – interacts with, but they don’t help with survival issues either. Nate murmurs and monosyllables fade away in conversation, and he tends to be bound by the NPC’s desire to observe. Like when I was playing, Nate fell and stuck at the bottom of a muddy hole, his guide friend showed up and immediately said, “This hole used to be dry. Hey, did you pee in the hole? Have you peed in this hole?In response, Nate made an anxious voice and a widespread panic.
The comedy Baby steps Sharp and chaotic with exquisite, improvised edges. Foddy works for the voices of most characters, and he tends to form their lines on the microphone. The result is a messy and refreshing stream of conversations, and every cutscene I encounter makes me laugh.
Most aspects Baby steps Actually makes me smile. Once, I wandered along a rocky trail on the edge of the canyon and entered a fast-moving groove, realizing that the sound of birds and the roar of my own footsteps had turned into rhythmic songs that encouraged my gait with a steady organic beat. The game’s soundscape is provided by Boch, which intentionally fades according to the way you play it. Put this responsive immersive soundtrack with the ongoing focus you have to keep on Nate’s action and Baby steps It quickly became a hypnotic experience. The details of the game can only encourage this feeling – the mountains are very beautiful, presented in crisp 3D graphics, and are completely easy to explore with no invisible walls. If you can see it, you can try climbing it. Nate’s onesie collects sweat in his back, under his arms and in all the gaps you expect, and it also stains the mud when he falls, but when you pour it into the water, the stain washes off. There are few tips on the screen. There are hidden hats to wear, penis graffiti is worthy of appreciation, Nate can take many paths to reach the same point, bounce pancake ass lead.
After all the ridiculous Baby steps It is an incredibly well-crafted, super detailed relaxation tool. While it’s fun, its mechanics are deeper than the weird trailer, when in fact, it actually makes me feel meditated. Baby steps It’s a serious stupid game.
Baby steps Published by Devolver Digital, this will be PS5 and PC Later this year.
