Baby Steps (video game)

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Baby Steps
Developer(s)Gabe Cuzzillo
Maxi Boch
Bennett Foddy
Publisher(s)Devolver Digital
Platform(s)
ReleaseSeptember 23, 2025
Genre(s)Walking simulator
Mode(s)Single-player

Baby Steps is a 2025 walking simulator video game developed by Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, and Bennett Foddy. The game was released for Windows and PlayStation 5 on September 23, 2025.

Gameplay

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Baby Steps is a walking simulation video game played from a third-person perspective. In the game, the player assumes control of a man named Nate, who must attempt to reach a distant mountain. In the game, the player must manually lift and place each of Nate's leg as he walks, shifting his weight side to side while maintaining balance. The game is set in an open world with numerous optional locations of interest. As players progress, the terrain will become more treacherous, and Nate will be faced with numerous environmental obstacles and hazards that may hinder his progress.[1] Players will need to replay certain sections of the game if they misstep and fall off the track, though the game features occasional checkpoints.[2] It also has no waypoint, fast travel or a map, though glowing campsites guide players to the correct direction.[3] The game features a "fully dynamic onesie soilage system", in which Nate's costume will accummulate mud and dirt as he explores.[4]

Development

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Baby Steps was developed by Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, and Bennett Foddy. Foddy was known for developing difficult games such as QWOP and Getting Over It, and previously collaborated with Cuzzillo and Boch on Ape Out. The initial pitch for the game was suggested by Cuzzillo, who wished to develop a more refined version of QWOP. The scope of the game was expanded significantly, featuring a large, 3D environment while maintaining signature features of Foddy's previous games, such as gameplay mechanic heavily focused on locomotion, ragdoll physics, and major progress loss following an episode of failure. The team was also inspired by the concept of Death Stranding. As with Foddy's past games, the team wanted players to find fun through learning and understanding the gameplay mechanics.[5] Commenting on the game's difficulty, Foddy added that there was a "latent love of punishing choices" among players, while Cuzzillo added that the game presented players with "situations that might prompt introspection", adding that players were the one who actively decide to complete the game's challenges despite not finding them fun.[6]

The main character in the game was described by Foddy as "nerdy and unprepared", though the team decided to "turned that dial up and up", resulting in the creation of Nate, an unemployed, socially inept man-child wearing a onesie. Foddy added that Nate was very insecure. Throughout the game, he actively rejects any help from other non-playable characters to maintain a façade of masculine success.[7] Cuzzillo provided the voice for Nate, while Foddy voiced every other character in the game with a very heavy Australian accent. Real-life hiking trails, such as Old Rag Mountain and Angel's Landing, as well as locations from the Uncharted series inspired the game's world.[6]

Baby Steps was announced by publisher Devolver Digital in June 2023.[8] Originally set to be released in 2024, it was delayed to September 8, 2025,[9] and then further delayed for few more weeks to avoid competing with Hollow Knight: Silksong. The game was released on September 23, 2025, for Windows and PlayStation 5.[10]

Reception

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The PS5 version of Baby Steps received "mixed or average" reviews while the PC version received "generally favorable" reviews.[11]

Kyle Orland from Ars Technica wrote that the game can be "punishing, unforgiving, tedious, and enraging" at times. However, he noted that player progression are entirely defined by their understanding the game's mechanics and controls, and the game created "moments of the most genuinely satisfying sense of achievement I can remember having in modern gaming". He compared Baby Steps to Death Stranding and Foddy's previous games, describing it as an "wonderfully surreal, unique game".[15] Travis Northup from IGN wrote that "despite centering itself around intentionally awkward controls, it has a deceptive level of depth that made me eager to master it". While he noted that the game can be difficult, most of its most frustrating challenges were optional, and he "couldn’t really get too mad" at the game because he "voluntarily subjected" himself to completing them.[14] Polygon's Giovanni Colantonio described Baby Steps as 2025's "funniest game", praising its slapstick comedy. He noted that despite the game's wacky premise, it was also a "sincere dissection of manhood and the societal pressures it creates".[16]

Writing for GamesRadar, Luke Kemp felt that Baby Steps was much more accessible than Foddy's previous games, though he noted that certain segments of the game were significantly more infurirating than the overall experience. He added that the game camera did not adequately inform the player of Nate's surroundings.[13] In a more negative review, Charles Harte from Game Informer noted that Baby Steps was a game designed for streamers, as it was funnier watching the game instead of playing it. While he understood the direction the game was going for, he found that the overall experience to be "annoying and grating" and largely unenjoyable.[12]

References

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  1. ^ Griffin, Jada (March 28, 2025). "Baby Steps First Hands-On Preview: You've Got to Fall Before You Walk". IGN. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  2. ^ White, Lucas (September 23, 2025). "Baby Steps review: One foot twirling wildly around the other". Shacknews. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  3. ^ Harmon Jr., O’Dell (March 28, 2025). "Baby Steps: hands-on report". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  4. ^ Thwaites, Sarah (August 3, 2025). "'He's clumsy, high, and completely unprepared': Baby Steps, a game about falling flat on your face". The Guardian. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
  5. ^ Colantonio, Giovanni (September 1, 2025). "The brain behind QWOP has spent 20 years perfecting the art of failure". Polygon. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Romig, Rollo (September 23, 2025). "When You Fall on Your Face, a Philosophical Designer Succeeds". New York Times. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  7. ^ Park, Gene (September 24, 2025). "'Baby Steps' is a satire of immaturity — in video games and man-children". Washington Post. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  8. ^ Nightingale, Ed (June 9, 2025). "Baby Steps is a man-baby walking sim out next year from Devolver". Eurogamer. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  9. ^ Ingraham, Nathan (June 5, 2025). "Baby Steps finally has a release date, two years after it was originally slated to arrive". Engadget. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  10. ^ Stewart, Marcus (August 26, 2025). "Baby Steps And Other Indie Games Are Being Delayed To Avoid Silksong's Launch". Game Informer. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  11. ^ a b c "Baby Steps reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 26, 2025.
  12. ^ a b Harte, Charles (September 23, 2025). "Baby Steps Review: Unhappy Feet". Game Informer. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  13. ^ a b Kemp, Luke (September 23, 2025). "Baby Steps review: "If you craved a tougher hiking challenge than Death Stranding, this is for you – though prepare to get dropped from many great heights"". GamesRadar. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  14. ^ a b Northup, Travis (September 24, 2025). "Baby Steps Review". IGN. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  15. ^ Orland, Kyle (September 24, 2025). "Baby Steps is the most gloriously frustrating game I've ever struggled through". Ars Technica. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  16. ^ Colantonio, Giovanni (September 24, 2025). "Baby Steps' open world will destroy you in the funniest ways possible". Polygon. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
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