Baby Steps is Doing Everything AAA Execs Say Games Shouldn’t Do – Game Rant Advance

Nate, the main character from *Baby Steps*, is shocked when his TV displays the message “Are You Still Watching One Piece?” and he’s suddenly pulled *into* a new world. It’s not the world of *One Piece*, even though he’s diligently watched all 400+ hours of the anime. This new world is incredibly challenging – even for experienced hikers – and presents serious difficulties for Nate, who isn’t known for his success.

In the game *Baby Steps*, players control Nate as he navigates a challenging, hilly landscape – the biggest obstacle being uneven terrain. It’s a walking simulator at its heart, meaning you control each of Nate’s steps as you explore. But like the anime *One Piece*, there’s more depth to both the character of Nate and the game itself than meets the eye. For Game Rant Advance, we talked to developers Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, and Bennett Foddy about the making of *Baby Steps* and what it says about modern video game design.

A ‘Failson’ is a man who isn’t successful in ways typically associated with masculinity – like career or financial independence – but who is shielded from hardship thanks to his family’s money, power, or social connections.

Game Rant Advance Speakers

Gabe Cuzzillo
Maxi Boch
Bennett Foddy

It’s a Walking Simulator

As a gamer, I’ve noticed the term “walking simulator” has become less about a real game type and more of a way to put down games where you spend a lot of time moving around. It’s usually meant as a criticism, implying the game is boring, even if it doesn’t really fit that label. I’ve always hated using a genre as an insult – it’s like saying a game is *only* about one thing, like just walking! But that’s almost never true. Take *Death Stranding 2*, for example – it’s a serious contender for Game of the Year, and honestly, you could even describe it as a “walking simulator” without it being a bad thing. It’s clear that when people use “walking simulator” as an insult, they just mean something is dull and they’re ignoring everything else the game could be.

Despite being a game centered entirely around walking, *Baby Steps* fully embraces the ‘walking simulator’ label. The developers didn’t try to avoid the clichés of the genre; instead, they focused on making simply walking enjoyable. This directly addresses the common criticism leveled at these types of games, as *Baby Steps* proves that walking can be fun – a fact that’s clear from gameplay clips and trailers showing the challenges Nate faces. When asked about the use of ‘walking sim’ as an insult, the game’s creator described their approach as ‘reclaiming a derisive term’.

The term ‘walking sim’ is used by game creators to describe games focused on exploration and observation. It’s a bit of an inside joke, as some players originally used the term dismissively. These games aren’t *actually* about just walking, of course! I’m a big fan and have played many, from popular titles like Dear Esther and Gone Home to lesser-known games like Fugue in Void and Far Future Tourism. What unites us as creators is a desire to break away from traditional game conventions.

Foddy explained that the game *Baby Steps* cleverly flips the script on massive open-world games like *Assassin’s Creed*. Those games often require players to spend a lot of time simply traveling across the game world. While this travel *could* be filled with interesting events, it often isn’t. Players frequently move from one location to another with little happening, which can become tedious. *Baby Steps* tackles this by making even a single step challenging, forcing players to overcome obstacles. This constant struggle is where the fun lies, and the story of how the game was made sounds just as enjoyable.

A Development Cycle Based on Baby Steps

Creating a game can be done in many enjoyable and effective ways, but there are also plenty of paths to failure. Both *Baby Steps* and the development of *Hollow Knight: Silksong* were successful, and interestingly, both were led by teams of just three people. However, for every game that goes well, many more get stuck in endless development, as we’ve recently seen with the difficulties surrounding *BioShock 4*.

Around the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020, the team was experimenting with different game ideas. According to Cuzzillo, after about two months of working on a prototype called *Baby Steps*, Foddy believed they had found the game they wanted to make – this was on February 29, 2020, and development progressed from there. Cuzzillo noted that even in its early stages, the prototype was enjoyable, with the team having fun simply testing it by walking up a small slope. He believes the core idea of the game hasn’t changed much since then, but has rather been built upon and expanded. Foddy also remembered how these initial prototypes evolved over time.

Gabe’s initial game idea was incredibly simple – just a few shapes representing feet, a glowing sphere for the rear, and lines for legs. The second version featured a standard helicopter pilot exploring a tiny mountain area, around 4 by 20 meters. By the third prototype, we had Nate navigating a much larger, foggy, and rainy mountain environment.

Nate Falling Into the River

Baby Steps Rails Against Systems Bloat

As a big fan of *Baby Steps*, I found it really interesting to hear how the game was made. The developer, Foddy, said the first year was all about *adding* stuff, but the last year was mostly about taking things *away*. Apparently, at one point, there were 45 different characters! That’s wild considering how focused the final game is. It’s a pretty normal part of making anything, I guess – building up and then trimming down – but the team really felt it was crucial to getting *Baby Steps* just right. Boch, one of the designers, explained that the core ideas behind the game were…

From the beginning, we’ve understood that this game isn’t about unnecessary complexity or a style that our team particularly enjoys.

It’s easy to picture the typical look and feel of a big, open-world game – often packed with more features than necessary for actual enjoyment. These features sometimes feel unfinished because they don’t quite integrate well with the overall game design. According to Foddy, developers are often tempted to add extra mechanics simply to make the game world feel more full. Most major games include things like managing resources, collecting and crafting items, unlocking parts of the map, completing long questlines, finding numerous collectibles, using fast travel, and upgrading skills. While not every game needs all of these, many open-world games include them to give the impression of a larger, more detailed world.

Sometimes, it’s best to keep a game simple and let its core gameplay shine. As designer David Foddy put it, they intentionally avoided adding unnecessary features, believing the game was already fun enough. The positive response to the *Baby Steps* demo demonstrates this approach worked. It completely flips the script on what people expect from walking simulators and large open-world games – and what AAA game companies usually demand. *Baby Steps* proves that a walking simulator *can* be genuinely enjoyable, and its streamlined open world highlights how much unnecessary content can actually hurt a game. In fact, *Baby Steps* rejects so many typical game design choices that it might be exactly what the industry needs – a reminder to focus on the fundamentals and take things one step at a time.

Nate Falling Down Another River

Baby Steps Rails Against A Lot of AAA Demands

Games often prioritize simple dialogue and impressive graphics, especially when trying to appeal to a wide audience or with sequels. While making a good first impression with visuals is understandable, and keeping things easy to follow is important for new players, these choices can sometimes be costly and don’t always enhance the enjoyment of the game. *Baby Steps* takes a different approach – it doesn’t focus on these things.

Discussing the visual design of Baby Steps, Foddy said,

The game’s visual style drew inspiration from several sources, but I was aiming for a specific mood, especially at the beginning. Around late 2019, while we were testing an early version of the game called Baby Steps, I found artwork by Tyler Rhodes that perfectly captured what I envisioned. He created images of eerie candles emerging from foggy landscapes – they reminded me of old movie sets with visible, imperfect special effects, or even the surreal sponge paintings of Max Ernst. This aesthetic would help establish the feeling of Nate being out of place, which I wanted to connect with the gameplay experience.

I can just *imagine* the pitch meeting where someone described the visual style as “old movies with bad bluescreen” or “surrealist sponge paintings” to a big-name exec! But honestly, that perfectly captures what makes *Baby Steps* so special. It’s a look that actually *adds* to the game, something you don’t always get with super-realistic graphics. The surreal touches really nail the confused feeling of playing as Nate, and they make the world feel vast and open. It somehow creates this peaceful hiking vibe, which is hilarious considering Nate can barely keep his balance! There’s a real sense of place, thanks to the painterly style and natural colors. It feels like there’s genuinely *more* to experience in *Baby Steps*’ world than in a lot of other open-world games, and it’s clear the design choices were made to serve the game itself, not just to chase what’s popular.

Instead of long, explanatory cutscenes, the game relies heavily on improvised dialogue. While it’s often clumsy and confusing – even bordering on bizarre, with conversations covering surprisingly mundane topics – this approach actually strengthens the game’s character. The main character, Nate, seems incredibly socially inexperienced, perhaps having spent more time watching anime like *One Piece* than interacting with people. This isn’t polished, carefully written dialogue; it’s raw and unrefined, intentionally capturing all the awkwardness of the *Baby Steps* story. This awkwardness extends to Nate’s personality and movements, creating a consistent and believable character. In fact, his failings are precisely what make the game unique, even if a typical AAA studio might not see its potential.

By walking where others just run by, Baby Steps is the tortoise to the blockbuster’s hare.

Baby Steps and Failing Upward

It’s common in business to see people succeed despite lacking real substance, often prioritizing jargon and empty phrases over genuine innovation. In game development, ‘innovation’ has come to mean simply being the *best* at something already done, rather than creating truly original work. Nate, in the context of *Baby Steps*, might be seen as an unconventional approach – a slightly flawed but uniquely interesting creation among more standard options. As Foddy explained about Nate and the game’s overall design…

Baby Steps deliberately moves away from the typical power fantasy found in action games, and we wanted a character to represent that. We landed on the ‘failson’ trope – someone who’s expected to succeed, often with help from their parents, but consistently falls short. This felt ideal because our game puts you in a world of classic action heroes, but challenges you to master even the most basic skills, highlighting that struggle.

Foddy and Cuzzillo spent considerable time developing Nate’s character and the story, eventually deciding to base his dialogue on improvisational techniques. It took many attempts and revisions, but this approach helped create a cohesive world for the game. Cuzzillo explained that Nate often delivers lines with intentional awkwardness and a somewhat unclear understanding of language – almost as if he doesn’t quite know how to use words properly. Foddy then added,

“There’s this nice Patricia Highsmith quote that goes: ‘If you can amuse yourself for the length of time it takes to write a book, the publishers and the readers can and will come later.’ The stuff that made the cut from our improv sessions was the stuff that made at least one person laugh, which is why Gabe kept in so many of the cases where I misspoke or flubbed a line.”

Nate is a character who seems to succeed despite his significant limitations – he struggles with basic movement, communication, and understanding the world around him. Remarkably, he’s always been protected and hasn’t faced serious consequences for his shortcomings. It will be fascinating to see if Nate continues to simply stumble into success in *Baby Steps*, or if he actually starts to grow as a character. Honestly, I’m not optimistic about his development, but that’s part of what makes the story compelling: if *he* can overcome his challenges, it suggests anyone can. The game itself is surprisingly deep despite its simple appearance, and it’s possible Nate has hidden depths too.

Cuzzillo on Balancing The Walking System

“It took many years of tuning. The walking system has evolved a lot over the five years of development, and there have been hundreds of minor breakthroughs in making it feel good, consistent, and controllable. There are two big underlying themes to balancing and tuning that have been continually reemerging as we’ve worked on it. The first is what’s the player’s job, and what’s Nate’s job? For instance, how much should he be leaning his torso to try to stay balanced, or how much should he rotate his foot to make getting your foot onto something easier? The second is how much supernatural balancing force there should be in the system. In general, I don’t like it in physics games when there are “magic forces” making the character move in unjustified ways. A lot of physics games have your controls basically throwing the character around the world with magic forces while the animation tries to catch up. That said, if we had no forces in the game that weren’t justified physically, it would be basically impossible to keep Nate up. Finding the right balance of these two things has been one of the biggest challenges of the development for me, but I’m pretty happy with where it’s ended up.”

Nate Falling Off a Cliff

Foddy on Baby Steps’ Difficulty

As a fan, I’ve noticed something cool about Baby Steps – there aren’t traditional difficulty settings. Instead, the developers took a different route. The main things you *need* to do are fairly manageable, but if you want to explore the optional or hidden content, that’s where things get really challenging – even incredibly difficult! Honestly, a lot of what makes this game special really shines through when you’re tackling those hardest parts. It’s a really rewarding system!

Foddy on Baby Steps’ Core Level Design Ethos

A core design principle for our game is to avoid frustrating players who fall from heights. If a player falls off a cliff, we make sure they don’t have to re-climb the entire section. This idea of being forgiving is actually the foundation for how we designed all the levels.

Boch on Sound Design

While recovering from finishing the game *Ape Out*, I started experimenting with making music in the shower and really liked the sounds I could create. Since I’d already used water sounds in *Ape Out’s* soundtrack, it felt natural to build the music for *Baby Steps* – a game about a somewhat lost guy’s trippy hike – around sounds from nature.

Nate Walking Across a Beam (Success!)

Boch and Cuzzillo on Post-Release Support

Boch

We’ll continue to refine the audio in Baby Steps for many months after launch. We have exciting plans to make the game sound even more polished and immersive over time.

Cuzzillo

“The only thing I’m thinking about is a developer commentary track. It wouldn’t be the traditional approach though, and I wouldn’t want to spoil it.”

Foddy on Streaming Baby Steps

We designed the game to be enjoyable both for players and viewers! We encourage streamers to embrace silly, improvisational gameplay, giving them freedom to explore different ways to have fun. And for those who like a tougher experience, there are plenty of optional challenges to tackle.

I recommend checking out CaseOh’s playthrough of the demo.

Even Nate Knows Some Rules Are Made to Be Broken

What makes *Baby Steps* special isn’t a hidden formula – it’s that it boldly ignores many common game design rules. While others chase broad appeal, *Baby Steps* focuses on a single, incredibly fun core gameplay loop. Its protagonist isn’t a typical hero; he’s deliberately limited in what he can do, and this limitation actually *strengthens* the game. Instead of trying to compete with big-budget open-world titles, it aims for genuine innovation. It prioritizes a unique artistic vision over cutting-edge graphics. Every detail, even the awkward or silly moments, serves the game’s overall purpose. This approach has created a surprisingly cohesive and captivating world, attracting attention from content creators, players seeking something different, and even industry veterans.

Shuhei Yoshida, formerly the president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, had previously highlighted *Baby Steps* as a game he was really looking forward to in 2025. He also has a good track record of recognizing promising indie games early on, having praised *Blue Prince* and *Expedition 33* before they received widespread critical acclaim. According to the game’s creator, however, Yoshida isn’t the only person at Sony who believes in the project.

The team at Sony has been consistently supportive of the game during its creation. It’s great that a major platform holder has embraced a game that playfully satirizes popular, large-scale console titles.

Ultimately, *Baby Steps* does things very differently from typical large-scale open-world games, purposefully avoiding the trends dictated by many industry executives. It doesn’t boast about being the biggest or most realistic, or promise a huge number of features. Instead, *Baby Steps* concentrates on a well-connected game design, even if it feels a little unusual. While other games rush ahead, *Baby Steps* takes a slower, more deliberate approach – like the tortoise in the classic fable.

2025-09-16 17:17