Baby Steps

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 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.

90%Game Brain Score

humor, gameplay

grinding, optimization

92% User Score Based on 1,260 reviews

Critic Score 85%Based on 4 reviews

Platforms

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About

Baby Steps is a single player casual simulation game with a comedy theme. It was developed by Bennett Foddy and was released on September 23, 2025. It received positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

Buy Baby Steps on PlayStation Store. Get ready to fall in this literal walking simulator.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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92%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,260 reviews

humor218 positive mentions

grinding9 negative mentions

Unique and engaging gameplay that challenges players to master walking mechanics.
Hilarious and absurd humor, with well-written dialogue and entertaining cutscenes.
Deep and meaningful story that explores themes of personal growth, insecurity, and the importance of asking for help.

Frustrating at times due to inconsistent physics and unexpected falls, leading to loss of progress.
Lack of clear direction can result in players feeling lost and unsure of where to go next.
Some players may find the humor and crude elements off-putting, detracting from the overall experience.

humor
221 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
99%
1%
The humor in "Baby Steps" is a standout feature, blending absurdity, awkwardness, and clever writing to create a uniquely entertaining experience. Players appreciate the hilarious cutscenes and dialogue, which often provide a comedic contrast to the game's challenging mechanics. However, some find the humor can become repetitive or crude, leading to mixed feelings about its overall effectiveness, especially as gameplay frustrations mount.
- “In this, Baby Steps completely understood its homework (complete with poison swamp), and rarely has failure been so hilarious - the inherently funny ragdolls, the unexpected banana peel both literal and figurative, the punctuation of a perfectly timed 'oh bother' comment from Nate as he finishes a minute-long mudslide past all his progress - all finely balanced against the other foot of tragedy when that shoe drops.”
- “The humor reminds me of Taika Waititi, and if you enjoyed Getting Over It, then this is an easy one to recommend.”
- “The characters and cutscenes are hilarious - the actors are great and the editing is superb.”
- “Tiring and unfunny.”
- “While most of the easily found challenges are good exercises in skill, some of them are like a joke that goes on for far too long, becoming unfunny in the process.”
- “This game's humor may be a bit on the cringey side, but that's okay.”
gameplay
176 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
60%
3%
The gameplay is characterized by a unique and challenging walking mechanic that can be both frustrating and rewarding, requiring players to master precise movements to navigate diverse environments. While the mechanics are simple to learn, they present significant challenges that can lead to moments of humor and tension, making the experience engaging for those who appreciate a blend of difficulty and exploration. Overall, the game offers a mix of enjoyable mechanics, clever level design, and a humorous narrative, though its punishing nature may deter some players.
- “I thought it was going to be goofy physics slop, but it turned out to have the most nuanced, fair, and tense moment-to-moment gameplay I've seen in a long time.”
- “The diverse biomes are beautifully crafted, keeping the gameplay dynamic and fresh as you are constantly choosing between easier, safer paths and more challenging, riskier ones.”
- “The gameplay is genuinely relaxing most of the time, and it's exciting to explore every nook and cranny.”
- “The humor of the story is dry and cheeky, and the gameplay is nothing short of frustrating.”
- “You can and will lose a lot of progress and be forced to retrace a lot of wobbly, tedious steps to get back to the thing you were trying to do, which itself might be challenging enough that it requires many attempts that will inevitably fail, and if that does not sound like acceptable gameplay to you, you should pass on this.”
- “The developers seriously need to do some reform on the mechanics, because this was unbearable and I do not recommend anyone buy this.”
story
156 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
71%
3%
The story of "Baby Steps" is a quirky and absurd journey that blends humor with deeper themes of personal growth, insecurity, and self-acceptance. While some players find the narrative engaging and heartfelt, others criticize it for being overshadowed by gameplay frustrations and crude humor. Overall, the storytelling is seen as a unique and thought-provoking element that enhances the game's experience, despite its polarizing reception.
- “The story is great, with a surreal sense of humor; it still manages to deliver one of the biggest gut punches of any game I've ever played.”
- “Baby Steps is a very poignant, dark, and honest story wrapped up in a goofy and crude rage-bait game, which is sad because the difficulty and crudeness will only appeal to a small portion of the gaming population, but the story is so heartfelt that it really needs to be discussed in greater detail.”
- “The story, simple, clear, and unexpectedly heartfelt.”
- “Now the biggest issue with the game is in its characters and story.”
- “The story is surprisingly layered and heartfelt.”
- “I was really hooked on the beginning of the story, but it just disappointed me; it didn't go in the direction I wanted it to, and it felt hollow, like the constant attempts to goad the player into doing more side content.”
music
51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
74%
8%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its unique and experimental nature, which incorporates unconventional sounds like nature noises and animal grunts, while others find it distracting or grating. Many users noted that the soundtrack can be muted without losing much of the experience, and some expressed a desire for more traditional music elements. Overall, the music is seen as a quirky aspect that contributes to the game's charm, though it may not appeal to everyone.
- “The sound design and ambient music is absolutely phenomenal.”
- “A surreal and psychedelic soundtrack composed mostly of nature sounds ties the whole thing together.”
- “The audio design and music of Baby Steps are uniquely crafted.”
- “The 'music' is god awful; it's literally just semi-rhythmic grunts and squeaks, but you can just turn it off and not really lose anything.”
- “Overall, Baby Steps is not a perfect game, and I think it gets some things wrong (such as the intentionally irritating soundtrack, which gives the impression that rage baiting is the point of the game, which I don't think it is), however, I do think it is a very interesting and special game.”
- “Also, the soundtrack for this game seems designed to annoy you, like it will just play barnyard sounds over and over or drip drop noises, why.”
emotional
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is surprisingly profound, with players expressing a deep connection to the protagonist, Nate, and his relatable struggles with loneliness and insecurity. Despite its frustrating gameplay and crude humor, many found the story to be heartfelt and layered, evoking a range of emotions from joy to sadness, and ultimately leading to a sense of accomplishment. The game effectively combines humor with poignant themes, making it a unique experience that resonates with those willing to engage with its emotional depth.
- “Well actually there is another reason, I'm emotionally invested in Nate's journey; while he's quite a cliché, he's also relatable to me in a lot of ways.”
- “I didn't go into this game expecting a poignant and touching portrayal of depression, male loneliness, and insecurity!”
- “The emotional experience Baby Steps provides conducts a full orchestra of human feeling.”
graphics
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
22%
21%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the beautiful visuals and charming aesthetics, while others criticize the optimization and precision issues that detract from the overall experience. The ragdoll physics and unique animation style are highlighted as standout features, contributing to the game's quirky appeal. Overall, while the graphics are not groundbreaking, they are considered decent and well-designed, with a solid performance on various platforms.
- “There are side objectives, awesome and goofy cutscenes, amazing voice acting, a good story, very beautiful graphics, and a world to slowly explore with collectibles to collect :)”
- “Its really good looking for its graphics and really well designed.”
- “Graphically it is alright, voice acting and script is bad, almost The Room bad but I think it was done on purpose.”
- “The visuals aren't out of this world, but the game has some charm and runs flawlessly on the Steam Deck; a few times I was hitting mid 50s fps, but generally a solid 60 fps.”
- “The controls are not precise enough for what this game demands sometimes, or rather the visuals make it hard to know precisely where your feet are going to land, which gets pretty important after an hour or so.”
grinding
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews highlight that the grinding aspect of the game is overwhelmingly tedious and frustrating, often requiring players to repeat challenging sequences multiple times due to difficult mechanics and punishing resets. While some players appreciate the challenge, many feel that the excessive repetition detracts from the overall enjoyment, making it unsuitable for those who prefer a more streamlined experience. Overall, the grinding is seen as a significant barrier to enjoyment, especially for those with limited time and patience.
- “I realize this game is deliberately annoying, tedious, and unfun as a challenge to the player, and I can appreciate that to a point, but honestly this game is like thirty percent too far up its own ass.”
- “Most people, including me (I'm way too old for this, and am far more interested in the content than I am in the process), do not have the time and patience for the tedious repetition and painful, outrageous resets you endure playing this game.”
- “You can and will lose a lot of progress and be forced to retrace a lot of wobbly, tedious steps to get back to the thing you were trying to do, which itself might be challenging enough that it requires many attempts that will inevitably fail, and if that does not sound like acceptable gameplay to you, you should pass on this.”
replayability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
29%
The game offers significant replayability due to its quirky story, multiple paths, and optional challenges that encourage exploration and experimentation. Players appreciate the variety of secondary missions, hidden items, and different playstyles that enhance the experience across multiple playthroughs. However, the absence of features like Steam Workshop for custom levels is noted as a missed opportunity to further increase replay value.
- “The story is quirky fun and has lots of replay value because of the secondary mission achievements (avoid in your first playthrough honestly, they're very difficult and require precise inputs).”
- “Mysterious story and many optional items, cut scenes, hidden mini games, and a post-game challenge make for a good amount of replayability.”
- “Instead of the replayability coming from mastering the core mechanic of moving through a specific set of obstacles, this game adds multiple paths and options for progressing that both make your initial playthrough more personalized and rewarding and your subsequent playthroughs more interesting.”
- “For me, there's a lot of replayability between levels that I look forward to coming back to previous areas to see what I missed.”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
60%
The game's optimization has received mixed feedback; while some players report good performance and no significant issues, others have experienced serious problems, including hard locks and crashes. The inclusion of FSR set to performance mode is noted, but concerns about save data loss have also been raised, indicating that optimization may vary widely among users.
- “It also comes with FSR (I could not tell you which one) set to performance out of the box as well.”
- “The game looks pretty good and is very well optimized.”
- “Performance doesn't seem to be a common complaint, and I don't experience stutters every session, so your mileage may vary.”
- “There are also some serious performance issues that result in the game completely locking up to the point of hard locking or crashing my PC.”
- “Performance doesn't seem to be a common complaint and I don't get stutters every session, so your mileage may vary, but other negative reviews have mentioned deleted saves, so I hope that gets resolved soon.”
- “It also comes with 'FSR' (I could not tell you which one) set to performance out of the box as well.”
stability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
Overall, the game's stability is praised, particularly on the Steam Deck, with many players reporting a smooth experience free of bugs or crashes, especially impressive for an open-world title at launch. However, some users noted occasional glitches that affected gameplay, such as unintended character movements.
- “First of all, it runs great on the Steam Deck.”
- “Runs great, controls are incredibly smooth, and there are no gimmicks.”
- “The inconsistency was bad enough, but on top of that, there were a couple of glitches that propelled me off the ledge when I should've simply fallen backwards.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The atmosphere of the game is described as zen and immersive, enhanced by ambient sounds and top-notch voice acting. While some players appreciate the experimental music, others find it distracting and prefer a more traditional soundtrack. The combination of awkward humor and simple controls contributes to a unique, albeit challenging, atmosphere.
- “Very zen, nice ambience and atmosphere set a great backdrop to the walking mechanics and top-notch voice acting.”
- “Awkward humor, silly atmosphere, and simple controls turn the difficulty up to 11.”
- “The ambient sounds that form the 'soundtrack' add to the atmosphere of the game.”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Character development in the game is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the rich and immersive narratives that offer compelling character arcs, others criticize the lack of growth in certain characters, particularly highlighting the main character's stagnation. The overall experience is enhanced by unique character designs and effective comedic elements, but frustrations arise from inconsistencies in character depth.
- “Very easy learning curve with an amazing compelling story, rich character development, and immersive narrative.”
- “Also very unique character designs!”
- “The gratuitous nudity and the cuck main character with zero character development really detract from the game overall.”
- “The comedic timing of jokes, the character development, and even the more meaningful underlying tone of what is being said is the treat you get for the parts that frustrated you.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Reviewers express concern over the absence of a demo, viewing it as a significant warning sign, potentially more troubling than the presence of NFTs or microtransactions. The overall sentiment suggests that monetization practices may overshadow the game's charm, which is further diminished by awkward character design.
- “The removal of a demo is an even bigger red flag for me than if it was filled with NFTs, microtransactions, or stolen assets.”