Baby Steps is the latest game from Bennett Foddy, the creator of Getting Over It and QWOP. To anyone who’s played those games, it will come as no surprise that Baby Steps controls awkwardly and is consistently frustrating. And after digging in to the Steam Next Fest demo, I can’t wait to play more.
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You’ll take on the role of Nate, an unambitious layabout who spends his days melting into his couch. With no warning, something suddenly transports him to a mysterious wasteland filled with irritatingly polite Australian NPCs. Nate is forced to awkwardly walk around the environment to find a way home.
Foddy and Ape Out collaborators Gabe Cuzzillo and Maxi Boch have built Baby Steps around its intentionally difficult walking mechanic. Lifting each leg involves holding down the corresponding shoulder button on your controller. You then gently use the left stick to lean your momentum back and forth.
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It’s an absurd way to simulate walking and yet, there’s a satisfying flow state once you get it going smoothly. Or at least I felt that way the very few times I managed to get that rhythm going. Even still, failure proves to be funny and there’s enough in this demo to propel you to explore the world. I wonder how this will stretch to a full game, but Baby Steps gets off to a really fun start.
Boch builds the terrific music using a smattering of environmental sounds, which dynamically layer themselves based on your gameplay. It’s always engaging, attention-grabbing and unlike anything I can recall.
The stilted, nervous dialogue every time Nate runs in to another NPC always cracked me up. There’s just something so specifically funny about annoyingly cheery Australian men and Baby Steps leans into this hard.
With a charming sense of humour, outstanding sound design and an oh-so-infuriating control scheme, Baby Steps is putting a confident foot forward. I can’t wait to find out whether they stick the landing when Baby Steps releases September 8th on PlayStation 5 and PC.
