The cult classic returns, re-imagined
By Paul Hunter
Baby Steps is a joyous oddity from acclaimed developer Bennett Foddy, with design help from Gabe Cuzzillo and Maxi Boch. You control Nate, an unemployed failson, on a bumbling and hilarious adventure where you directly control his feet. On PS5, the triggers lift his left and right legs and the left stick places each foot. That mechanic may sound simple, but it's clumsy at first; however, eventually it turns into a tactile, rewarding rhythm.
The game sends you on a laborious climb up a mountain with plenty of optional detours. Short cutscenes and small collectibles such as hats appear along the way, and lighting campfires ties those finds into brief narrative moments.
Expect to fail often in Baby Steps, but it usually nudges you back toward doable routes so setbacks are brief and learning feels natural. The overall tone is frequently toilet-humour funny and occasionally tender, which gives the climb real charm. So, is Baby Steps on PS5 worth guiding Nate one awkward, joyful step at a time? Let’s find out!
The game starts with Nate being his usual self at home: living in his parent's basement, watching TV, doing basically nothing. That domestic setup is important because it makes his sudden transport to a strange world hit harder. He lands in a pool inside a cave and then begins a long uphill walk that becomes a quiet road to change.
The story unfolds in small moments rather than epic beats. At brief pause points short scenes occurr, and if you approach them wearing a hat you found earlier, they unlock extra lines that reveal more about Nate and his family. These bits feel personal and often made me root for him. The optional cutscenes introduce colourful foils to the story. Jim is a guide who quickly runs out of patience, which plays for laughs and awkwardness. Mike is the confident hiker who shows what Nate might have been if he only had a better guide. A later scene with Moose filled me genuine emotions; it’s simple, sincere and quietly brilliant.
Humour runs alongside sadness. The game throws surreal gags at you—odd towers, otherworldly landmarks and some very silly set pieces—but it also lets Nate show real vulnerability. Incidental quests and tiny finds add flavour and keep the climb from feeling repetitive. Finding new hats, toilets and random encounters make the world feel lived in and wanting to surprise you.
The pacing suits the theme of small steps and steady growth. Moments of levity let you breathe between harder climbs. By the end I felt like I had watched someone inch toward confidence, sometimes clumsily, always honestly. That emotional through-line gives the whole ascent a winsome pull.
Baby Steps turns controlling Nate into a full-on adventure. The triggers lift each leg, the stick positions his foot, and before long I found myself obsessing over rhythm and balance like some kind of clumsy ballet.
One climb sticks in my memory. A stretch of sand and mud had me testing every step, inching Nate forward with intense focus. When I finally made it across, covered in virtual grime, I couldn’t stop grinning. Later, I spotted a hat hanging off a wood plank draped over a cliff, so I spent ten minutes taking ridiculously small baby steps and finally reached the treasure. Those tiny, silly moments made every step feel important.
Different surfaces affect Nate’s movement in obvious and subtle ways. Wet ground, sand, streams, and ice all require distinct approaches, and mastering them rewards patience. Gates, rocks, and small cliffs encourage creative solutions, and optional fetch quests or hidden paths give a nice sense of discovery.
Failing is part of the loop, but the game is kind. If a step goes wrong, you’re often only sent back a little, allowing new strategies without massive setbacks. That design makes every small victory feel like an accomplishment and keeps frustration low while still giving a satisfying challenge. Be warned though, there are some tricky areas that if failed, can have you falling down a river or mountainside all the way to the bottom.
All in all, Baby Steps transforms a simple concept into a quirky, joyful experience where progress, experimentation, and a few laugh-out-loud moments create a unique sense of accomplishment.
I kept stopping to look at Nate. There was something about the way he slouched, the onesie stretching oddly, and the little streaks of mud after a tumble that made me grin. The visuals are fairly modest, but they are full of character. When Nate breaks into a steady trot you can actually see sweat beads form, and that tiny detail kept reminding me I was guiding a real, fallible person.
The hats are comedic gold. I treated one like a trophy and guarded it across a slippery ledge. When it fell, the ensuing scramble felt like a mini tragedy—and then hilarity. And yes, once your hat falls off you'll need to find and retrieve it, which itself could be another perilous task.
Instead of a conventional soundtrack, the audio works mainly stitches together bird calls, footfalls, dripping water and distant animal noises. When you find your walking groove, these ambient sounds almost harmonise and the movement feels poetic in a goofy sort of way. It’s unconventional, but I loved it.
Cutscene performances are rough around the edges, yet that scratchy quality suits the game’s humour. Characters rarely speak in rehearsed lines; instead their banter lands as improvised and often very funny. The game is also unabashedly silly, potter jokes and odd visual gags appear often, and I laughed each and every time.
Final Score: 8.5/10 - Great
Developer: Bennett Foddy
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Genre: Adventure, Walking Simulator
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.
By Paul Hunter
Baby Steps is a joyous oddity from acclaimed developer Bennett Foddy, with design help from Gabe Cuzzillo and Maxi Boch. You control Nate, an unemployed failson, on a bumbling and hilarious adventure where you directly control his feet. On PS5, the triggers lift his left and right legs and the left stick places each foot. That mechanic may sound simple, but it's clumsy at first; however, eventually it turns into a tactile, rewarding rhythm.
The game sends you on a laborious climb up a mountain with plenty of optional detours. Short cutscenes and small collectibles such as hats appear along the way, and lighting campfires ties those finds into brief narrative moments.
Expect to fail often in Baby Steps, but it usually nudges you back toward doable routes so setbacks are brief and learning feels natural. The overall tone is frequently toilet-humour funny and occasionally tender, which gives the climb real charm. So, is Baby Steps on PS5 worth guiding Nate one awkward, joyful step at a time? Let’s find out!
The game starts with Nate being his usual self at home: living in his parent's basement, watching TV, doing basically nothing. That domestic setup is important because it makes his sudden transport to a strange world hit harder. He lands in a pool inside a cave and then begins a long uphill walk that becomes a quiet road to change.
The story unfolds in small moments rather than epic beats. At brief pause points short scenes occurr, and if you approach them wearing a hat you found earlier, they unlock extra lines that reveal more about Nate and his family. These bits feel personal and often made me root for him. The optional cutscenes introduce colourful foils to the story. Jim is a guide who quickly runs out of patience, which plays for laughs and awkwardness. Mike is the confident hiker who shows what Nate might have been if he only had a better guide. A later scene with Moose filled me genuine emotions; it’s simple, sincere and quietly brilliant.
Humour runs alongside sadness. The game throws surreal gags at you—odd towers, otherworldly landmarks and some very silly set pieces—but it also lets Nate show real vulnerability. Incidental quests and tiny finds add flavour and keep the climb from feeling repetitive. Finding new hats, toilets and random encounters make the world feel lived in and wanting to surprise you.
The pacing suits the theme of small steps and steady growth. Moments of levity let you breathe between harder climbs. By the end I felt like I had watched someone inch toward confidence, sometimes clumsily, always honestly. That emotional through-line gives the whole ascent a winsome pull.
Baby Steps turns controlling Nate into a full-on adventure. The triggers lift each leg, the stick positions his foot, and before long I found myself obsessing over rhythm and balance like some kind of clumsy ballet.
One climb sticks in my memory. A stretch of sand and mud had me testing every step, inching Nate forward with intense focus. When I finally made it across, covered in virtual grime, I couldn’t stop grinning. Later, I spotted a hat hanging off a wood plank draped over a cliff, so I spent ten minutes taking ridiculously small baby steps and finally reached the treasure. Those tiny, silly moments made every step feel important.
Different surfaces affect Nate’s movement in obvious and subtle ways. Wet ground, sand, streams, and ice all require distinct approaches, and mastering them rewards patience. Gates, rocks, and small cliffs encourage creative solutions, and optional fetch quests or hidden paths give a nice sense of discovery.
Failing is part of the loop, but the game is kind. If a step goes wrong, you’re often only sent back a little, allowing new strategies without massive setbacks. That design makes every small victory feel like an accomplishment and keeps frustration low while still giving a satisfying challenge. Be warned though, there are some tricky areas that if failed, can have you falling down a river or mountainside all the way to the bottom.
All in all, Baby Steps transforms a simple concept into a quirky, joyful experience where progress, experimentation, and a few laugh-out-loud moments create a unique sense of accomplishment.
I kept stopping to look at Nate. There was something about the way he slouched, the onesie stretching oddly, and the little streaks of mud after a tumble that made me grin. The visuals are fairly modest, but they are full of character. When Nate breaks into a steady trot you can actually see sweat beads form, and that tiny detail kept reminding me I was guiding a real, fallible person.
The hats are comedic gold. I treated one like a trophy and guarded it across a slippery ledge. When it fell, the ensuing scramble felt like a mini tragedy—and then hilarity. And yes, once your hat falls off you'll need to find and retrieve it, which itself could be another perilous task.
Instead of a conventional soundtrack, the audio works mainly stitches together bird calls, footfalls, dripping water and distant animal noises. When you find your walking groove, these ambient sounds almost harmonise and the movement feels poetic in a goofy sort of way. It’s unconventional, but I loved it.
Cutscene performances are rough around the edges, yet that scratchy quality suits the game’s humour. Characters rarely speak in rehearsed lines; instead their banter lands as improvised and often very funny. The game is also unabashedly silly, potter jokes and odd visual gags appear often, and I laughed each and every time.
The Verdict
I can’t stop thinking about Baby Steps. Nudging Nate’s legs through mud and sand turned into tiny, addictive challenges that made me grin every time. Chasing a hat that slipped into a stream became one of the game’s funniest little detours. The earth-toned visuals, off-kilter characters and layered ambient noises made each climb feel full of life. Nate’s awkwardness is utterly charming and the strange humour kept me smiling through every wobble. It’s a joyful, quirky ride and every awkward step felt deeply satisfying.Final Score: 8.5/10 - Great
Baby Steps details
Platform: PS5, PCDeveloper: Bennett Foddy
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Genre: Adventure, Walking Simulator
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.