Baby Steps makes me feel like I never really learnt how to walk, but for the most part that’s not down to me, it’s down to the treacherous terrain Nate has decided to wander through. From bumbling through mud to toddling around waterfalls, Baby Steps isn’t exactly an easy hike to embark on. But, it’s no surprise given the inspiration behind the games’ level design.
In fact, the level design of Baby Steps is hugely inspired by two things: a custom map in Mirror’s Edge and a Japanese skateboarder. During a talk at GDC, developer Gabe Cuzzillo shared that a custom map called Sparrow Cumulus which challenged players to find a route for themselves was one of the biggest inspirations behind the level design for Baby Steps.
Cuzzillo stated: “When I first played this game, I felt like I was waking up all of a sudden. I was going down these long paths full of interesting shimmies and jumps, only to find that they were dead ends, and all of a sudden I was actually looking at and seeing the space in a way that I hadn’t in a single player level in a long time.” Before continuing to explain how this experience motivated him to explore in a more nuanced way.
“To me, there’s this feeling that I get when I’m playing this way, in this random environment that I’m exploring and I am testing. I am not being tested. I no longer feel like the game is playing me like an instrument.” Though this wasn’t the only reason behind Baby Steps following the same sort of design. Cuzzillo continued: “At around the same time, I saw this video called Timescan 2 which is about these skaters in Tokyo.”
In particular, one skater featured within the video, Gou Miyagi, stood out due to skating in a way that triggered the same feeling to Cuzzillo as the Mirror’s Edge map did. “I felt like he was using this constraint of working with what’s given, like what’s already there, to push himself into finding more creative ways of moving the skateboard. And I feel like there was something in common with that Mirror’s Edge map. When I was playing throughout the Cumulus, it felt like it was pushing me into the mindset of Gou Miyagi a little bit.”
It explains why Baby Steps lets you take the challenge at your own pace and forces you to find your own paths. With no set route, it does feel like you’re allowed to trek around and find what suits you despite there being a suggested path, and carving out your own route is part of the fun. No matter how many times you slip, fall, and have to retrace your steps.
During the development process, Cuzzillo shared that the team worked in a way that meant “one of us would do a chunk of level design and the other one would come to play. And, inevitably, what would happen is that we would start walking down the trail or trying the challenge that we were supposed to be testing, and then our eyes would wander to those areas of the level that had yet to be touched by either of us.
“It was the stuff that was ambiguous as to whether or not you could do it, stuff that you could puzzle over and push you into trying new ways of moving. That was really the experience we’re interested in.”
So the next time you’re stuck between a literal rock and a hard place while exploring with Nate, just know there’s a reason behind why the world was designed in such a way—which probably means there’s a way you can push through that level too. Unless you’re me, and you’ve found a perpetual way to fall over your own feet and never quite make it back up.
