I cannot stop playing this preposterous game about falling down a mountain

"In Baby Steps, you play as a useless imbecile called Nate who has done basically nothing with his 35 years on this planet except sit in his parents' basement and watch anime re-runs. One day he is transported, in his adult onesie, to the foot of a surreal mountain decorated with phallic imagery, and you must get him to the top by controlling his feet individually, lifting them carefully with the controller's triggers and placing them with the analogue stick."

"Over and over Nate trips and tumbles, whining piteously as he slides down a muddy slope or bank of sand, his onesie becoming increasingly soiled. Over and over, you get up and try again. Occasionally an Australian guy with crazy eyes or a pantsless donkey man with dangling genitals shows up to gently mock you and offer help that Nate, infuriatingly, refuses to accept. Early on in the game, Nate is offered shoes. Does he take the shoes? Of course not."

"Three hours into my time with this ridiculous game, having taken an epic tumble from a plank into a river, I stomped Nate dejectedly around a corner to discover the campsite where I had begun my hike that morning. In the meantime I had achieved nothing besides finding a silly propellor hat, which was itself an extra burden as I had to bend down and pick it up whenever I fell over."

Baby Steps places a 35-year-old, basement-dwelling protagonist named Nate at the foot of a surreal, phallic-decorated mountain and requires players to control each foot separately using triggers and the analogue stick. The deliberate, awkward control scheme makes basic locomotion challenging, producing frequent trips, slides, and tumbles that soil Nate’s adult onesie. The game repeatedly returns players to earlier campsite areas after long, frustrating attempts, and offers odd NPCs—an Australian man and a pantsless donkey figure—who mock or offer assistance that Nate often refuses. Small cosmetic items like a propeller hat add inconvenience during falls, amplifying player exasperation.

Read at www.theguardian.com