Baby Steps will be following in the footsteps of the viral rage games that preceded it, although it is less ragey than those, and that's encapsulated by its less-than-conventional failson protagonist. This subversion of the typical male empowerment fantasy found in the gaming space is an intentional aspect, something that the devs behind Baby Steps have elaborated upon.
The developers of Getting Over It have returned with another physics-based simulator game aimed at entertaining the masses. Baby Steps follows the exploits of Nate, an unemployed, slothful 'failson' who is transported to a tranquil mountain landscape and forced to get back on his feet. The Best War Games sat down with the trio at work on Baby Steps—being Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, and Bennett Foddy—with Foddy discussing what makes Nate tick and how his character goes against the medium's bread-and-butter for masculine protagonists.
Baby Steps' Failson Protagonist Nate Explained
How Nate Is Set Up As A Failson
The concept of a 'failson' is something that's being leaned into hard with the language surrounding Baby Steps' main character, but the term is exactly what it says on the box. Dating back to the mid-2010s, failson describes an adult or young adult who has 'failed' to make anything of themselves. It is typically used as a pejorative term toward unemployed adults who survive on the lodgings and finances of their parents, especially if said individuals come from families of wealth, meaning it often shares space with phrases like 'nepo baby'—albeit with broader applicability.
This 'failson' concept is rooted not only in a culture shaped by capitalism (with the conditions of the 'fail' in 'failson' predicated mostly on financial qualifiers, basing success on whether someone has moved out from under their parents and/or is employed), but an understanding of masculinity as informed by capitalism. The nuclear family unit capitalism has enforced (most predominantly in the western world) places men—and, by extension, masculinity itself—in the breadwinner role. Therefore, a society created on the foundations of capitalism will view men who deviate from this as having 'failed' in some capacity, which is the situation the protagonist of Baby Steps finds himself in.
How Baby Steps Subverts Gaming Culture
When discussing the gameplay of Baby Steps and how it goes against the grain, Foddy touched on Nate's character. Foddy spoke about how Nate works as a failson and how he goes in tandem with the gameplay as a subversion of masculine empowerment in gaming culture:
"If the gameplay in Baby Steps is resisting the traditional masculine empowerment fantasy in action games, we wanted a character who could embody that idea, so we explored what kinds of things that could mean. The trope of the ‘failson’ is a person who is expected to show certain types of masculine-coded success and is given a lot of material support from his parents in achieving it, but for whatever reason, is not able to live up to that expectation. That seemed like the perfect fit for our gameplay, where someone is living in the world of default action heroes but struggling to do the basics within that world."
Foddy's statement about Nate "struggling to do the basics" hits at the core subversion at play with Nate. Games like Baby Steps often position the player in an absurd circumstance that defies conventional masculinity, but few place as much emphasis on walking as Baby Steps does. Video games reflect the society that produces them, and when it comes to action games, they typically reinforce the male breadwinner mentality. However, Baby Steps looks to be a game that acknowledges that the perception of success enforced by these titles can't be taken for granted, and that's expressed through the central mechanic. Where most games take the ability to walk for granted, Baby Steps has its protagonist grapple with this concept one step at a time.
- Released
- September 23, 2025
- Developer(s)
- Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy
- Publisher(s)
- Devolver Digital
- Number of Players
- Single-player
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Unknown
