Baby Steps punishes the serial cutscene captain with a 28-minute long cutscene

Baby Steps, the recently released real-life walking simulator from Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, and Bennett Foddy, is silly, ridiculous, and often weird…in a good way. But one of its silliest gags is one that few players are likely to see: a 28-minute-long cutscene that only plays if you've successfully skipped all or most of the game's other cutscenes.

When I say success, I really mean it. Skipping cutscenes in Baby Steps isn't just as simple as pressing the “skip” button. Each cutscene skip forces you to play a weird little game with the Skip button, almost like the Skip button is trying to actively prevent you from skipping. You can also fail these jumps, and if you don't skip enough of them, you won't trigger the ridiculous, lengthy rewards (or penalties) that come with being a jump maniac.

The cutscene takes place at the end of the game when Nate visits Moose at the cabin. If the player skipped everything but the last cutscene, the cutscene continues and Nate breaks the fourth wall, telling Moose to skip the cutscene and stating that he can't actually complete the final scene. The two sat outside chatting while their co-stars Cuchillo and Fordy chatted casually about everything from broccoli sandwiches to their characters' inability to handle the challenges of recording in a busy flight path alone. At one point, they attempt to take a nap, but this proves awkward and they get off topic while talking about mold, the human need to pee as a useful writing tool, and the difficulties of localization. They constantly berate players for the cutscenes they keep skipping and how they feel about it, and then become frustrated when the player doesn't skip this particular cutscene, forcing them to keep recording dialogue.

The cutscene lasts about 28 minutes and the two have about 28 minutes of stupid, pointless discussion before they decide it's important to show the end credits and a cat starts meowing at them to hurry things along. Beautiful.

Players who just want to watch all of this without skipping all the other scenes can Find them all on YouTube. Whether you view this sort of thing as a punishment or a reward for you or others abusing the skip button is entirely up to you.

us Rate Baby Steps 9/10 Calling it “an infuriating test of deliberately awkward physics that's brutal, mind-bogglingly stupid, and downright terrifying”.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter at IGN. You can find her posts at BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Have a story tip? Send it to [email protected].