Baby Steps can be read as a game about depression—not because it diagnoses its protagonist, Nate, but because it builds play around the low motivation, anxiety, withdrawal, insecurity, and difficulty accepting help that its creators have described. That is an interpretation of the game’s themes, not a clinical claim or a promise that playing it will improve anyone’s mental health.
What is Baby Steps about?
Baby Steps is a single-player game developed by Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, and Bennett Foddy and published by Devolver Digital. It was released on September 23, 2025, according to its Steam listing. The store presents Nate as an unemployed “failson” who feels he has nothing going for him, then discovers the challenge—and power—of putting one foot in front of the other.
The premise is funny and deliberately awkward, but Nate’s starting point is recognizably bleak. In a 2023 interview with The Guardian, co-creator Gabe Cuzzillo said: “Nate is in a bit of a rut at the beginning of the story: he’s feeling pressured by his parents to get out of the house and get a job, he’s anxious, and he can no longer bring himself to face the world.” That combination of pressure, anxiety, and retreat is why a depression reading has substance, even though Cuzzillo does not give Nate a diagnosis in that statement.
Why does Nate’s struggle feel connected to depression?
It is not just a lack of effort
Nate is not introduced as someone who simply needs to try harder. Cuzzillo describes a character who feels pressure to become productive but is struggling to face the world. The gap between what others expect and what Nate can bring himself to do gives his predicament emotional weight: the problem is not only that he is going nowhere, but that movement itself has become difficult.
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The game turns that difficulty into its central physical task. Walking demands repeated attention and effort; progress is not effortless or guaranteed. That can resonate with experiences of low motivation, where a seemingly ordinary next step feels unusually hard. It does not make Nate’s experience a stand-in for every person living with depression, but it gives the interpretation a concrete foundation in the way the game is played.
Insecurity makes isolation harder to break
In a 2025 Washington Post interview, co-creator Bennett Foddy described insecurity as central to Nate: “Insecurity is really the core of the character, he doesn’t want to be seen as incapable or weak. He is trying to create a veneer of masculine success like he imagines his dad having, but it’s not really working and nobody’s buying it.”
That self-protective image helps explain why struggling can feel so exposing for Nate. If he is afraid of being seen as weak, accepting help risks confirming the very judgment he is trying to avoid. The result is a character whose difficulty is emotional as well as physical: the fear of looking incapable can get in the way of making the task easier.
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What do the walking and failure add to the reading?
The game makes setbacks part of its rhythm. A fall can undo progress, provoking frustration as the player tries again. In a 2025 PC Gamer report on the developers’ overview video, Cuzzillo said: “You can fall off [a ledge] and feel the despair and frustration, and maybe that will lead you to have some kind of revelation about yourself and how you react to the trials and tribulations that life throws at you.”
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsHis wording matters: he describes a possible moment of reflection, not a guaranteed response or a mental-health benefit. The repeated effort can invite players to notice how they react to frustration, but the game does not prescribe one meaning for every fall. Its awkward physical comedy also keeps the experience from becoming a solemn allegory in which every obstacle neatly represents an emotion.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why is accepting help part of Nate’s problem?
Foddy connects Nate’s reluctance to seek help with a familiar player habit: “That dovetails with the way we on the team play games, which is to skip the tutorial and not read the instructions and try to figure it out. There’s a bit of critical self-reflection … am I too proud to accept help?” The remark is about both Nate and the creators’ own approach to games, so it should not be reduced to a diagnosis of the character.
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Still, it sharpens the game’s central tension. The task is demanding, but pride can make it harder when help is available. That idea supports a reading of Nate as trapped not only by external expectations, but also by insecurity about what accepting assistance might say about him.
Is Baby Steps explicitly a game about depression?
The available creator comments support a thematic interpretation, not the stronger claim that the developers explicitly labeled Baby Steps a game about depression. Cuzzillo spoke of Nate’s anxiety and withdrawal; Foddy emphasized insecurity, fear of appearing weak, and pride around accepting help. Together, those details make the reading plausible, but they do not establish a clinical diagnosis for Nate or a statement of authorial intent using that label.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →There is also no basis here for describing the game as treatment or claiming that it improves mental health. Its comedy, physical challenge, and varied player responses matter: some players may connect Nate’s rut to depression, while others may see the game chiefly as absurd comedy or a satire of stubbornness and failure. Neither response needs to be universal for the interpretation to hold.
How to play
Steam recommends playing with a controller. The official Baby Steps website links to Steam and PlayStation 5 storefronts; check those stores for current platform details and availability.
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