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Hiking (Dis)Pleasure Island: Enjoyment & Critical Gameplay in Baby Steps

The document analyzes the 2025 game Baby Steps as a critical game that uses difficult gameplay to foster critical reflection and model an antifascist approach to game design.

• Sarah Thorne's paper treats Baby Steps (2025) by Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, and Bennett Foddy as a critical game, arguing its punishing difficulty is deliberate rather than a mere rage-inducing meme.
• The game stages the frustration of protagonist Nate, a 35-year-old gamer stereotype who refuses help on a mountain climb, prompting players to reflect on their own complicity in that refusal.
• The paper reads the Pinocchio-inspired Pleasure Island narrative as a critique of game culture, escapist fantasy, and toxic masculinity.