The term “walking simulator” can mean many things. Generally, it describes a game that focuses on exploration and discovery, often performed on foot in an open or non-linear environment. However, in recent years, the term has also been used in a derogatory manner to criticize seemingly “empty” open-world games with large maps but little to do. With Baby Steps, an upcoming “literal walking simulator” in which players control the individual steps of a man as he explores his environment, developers Bennett Foddy, Gabe Cuzzillo, and Maxi Boch sought to both reclaim and subvert the term. Yes, Baby Steps is a walking simulator—and the team is proud of that fact.
How Baby Steps Subverts The Open-World Formula
When asked if Baby Steps was deliberately designed as a satire of the walking simulator genre, Bennett Foddy responded: “I think of it more as a subversion of AAA open-world games like Assassin’s Creed, which also, after all, involve a huge amount of walking around the landscape.” Baby Steps does have a central plot: “failson” Nate must explore the mysterious world he has found himself in, but the game is extremely open-ended. There are no quest markers or checklists. Players can wander at their own pace and seek out whatever routes they like.
In addition, Foddy, Cuzzillo, and Boch wanted to include deliberate subversions of common elements of large open-world games like the aforementioned Assassin’s Creed. One major example is collectibles. Throughout the world, players can find various hats for Nate to wear, but if he falls and loses the hat in a crevice or it slides down the slope, it could be gone for good. There’s no database of hats, no reward waiting for players who collect them all. They’re just part of the world, and players can interact with them or not if they so choose.
Baby Steps Reclaims The Term “Walking Simulator”
Baby Steps is not the first “literal walking simulator” that the team, particularly Bennett Foddy, have worked on. One of Foddy’s earliest projects was QWOP, a notoriously difficult game in which players must control the different parts of a runner’s legs to win a race. 2017’s Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy featured a unique take on “walking”; the player character sat in a pot and had to pull themselves up a mountain. Foddy explained that his games are different from standard “walking simulators” in that “they aren’t literally simulating walking, like we are.”
However, he is a fan of the walking simulator genre and is proud to call Baby Steps one:
“I personally am a huge fan of walking sims and have played a ton of them, from well-known things like Dear Esther or Gone Home to more niche titles like Fugue in Void or Far Future Tourism. What we have in common is that we don’t want to abide by normal genre tropes.”
Foddy is particularly happy to consider Baby Steps a walking simulator because he appreciates that the developers of aforementioned titles, such as Dear Esther and Gone Home, have worked to reclaim a title that has been applied negatively to their games by players. “Walking sim is a term which is used by designers who are interested in making games that are mostly about exploring and observing,” he explained. “[They’re] reclaiming a derisive term that some players have for these games.”
Baby Steps will join the pantheon of walking simulators proudly reclaiming the term when it launches on September 23. It may be somewhat different from other games in the genre because of its focus on very literal walking, but it still contains all the key elements needed to make a great walking sim: a vast, stunning world to explore, plenty of secrets to find, and gorgeous views to enjoy.
- Released
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September 23, 2025
- Developer(s)
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Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy
- Publisher(s)
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Devolver Digital
- Number of Players
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Single-player
- Steam Deck Compatibility
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Unknown
