Ignoring Valve's Half-Life lessons, Baby Steps dev says trolling players with level design is important, actually

Designer Gabe Cuzzillo's reflections on the literal and meditative walking simulator Baby Steps were a highlight of GDC. In his panel, Cuzzillo discussed how the game's mountainous open world was curated, made, and tested – and, in some cases, not tested. A moment that stood out to me was a comparison made to Valve's Half-Life, or rather, comments from designer Greg Coomer in the developer commentary of Half-Life 2: Episode 2. In a section highlighted by Cuzzillo, Coomer examines a section