What is Braid?Braid is a puzzle-platformer, drawn in a painterly style, where the player manipulates the flow of time in strange and unusual ways. From a house in the city, journey to a series of worlds and solve puzzles to rescue an abducted princess. In each world, you have a different power to affect the way time behaves, and it is time's strangeness that creates the puzzles. The time behaviors include: the ability to rewind, objects that are immune to being rewound, time that is tied to space, parallel realities, time dilation, and perhaps more. Braid treats your time and attention as precious; there is no filler in this game. Every puzzle shows you something new and interesting about the game world.
* Forgiving yet challenging gameplay: Braid is a 2-D platform game where you can never die and never lose. Despite this, Braid is challenging—but the challenge is about solving puzzles, rather than forcing you to replay tricky jumps.
* Rich puzzle environment: Travel through a series of worlds searching for puzzle pieces, then solving puzzles by manipulating time: rewinding, creating parallel universes, setting up pockets of dilated time. The gameplay feels fresh and new; the puzzles are meant to inspire new ways of thinking.
* Aesthetic design: A painterly art style and lush, organic soundtrack complement the unique gameplay.
* Nonlinear story: A nonlinear fiction links the various worlds and provides real-world metaphors for your time manipulations; in turn, your time manipulations are projections of the real-world themes into playful "what-if" universes where consequences can be explored.
* Nonlinear gameplay: The game doesn't force you to solve puzzles in order to proceed. If you can't figure something out, just play onward and return to that puzzle later.
Release Date and PriceXBLA - August 6th 2008 at 1200 points.
PC - 31st March 2009, $30.
Reviews10 - Eurogamer -
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=205102" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"I almost never give out full marks, generally reserving that honour for retro games that have proven their worth many times over, but Braid has me in its spell. Judged purely as a game, it's cunning, ingenious and endlessly surprising. The puzzles are varied, the level design is revelatory and the whole thing clicks together like clockwork. For those only interested in gameplay, it's simply an excellent puzzler-cum-platformer. But there's so much more here, a desire to create a game experience that is more than mere technical craft. That it succeeds in creating an abstract emotional experience, one where each player can find their own level of meaning and personal context, all within the confines of the 2D platformer, is perhaps the most astonishing achievement of all."
A+ (10) - 1UP -
http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3169204" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"Like Portal, Braid's short length can be disregarded in the face of its unique approach to storytelling and expansive ideas; it needn't be played through multiple times, but those looking for cognitive stimulation must experience it at least once. Excellent but intellectually limited as a puzzle-platformer, Braid is made truly divine with emotional depth and a bittersweet humanity -- a monumentally relevant game that speaks highly of its creators and their potential audience's tolerance for new ideas. To say nothing of an absolutely brilliant, emotionally devastating "ending" that proves that time isn't really that malleable after all."
5/5 - Xbox World 360 -
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/ar" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... ?id=194733
"The best game on XBLA", "we daren't label Braid the best game ever, but it's right up there - alongside Mario, Zelda, Gordon Freeman and the guy from Vault 101. It's up there."
9.5 - Gamespot -
http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/braid/review.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"It is impossible to ignore Braid's price point. At 1,200 Microsoft points ($15), it is one of the most expensive games for the Xbox Live Arcade service. But do not let a few extra dollars deter you from an exemplary experience that can rival many full-price, retail games. Braid is worth every penny. The captivating ending sequence, which makes use of your rewind ability in a jaw-dropping new way, provides the exclamation point on this remarkable game, but the adventure is consistently engaging throughout the entire ride. The clever puzzles alone are enough to make this an adventure worth taking. Braid's deep and mesmerizing tale is evergreen: it is outside of and beyond time. It will never get old."
A (95%) - UGO -
http://www.ugo.com/ugo/html/article/?id" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... ctionId=51
9.1 - Team Xbox -
http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1548/Braid/p1/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
9 - Edge
"Plays upon conventions of Mario, but closer to Portal
Designed just as well as Portal (!!!)
Each level has a new mechanic: act 3's is brilliant - steps to the right advances time, steps to the left reverses it.
Fails somewhat with it's storytelling - "trite in it's self-conscious obscurity"
Story's themes aren't reflected well in-game until the final level.
One of the finest original titles on Xbox Live Arcade."
9 - GamesTM
9 - Official Xbox Magazine
9 - GameDaily -
http://www.gamedaily.com/games/braid/xb" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 7542/2092/
8.8 - IGN -
http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/896/896371p1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
8 - Xbox 360 Magazine UK
Must buy - Britishgaming -
http://www.britishgaming.co.uk/?p=1064" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
1Up Show review -
http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/20638" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Official sourcesWebsite -
http://www.braid-game.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Blog -
http://braid-game.com/news/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
David Hellman (Braid's Artist) -
http://www.davidhellman.net/braid.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; &
http://www.davidhellman.net/blog/category/art-of-braid/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
SoundtrackAvailable to listen to for free/buy here:-
http://magnatune.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"Maenam" by Jami Sieber
"Long Past Gone" by Jami Sieber
"The Darkening Ground" by Jami Sieber
"Tell It By Heart" by Jami Sieber
"Undercurrent" by Jami Sieber
"Downstream" by Shira Kammen
"Lullaby Set" by Shira Kammen and Swan
"Romanesca" by Cheryl Ann Fulton
PreviewsXbox World 360 -
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/ar" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... ?id=194727
http://savetherobot.wordpress.com/2008/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... -gameplay/
http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/2069/Braid/p1/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/b" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 94701.html
http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3166184" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/891/891376p1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.talkxbox.com/preview1259.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://darkzero.co.uk/game-articles/bra" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... arcade-pc/
http://www.destructoid.com/pew-pew-prev" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 5816.phtml
http://superiorversion.com/content/view/245/32/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Videoshttp://www.gametrailers.com/player/user" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 21382.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSuEtwRpdMM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... ay=6194163
Screenshotshttp://www.joystiq.com/photos/braid/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Achievementshttp://www.xbox360achievements.org/achi" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... gameID=634
Videos Guides - I'd recommend you ignore these and work it out for yourselfWorld 2 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnpnYPjC2xg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
World 3 Part 1 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ32Mma36dE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
World 3 Part 2 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ha-vqNii9o" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
World 4 Part 1 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R96bWOEwh8o" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
World 4 Part 2 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Wh2x0JJ0E" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
World 5 Part 1 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3uE_E-t1Ck" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
World 5 Part 2 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyjwp5-Z0Z0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
World 6 Part 1 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcEP1MWJISE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
World 6 Part 2 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roz98toEdko" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
World 1 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8dud3E_iyE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Praise for Braid"Braid is an ingenious and startlingly creative puzzle game, built with an understanding of good game design that even some of the industry's most revered figures could learn from."
PC Gamer Magazine (UK)
"It's the most original and fresh platform game I've played in at least ten years, and almost every single puzzle in it will make you grin with happiness and clap with appreciation at the cleverness of it."
Graham Goring, The Arsecast
"Braid has the potential to change the way you think about reality. It will certainly change the way you think about video games."
Jason Roher, Arthouse Games
"Beyond Braid's enchanting hand-painted visual style, beyond its often haunting score, and beyond its musings on love and personal growth... Braid is one of the most progressive platform/puzzle games we've played in years."
Cam Shea, IGN Australia
"Braid's artistic design is as imaginative as its puzzles. The whimsical world looks like a painting come to life."
Hilary Goldstein, IGN
"Braid is a risky experiment climaxing in glorious success. Ask yourself when last you felt a sense of reward and achievement playing a game; not Achievement with a capital 'A' and ten Microsoft points, but an actual sense of pride... And when did a game really make you look at the world differently?"
Xbox World 360 Magazine
"I love this game.... I feel like I'm using parts of my brain that have never been used before, like parts that haven't evolved yet."
Frank Lantz
"One of the most interesting, satisfying, beautiful game experiences I've ever had."
Reverend Anthony, Destructoid
"We're not used to being able to manipulate time in the ways that Braid allows you to... You can sit staring at it for hours, feeling entirely clueless as to how the next jigsaw piece could even be possible to reach. But with a bit of patience, everything just clicks, and you can't help but smile to yourself at how elegantly simple the whole thing is. It was never difficult at all - you just weren't thinking in the right way. That's videogaming Zen.
Sean Bell, DarkZero
"Braid remains a beautiful and brilliantly demanding game that barely contains its dense population of ideas, taking its place alongside Geometry Wars and Pac-Man Championship Edition as one of the finest original titles available on Live Arcade."
Edge
"The end level is strawberry floating ingenious."
Gamer Hate
AwardsIGN’s award for Best Puzzle Game of E3 2008.
IGN E3 Best Xbox Live Arcade Game, beating out all the other games in the Summer of Arcade promotion!
IGN Best of E3 Runner-up for best artistic design, Special Achievement for Innovation, and Best Downloadable Console Game.
(Thanks to Shard at GAF for links etc)