Last week, Commander Tim stopped by and suggested I buy Braid. I had heard about the game at some point and forgotten about it. It looks a little like a popular Nintendo franchise when you first pick up your controller–but don’t let it fool you. It is so much more.
Braid trailer 1.2 from David Hellman on Vimeo.
As you can see from the trailer, Braid is a richly textured puzzle platformer with a unique feature… you can turn back time. The game is laden with poetry, gorgeous artwork and a beautiful soundtrack. The plot begins similarly to a popular plumber franchise storyline where a maiden in distress must be rescued. It is also is riddled with puzzles that add to the velvety fabric of the game.
For the retro gamer this game has an instant appeal as a platformer but it is so much more than that. There are the obvious nods to the Super Mario franchise – - but there are also references to Donkey Kong and Elevator Action. The game designer, Jonathon Blow, has a clear love for retro titles.
I installed it last Monday and spent the next 2-3 days playing the game to completion. It is undoubtedly one of the best platform games I’ve played. I played it so frequently within the last week that I found myself reaching for the reverse button when playing a couple of NES games only a few days later.
A little more about Braid:
Before Braid was released it won the award for “Innovation in Game Design” at the 2006 Independent Games Festival.
Braid has since won several awards including:
Xbox Live Magazine:
- Xbox Live Arcade Game of the Year
- Best Soundtrack
- Best Ending
- and the “Indisputably Incredible Runner-ups to Game of the Year” award.
Xbox Live Arcade:
- Best Innovation
Game Spot:
- Best Original Downloadable Console Game
- Best Platformer
- Best Licensed Music
Braid was also awarded “Casual Game of the Year” at the 12th Annual Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Awards. Additionally, MacWorld included Braid in its 2009 Game Hall of Fame.
It’s available on Mac or PC and for download on Xbox Live and the PS3 Network for about $15.
(if you can't use cheesy pshop effects on GCycle, where can you?)
Glad to hear you enjoyed it.
I just purchased off of steam. Usually not a platformer fan, but this is intriguing.
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