The Chiz

Jonathan Blow’s keynote speech at Montreal International Game Summit in 2007 included something new and exciting. After talking about his thoughts on BioShock and other bits of deceptive game design, he brought up some screens and videos of his (then) up-and-coming title, Braid. After some impressive footage and interesting description, I became intrigued and excited for Braid’s release. After a few months without new information, the game began to slip from my radar.

Every now and then I heard a little bit about Braid here and there, which always rekindled my interest for a little while. I never really followed the development, but those short moments of excitement were enough to keep my excitement fueled. When my roommate reminded me that Braid hit Xbox Live Arcade, I had to download it as soon as I got home.

Hellman shows off his unique art style in Braid.

While I had seen videos of the game in action, nothing had prepared me for the actual game play experience. The music was soothing and put me in a good state of mind for a puzzle game, and David Hellman’s unique and beautiful art style really lends itself to the playfulness of the overall game. The simple aesthetic treat of wandering the various levels is enough to make me want to keep playing, much less the incredibly satisfying mental challenges.

Braid’s puzzles can be tricky in their relative simplicity. All of the answers are laid in front of you, but often obfuscated in such a way that requires a fair amount of simplification and lateral thought. Over thinking puzzles seemed to be my downfall, and I was usually able to solve them quickly enough if I forced myself to forget conventional puzzle wisdom and seek out the simplest answer. The entire experience really makes me feel like I’m playing with the game - like a new toy or brain teaser - rather than just playing through game.

Although I’m going to omit specific examples for fear of revealing any solutions, I find it amazing at how Braid makes me feel as if my brain is sabotaging it’s own efforts while solving certain puzzles. Often I’ll feel close to a solution, only to spend a few minutes stalled on my answer. When I finally find the right answer, I’ll have realized that I was originally somewhat off, and had zealously created my own red herrings.

All I can really say at this point is to try it out. The demo is free and available via Live Arcade, at a mere 144mb download. Play it with the sound up, alone in the room, and in a comfortable seat. Braid’s puzzles will leave you in a wake of self-congratulatory serenity.

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