Braid

Many other reviewers have attested to Braid's remarkable thoughtfulness and ingenuity, and I wholeheartedly agree with them. But one thing that people often complain about is the lack of replayability inherent in a puzzle game. Well, besides the fact that the game is full of hidden art and story subtleties, and the fact that there are speedruns, and the eight top-secret ***** challenges, the PC version of Braid also supports fan mods! I myself am the author of a mod called "Braid: More Now Than Ever", which includes new story, 60+ new puzzles (a greatest-hits compilation of the very best fan-made puzzles from multiple other mods), and remixed art and music. Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/JOOqekSGFC0 Download it over at ModDB (of course, you’ll need an installed copy of Braid, too): https://www.moddb.com/mods/more-now-than-ever There are lots of other mods, too! “After the Epilogue”, “Silverbraid”, “Stone”, and “Tim's Modysee” are some of the best. So, never again let it be said that Braid lacks replayability!

I decided to play Braid after seeing it mentioned on several YouTube videos as an interesting and allegorical game. I hate to say it, but I'm not seeing what the hype is about. Sure, the art style is cute, and the puzzles tend to force you to think outside the box, but I cannot say I enjoyed the "allegories". The big "surprises" were both clearly signaled in the flavor text, and I was already bored of Tim as a protagonist before reaching that point. The allegories themselves felt forced, particularly as neither of the common interpretations really influences the gameplay in any way. It's not that Braid is a bad game, but that it doesn't actually do much for gaming as an art.

The good: - Beautiful art style (I didn't like it too much on screenshots, but seriously, you need to see it in action!) - Music really sets the mood - Unique mechanics with solving puzzles through time-reverse - The story starts promising and really makes you wonder what's going on The bad: - If you don't like time-critical puzzles, you're going to hate a couple of levels (I did) - It's rather short - I finished it in one afternoon (even though I admit I used a walkthrough few times - I just don't enjoy being stuck in one place for too long) - The epilogue left me puzzled, still wondering if the author of the game had a particular meaning in mind or he just used the cryptic story as a sort of gimmick to make this game look more profound than it really is - anyway, don't expect the "You've made it, you're a hero now" sort of ending, unless you want to be disappointed ;) Overal, to me, Braid was a very enjoyable experience with a few frustrating bits and a little bittersweet aftertaste.

The perfect combination of thought provoking puzzles and moderately challenging action. The puzzles are never unfair. If you like thinking, you'll like this game.

I come back to this game every year or so since I first played it way back on my XBox 360. This game is like warm nostalgia, along with an uneasy feeling in the stomache. The puzzles are challenging (for me at least the first play through). The stars are even more difficult and while I did get them all years ago I have forgotten how so I will be searching for them again. The art and music is beautiful and just fits perfectly together. The content of the game, the "story" per se, really groks with me. This part of the game is closest to my heart, and I will play it again when I crave that feeling. As you can tell, I love this game. The price for it, though, seems a little steep for an indie game almost a decade old. It's good, but wait for a half off or whatever sale because $15 US seems a little high.