Time to pack out Braid

Indie Game the Movie is a great film for games fans. It follows the creation and reception of 3 Indie Games; Super Meat Boy, Fez and Braid. I already had played a lot of Super Meat Boy, and soon after the movie I caught Fez in a humble bundle. These were some of the best games I’ve ever played and were instant favourites of mine so it is of no surprise that once I finally caught Braid on sale it instantly followed its predecessors into my top 10.

Braid is a puzzle game created by Jonathan Blow. The film had showcased how much time and effort he put into making this game and the finished result echoes this. Visually the game is stunning! Braid showcases a unique art style that I would describe as artistic Mario. It even has the same kind of enemies and definitely takes more elements from Mario, in its platforming style. A new enemy however is a killer bunny rabbit that often pops out of nowhere and chases you, which I feel is definitely inspired by Monty Pythons the Holy grail.

The game itself sees you searching for a Princess by traversing various worlds each made up of levels. At first I thought the game was a simple platform game, you can jump on enemies and climb up ladders and everything you might expect (except run), but the first time I died I got a big surprise. You can turn back time! Every move you make can be reversed, and not just for a few seconds. It is possible to rewind time all the way back to the beginning of the level. This mechanic is what makes Braid such a unique game. It makes each level into a puzzle, rewarding you with jigsaw pieces which can be made into a picture for each world. Some elements are immune to the time reversal which provides some great puzzles. How do you get that key at the bottom of a pit? Jump down pick up the key, and because the key is immune to time travel, simply time reverse so you exit the pit holding the key.

Braid becomes progressively harder and each world adds a new mechanic which helps keep the game fresh and entertaining as you go through. One world for example adds the ability to set up a sphere which slows the flow of time, and another has time linked to your steps meaning that the enemies can’t get out of your way and you need to be creative to get to the end. One great thing about Braid is that you can just run through all the levels, and have done all the worlds in minutes, but you don’t get anything out of it. The game rewards getting those jigsaw pieces and completing the game properly and truly. It’s an easy game to just jump in and out of, collecting more jigsaw pieces each time but also a game to get competitive at. It is almost made for a speed run, and even sports a speed run mode for the more competitive player.

Braid caters to all types of gamer whether you just want to run through the game to say you’ve played it, complete it 100%, play it casually from time to time or be competitive and speed run it. It’s a charming game, unique and inventive, and really shows off what Indie games have to offer.