Braid
An excellent example of the form, Braid is a 2-D Puzzle Platformer. The object of the game is to collect puzzle pieces hidden behind traps and puzzles and assemble them on a board. Once each board for each level is complete, the last sequence is unlocked which ties everything together. The whole game except for the last sequence can be traversed in about 20 minutes, but that’s pointless. The real fun of the game is figuring out how to get those puzzle pieces.
I won’t spoil anything for you, but each world has its own unique twist on how time behaves or can be manipulated, and operating within those restrictions and liberties is key to progressing through the game.
The underlying story is also engaging on a level rarely seen in games these days or any day for that matter. Again, I won’t spoil anything for you, but the end ties it up pretty well, and re-reading some sections again sheds light on holes in others. It is very, very good.
A great thing about Braid, that has nothing to do with the game itself really, is it has rekindled my wanting work on my own games. Sure I’ve sort of been working on general designs, but knowing that an independent game can make it gives me renewed vigor! I love it.
Tags: game design, game review, Games, independent games
August 16th, 2008 at 10:14 am
I picked up the demo for this game shortly after reading about it on Kotaku and the rest of the internet. It scored very highly with critics, and I wanted to find out why.
For an independent game, it cost quite a bit and the creator has yet to recoup all of his costs – however I think the several hundred thousand he spent to make it was entirely worth it.
With a unique art style and an epic story that really wasn’t interesting until you finished the game, this has been the game, in my opinion, that has started the push to games as an alternate story telling medium that art critics could appreciate. On top of that, however, they throw in difficult puzzles that are never once impossible but are all immediate in the sense of satisfaction once you gain a puzzle piece.
I also really liked the official walkthrough that I found after I beat the game – http://braid-game.com/walkthrough/walkthrough.html
I also concur that it has sparked my interest in working on a small time game and just have fun with it.