Braid (2008)

Braid was a 2008 indie game from designer Jonathan Blow that served as a critique of gaming trends, as well as a thought-provoking and, at times, intellectually stimulating puzzle. Like another indie darling years later, Thomas Was Alone, the strength of Braid is in how the narrative is interwoven with the mechanics and level design. With an ambiguous conclusion, players effectively get to work out the meaning of the game just as they had to work out the solution to each puzzle.

Built like a Mario game, players control the character Tim on his quest through worlds to save the Princess. At the end of each one, someone appears from a castle to inform you that the Princess isn't here and has, predictably, been taken to another one. The levels are complete with little goomba-like creatures, keys, and collectibles (including stars and puzzle pieces). Structurally, it plays a lot like a Mario or other classic game. It plays off of Shigeru Miyamoto's own admission that rescuing a princess provides a quick and simple motivation for the gameplay.

Worlds are constructed around particular mechanics that are connect to the story, however. They begin with some text to provide background into Tim and the Princess's history, as well as his feelings and motivations. World 2, for example, starts with the feeling of regret and desire to simply take back the mistakes he made during their relationship. Players then proceed through a series of levels introducing a time-rewind mechanic, which is the prominent mechanic of the game.World 4 features insight into Tim feeling empowered and in control, that he should be able to just go out and find the Princess just as he had managed to reinvent himself from his younger years. These levels introduce the mechanic that time moves along with and in the direction of the player. Moving forward moves time forward. Moving backwards moves time backwards, highlighting that sense of agency.

World 6 is perhaps the most clever. The pre-level books tell a story implying Tim and the Princess might have been married; that indeed whatever mistake Tim made that lost the Princess occurred during this time. It also provides insight into how Tim felt about it. Suggesting an uncertain attitude towards marriage, it talks about "the ring" and how it often made him feel as though it kept people away, and so he would sometimes choose to hide it rather than wear it so they would approach him. These levels see the introduction of a literal ring that emits a barrier that dramatically slows time within it. In essence, the ring you use in game has the exact impact the ring in the story had, according to Tim.

It is important to recognize that last part: "according to Tim." The bulk of the game reminds you that you are in his shoes, just as players are always taking the role of Mario. It is also aware of the fact that by that very nature, players are likely to assume they are fulfilling some heroic role. We've seen it in Mario games, Zelda games, Final Fantasy games, and countless others wherein players assume the role of the hero on a journey to rescue the damsel in distress. Decades of video games have classically trained players to default to expecting that role to be a heroic one, full of courage and bravery - traits deemed worthy of love and affection as a reward.

Braid goes a very different route with it. The last level features a traditional left-to-right platforming sequence that makes it appear as if the Princess has gotten away from the Bowser-like bad guy and is helping you get to her so you can run off together, safe and in love. When you get to the end, it is revealed that, in fact, you have been reversing time. It then sends you right-to-left to reveal that, in fact, the Princess has been running from you! It's a smart twist on the damsel-in-distress trope, as well as basic game design. For much of visual media, left-to-right is viewed as progression. Moving right is moving forward. Braid presents that for the bulk of the game, only to reveal that in actually, it is moving backwards. Basically, everything you thought you knew was wrong.

It's easy to see why some might find Jonathan Blow a pretentious intellectual too clever for his own good. He clearly has a keen mind for puzzles, and they range in difficulty throughout the game. Admittedly, there were plenty of times I felt like a complete idiot or that I must just be too stupid for this game. (This is always a risk for puzzle games, and I felt similarly at times throughout The Swapper, which is another game I loved for how clever it was.) Blow goes beyond the puzzle aspect to play with and subvert expectations of the medium.

The conclusion itself is, perhaps, his best puzzle. Deliberately left on the more ambiguous side, the game asks players to come up with meaning based on their own interpretation. Some have used this pretense to claim the game is actually about scientists who created the atom bomb (complete with the Princess being a literal metaphor for the bomb itself), and one must credit them for that creativity, but it's a substantially smaller, more personal story than that implies. It is full of complex emotions to shift through and perspectives to consider and reconsider later.

Often credited among the creations bringing rise to a more well-established indie game culture (indeed, Blow himself appears in the documentary, Indie Game: The Movie - which is good and you should watch it!), the math adds up. Puzzle games aren't for everyone, and the designs can wrinkle your brain getting you to think outside the box. However, it isn't a long game and is also designed so that you don't have to be a completionist to get the basic experience. If you can't solve how to get certain puzzle pieces and get the most absolute ending, you will not find a disappointing ending by just getting through it. Blow is one of the most intriguing game designers out there. Fans of games in general should look forward to his next project, whatever brain-aching puzzles he comes up with for it.

REDUCTIVE RATING: It's Great!

Available On: XBox360, Playstation 3, OS X, PC, Linux