$4.99 (−75%)Braid, Anniversary Edition Time bends to your will
Run and jump through painted worlds where every level rewrites the rules of time, and a princess waits at the end of a story that keeps turning in on itself.
Is Braid, Anniversary Edition worth it?
Braid, Anniversary Edition is worth it if…
- you want puzzles solved with understanding rather than fast fingers
- you like games where the mechanics and the story say the same thing
- you are curious about how games get made, from design to art to sound
- you missed the classic the first time around and want the best version of it
Screenshots
Time is your puzzle piece
You can rewind at any moment, but that is only the beginning. Each world gives time a new rule: in one, a ring of green light makes objects immune to your rewind; in another, time stretches when you move slowly. The game proposes a rule, then spends a dozen puzzles exploring everything it can do, and the rules tie directly into the story of memory and regret you are untangling.
You collect jigsaw pieces by solving these puzzles, and the solutions are about understanding, not reflexes. Rewinding works as an undo, so a failed attempt costs you nothing but a second. If one puzzle stalls you, move on and come back later; the game is happy to wait. A first run through the main worlds takes most people around four hours, and the puzzles have held up remarkably well since 2009.
A storybook repainted pixel by pixel
Every world here is hand-painted, and the Anniversary Edition redraws the whole game in high resolution, with animated brushstroke effects and new sound work. Stop moving and you can watch the world breathe in paint.
The look is colourful and cartoony on the surface, but the mood underneath is dreamlike and melancholy. The same haunting score plays over it all, and the combination of painted worlds, strange time rules and a story about regret gives the game an atmosphere few puzzle games match.
What is new in the Anniversary Edition?
Is this a good starting point if you have never played Braid?
Yes. This edition contains the complete original game with its puzzles untouched, plus the repainted high-resolution graphics, so a first playthrough here is strictly better than hunting down the 2009 version. The main story runs about four hours, and the puzzles are the reason to come. The commentary world and extra puzzles are a bonus on top, best saved for after the credits.
What is the developer commentary like?
It is the most extensive ever put in a game: over 15 hours of recorded conversation between designer Jonathan Blow, artist David Hellman and other members of the team, covering design, art, programming, music and sound. You reach it through a separate in-game world that also holds new puzzles and redesigns of classic ones, with sketches, footage and playable examples illustrating the ideas. It is the part many people consider the real value of this edition, especially if you care about how games are made.
What is the story about?
On the surface, a man searches a series of strange worlds for an elusive princess. The further you go, the more it turns into something about memory, regret and how we tell our own history, and the ending recontextualises everything before it. The story divides people: some find it genuinely moving, others find it too abstract for its own good. Either way, the time mechanics and the plot are built to echo each other, which is rare in a puzzle game.
Are there parts that need quick reflexes?
A few. Most puzzles reward thinking over reflexes, and rewinding lets you undo mistakes freely, but some solutions call for precise platforming and well-timed jumps, and a couple of moments cannot be rewound out of. If a puzzle leans on execution rather than logic, moving on and returning later usually helps.
