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Braid Anniversary Edition is out now, rewinding time approximately 15 yearsLet’s do the Tim warp again
Let’s do the Tim warp again
Image credit:Thekla Inc
Image credit:Thekla Inc
Look, you’ve had 15 years to play that well-regarded time-bending puzzler sitting in your Steam library, staring at you this whole time. Well, now you can have another 15 years.Braid Anniversary Editionis out on Steam now, a high definition remastering of a classic indie. It got stuck in time followinga few delaysbut it’s finally defrosted now. The sharper look will appeal to pixel perfectionists, but there are also 40 new levels for serial rewinders. And - for those interested in the thought processes of designer Jonathan Blow - a bunch of developer commentary.
Braid is basically an artifact of platformer history now, yet still qualifies as one of ourbest platformers on PC. It took the rewind-on-death mechanic ofPrince of Persia: The Sands of Timeand asked: “What if that, but with a sad boy in a suit?” The results were more clever than my glib summation: a smart puzzler where you had to rethink the rules in nearly every room.
What will drive preservationists and game history likers to the re-release, though, is the many hours of audio commentary from Jonathan Blow and artist David Hellman (among others) about the game’s creation. Blow has always been an outspoken figure in the industry, so there might be some interesting and forthright opinions or revelations in that commentary. I once interviewed J Blo many years ago, as Graham has reminded me, and the core memory was himslamming timesinky social media gameswhile munching on a dry croissant. It’s possible he’s mellowed in the 13 years since then.
You can pick upBraid Anniversary Edition on Steam, where owners of the original will get a 50% “loyalty discount” for a limited time.
