What kind of game is Braid?

It’s a 2D puzzle platformer — a game in the mold of Super Mario Bros, but that is more about problem-solving and less about making tricky jumps. In this game, you do strange things to control the flow of time, and that helps you solve the puzzles. The story and setting are somewhat postmodern.

Can I see some screenshots?

Okay, here are some screenshots. Keep in mind that these contain some unfinished elements, but they give you a general feel for what the game will be like. All these shots are from World 2 — each game will have its own distinctive look, and we will post shots from other worlds as they become more complete.

When is the release date? For what platforms?

We don’t know exactly when the game will be done, but the current target is “sometime in the first quarter of 2007”. The game is currently being developed for PCs running Windows, but ports to other operating systems and to game consoles are always being considered. In fact, depending on how publisher talks go, the initial launch platform could end up being a console. You just never know.

How much will the game cost?

This is not firmly decided, and probably won’t be for a while. If the launch platform is the PC, and the game is not being delivered over any specific download service, then the price is likely to be $20. If the platform is Xbox Live Arcade, Steam or something else like that, the price will be different (possibly less than $20).

Will there be a demo?

Yes, there will be a demo available on release day. It won’t be one of those time-locked demos that you see for a lot of indie and casual games (e.g. play for an hour then it stops the game). It will let you play for as long as you want to, but the demo will only contain some of the worlds and puzzles from the final game. (This will also help make the demo download smaller).

Can I beta test?

Sometime soon (perhaps around the end of January) we’ll start looking for a new round of beta testers. When that time comes, we will post an announcement on this site.

Who are the developers?

Design, programming and production tasks are done by Jonathan Blow. David Hellman does the world art and other cool visual materials like the Slamdance flier. Edmund McMillen does the character animations. A number of people, while not developers on the game, have helped out in various ways, like early playtesting, critique, and so on. You’ll see who they are in the credits.

Is the game expandable?

Shortly after the initial release, we hope to make the level editor available, so that players can make and distribute their own levels. Even though the game isn’t tile-based, we’ve designed the world art so that it’s modular and can be put together to make all kinds of new things.

Slamdance has announced the finalists of their 2007 Guerrilla Gamemaker Competition and Braid is on the list. So if you are in Park City, Utah, USA between January 18th and January 23rd of 2007, you’ll be able to play the most recent version of the game, as well as attend a talk and Q&A session about the design. Plus you get to see a bunch of other interesting games, and films too.
We’ll provide more details about the day and time of the session as they become available.

Braid is an action-puzzle game about manipulating the flow of time. To rescue a princess, the player journeys through a series of worlds; in each world, time behaves differently. The game provides a mind-expanding experience that is filler-free, treating the player’s time as precious.

Braid is scheduled for release on Xbox Live Arcade in early 2008.

(If you got here by searching, then by going to the main news page you can find news about Braid and other games.)
Braid won the IGF prize for Innovation in Game Design in 2006.

The main thing left to finish with Braid is the graphic art, and that is well afoot now. Characters are being animated; world art is being worlded. The gameplay is also being refined during this time so that it will be extra crispy when the game is finished.

(Super-sweet SNES cartridge by David Hellman).