Gaming Journal #2: Braid

The game I chose for my second gaming journal is Braid. It is a platforming puzzle game that gives you the unique ability to reverse time. This ability allows you to rethink and retry puzzles instantly as well as get you out of tough situations. I chose Braid because it has many good examples of Key Ideas discussed in the reading. The two Key Ideas I would like to explore are 1) Failure in general and more specifically failure serving a deeper function of making players readjust their perception of the game and 2) Games that succeed in involving the player inspire, elicit or support the player's "Ludic Attitude".

In Braid you play as a character named Tim who is on a journey to save a princess who left because of the many mistakes he made. The story seems open to interpretation and adds

another layer to an already great game. The first thing that struck me about Braid is the artwork. It is visually stunning and the water color backdrops are amazing. This along with the beautiful music and the solid gameplay immediately drew me into the world of Braid. At first the game feels like a simple platformer and with the ability to rewind time it almost seems to easy. After a few levels that feeling changed and I quickly found myself struggling to collect puzzle pieces and re-evauluating puzzles again and again. This brings me to my first key component failure.

Key Component #1

In Braid you will fail quite a bit and there is really no way around this. What makes Braid stand out is that you can immediately rewind time and instantly try a new approach or improve your timing. There is no way to actually die in the game and this is a welcomed approach to platforming , instead you will find your self failing over and over trying to perfectly time a jump to reach a ledge or a puzzle piece. In the image above I had to time a jump by jumping on a creatures head at the right moment to get to the other side. I failed multiple times before I finally made it across. The constant failing could be frustrating if not handled right, but the designers executed this perfectly. The image below demonstrates how impossible avoiding all of these objects would be without the ability to reverse time and retry. This system of failure really in-riches the game and makes what could be just another platformer that much more fun.

Key Component #2

When I'm playing a game deep down I know it's only a game but a good game will take me out of that frame of mind and submerge me entirely. This is a Bi-plannar experience (VGTR2 p.135) where I'm engrossed in the game even though I know it's only a game. Braid does a excellent job of engaging me in all aspects, from the amazing artwork to the enchanting music, The

physics and playability are done very well and it keeps me wanting to find more puzzle pieces and furthering the adventure. The image below shows some of the backdrop and beauty in the game. The designers did an excellent job of imposing a will-to-play causing me to carefully read the story and take my time to try and get all the puzzle pieces possible. Being able to adopt a "ludic attitude" during the gameplay added to the overall experience and helped me see Braid as more than a game during the entire run-through