Braid is like a painting hanging in a distant museum. You're immediately struck by the beauty of the swirling watercolors that makeup the game's world, but the more you analyze it the more profound it becomes. Like the greatest works of art, however, perhaps there is no singular way to interpret a piece, as Braid touches on many subjects that will surely reach players in different ways. It's a hard game to describe, but one that can be wrapped up in one word: illuminating.

Oooh! Aaah!

You play as Tim (or at least we assume it's Tim) as he walks through his house, entering through doors that lead to magical lands where time changes and bends to Tim's needs. The story seems pretty simple – save the Princess from a horrible monster. Why did she get captured in the first place? As it turns out, Tim made a mistake. Thus begins a story that warps and intertwines with itself in so many ways, the end result looks like a tangled up grapevine. The story is presented through a set of storybooks that generally proceed the entering of one of the game worlds. The stories have a narrative pace to them, but some of them seem…different. Different isn't exactly a great way to describe the story elements, but yet it's one that seems fitting.

The thing about the story is that there is an underlying theme and motivation that I took away from each excerpt, though I didn't properly see how the story naturally flowed from one section to the next. The strange thing is, though I failed grasping the timeline, I still found myself emotionally attached to the story I was reading. Perhaps it had something to do with the angelic music playing softly in the background, but I was greatly perplexed and moved at the same time.

Braid is split into five worlds, each using a different gameplay mechanic revolving around time. The beginning level is a tutorial more than anything, teaching you the fundamentals of jumping, stomping on the heads of enemies to get a spring up, and letting you see how you can fully rewind time to the beginning of a level if you wanted. The game ramps up in difficulty the more you move forward, and each world brings a new twist on time. You'll have to contend with left movements rewinding time and right movements moving time forward. You'll be able to create a doppelganger who mimics the motions you went through. You'll create a time warp bubble that slows everything to a crawl in that vicinity. The worst thing about the game is the fact there is little in the way of handholding in order to present to you how to use the new time powers. Instead, the game relies more on the trial and error process of the player, which just so happens to be how I solved many of the puzzles.

I Hate The Teasing Dinosaur

Braid has no problem separating the geniuses from the idiots…and I sadly fall between them both. A few of the puzzle pieces – the ultimate collectible you need to gather in the game – are easily obtained by sheer instinct or a bit of thinking. In the later levels, however, prepare to wrap your brain around some ingenious puzzles, which will have you cursing in vain and yelling in triumph…always in that order. The brilliance of Braid is that the puzzles are difficult at conception, but once you figure out how to complete them, you'll wonder why you just spent two hours trying it over and over again.

The production values of the game are more than what you'd expect for an Xbox Live Arcade release. The character sprites are cute, but it's the world itself that is so radically different from anything else out there. The worlds of Braid look like a watercolor painting brought to life. The ground swirls, clouds float by, and the background imagery of faraway castles and other magical monuments are a beauty to behold. The music, meanwhile, is a melancholy song of love and adventure, which will stir emotions in you.

It's hard to talk about the game and not bring up elements of the story, but frankly I don't understand them completely. I get pieces here and there - elements of a fleeting dream that I can barely recall – but Braid makes you work to find meaning. I also can't walk away from this review without mentioning the final level, which is the most profound thing in a videogame I've ever experienced. Not to give too much away, but you'll experience the level twice, and you'll be surprised by how quickly your perception of reality can change.

Braid is a short game, but it's high in replay value to a degree. You'll still be solving the same puzzles over and over, but do you not buy a painting to always look at it, and hope the next time you see it maybe something in you has changed or found something new to philosophize over. Do I know what Braid is exactly about? No, and maybe nobody but the designer ever will. Braid is a game that reaches into your soul and pulls out your own memories, incorporating them into the game in such a way that no two people may ever agree completely on the story they just experienced.

Braid is a work of art that deserves a place in your own videogame gallery. The first time through won't last you too long, but the aftershocks of the story will stay within your mind and heart for a lifetime to come.

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