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"Braid" seems to be an indie game success

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Obscurity, Aug 11, 2008.

  1. Obscurity

    Obscurity

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2007
    Posts:
    203
    It looks like Jonathan Blow's independent "art game" Braid is doing very well and becoming a successful XBLA title. I think this portends great things for the future of indie games that have something unique to say. He documents the good news in a recent blog post.

    http://braid-game.com/news/?p=303

    It's a really fun game too. I recommend it if you have a 360.
     
  2. TwiiK

    TwiiK

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2007
    Posts:
    1,729
    Yes, Braid is one of the best games I've played the last few years. Extremely entertaining.

    After reading that Blow won't make extra levels, expansions or sequels for the game I knew I wanted to make a sequel myself.

    Then my brother gave me his Macbook Pro with unity installed. Everything was falling into place. :)

    The last few days I've been learning unity while making a platformer, and I've managed to get the framework of a 2D platformer running now and my next hurdle is to get some time manipulation going.

    I'm having a blast, and I have all these ideas on how to take the time manipulation in Braid to the next level. :)

    I've never even attempted to make a game before and my programming skills are non existant, but unity just makes it so easy. :D
     
  3. br0kenp0ly

    br0kenp0ly

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2008
    Posts:
    481
    Oh yes!
    I downloaded the game last night and must say its extremely nice! Everything is perfect, from the wonderfully animated backdrops to the tiny details in the textures. I never thought a 2d-game would catch my attention like that again, but I know now that it will be played _a lot_.

    Kind of reminds me of a clone between Rick Dangerous, Super Mario and Donkey Kong. A very good mixture in other words :D
     
  4. Dragon Rider

    Dragon Rider

    Joined:
    Jan 17, 2008
    Posts:
    280
    Woot! This Indie game is higher than the so-called "most popular game of the year", Mass Effect. Which, by the way, is a silly title for a game. I mean come on, who is going to name their game "mass effect"?? Struck me as odd.
     
  5. DaveMB

    DaveMB

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2005
    Posts:
    85
    Braid is absolutely awesome.
     
  6. Jessy

    Jessy

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2007
    Posts:
    7,325
    I bought and finished it in the past day. I loved it, until I learned about the absolute garbage that is the quest for the eight stars. For such a well put-together game in most every other respect, Jonathan Blow really dropped the ball here. Keep in mind that the game does nothing to alert you that the stars can even be collected, and they are so well-hidden that you could play through without seeing any.

    * One star requires that you not have a portion of some jigsaw puzzles assembled. Once assembled, the puzzles can not be disassembled.

    - Having to restart my game, because I can not undo an action taken, is contrary to the design of the rest of the game. Forcing people to mindlessly repeat actions in video games is not something I condone, and in order to collect this star, I would need to delete my saved game and play through the entire game again.

    * Another star forces you to leave you game running for multiple hours without being able to do anything else with the console.

    - This is a giant waste of time and electricity. For a game about inspiring people to not commit evil deeds, I am appalled by this one.

    Had I never learned about these stars, I would have been blissful in my ignorance. It is one of the best games ever otherwise. The art and music are fantastic (though I was disappointed to find out that the music was not made for the game), and Braid features the most intelligent game design I have ever witnessed. The story is a bit too ambiguous for my taste, but it's better writing than I have ever seen in a game, too. It is because of that greatness that I went looking for further information about the game, and came across this star nonsense, which spoiled the experience for me. :evil:
     
  7. kinl

    kinl

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2008
    Posts:
    355
    Its great that this is doing so well, its a well polished game with a neat twist on mario.

    "who is going to name their game "mass effect"?? Struck me as odd."

    Sounds like a perfectly good name for a novel based Sci Fi RPG to me, Braid on the other hand is a little odd, along with names like "Super Mario" but I quite like odd things :)
     
  8. Obscurity

    Obscurity

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2007
    Posts:
    203
    He would consider it a sell out, no doubt, but I wish Jonathan Blow had set up some t-shirts or other chochky. Until he does there's at least one option. For those of you who like to decorate your workspace, there's a site that has a couple of the Braid characters (as well as many others) that you can build from print outs. Probably would work best with card stock paper.

    http://www.cubeecraft.com/

    Scroll down for "Tim" and "creature."