I get a lot of joke ideas and suggestions. And for some odd reason with the whole Artist For Sale! thing going on I've been getting more than usual. One such suggestion, which was really just a questions, was "Why haven't you done a Braid joke yet?" It's a valid question. So now I have... kinda.

Most of you know that I'm a fan of innovative, interesting games that focus on gameplay moreso than flashy graphics, or thematic regurgitation. So it would seem Braid would have naturally become one of those game I gravitated towards. And it's true to an extent. I knew about the game before it was released. I even intended to buy the game when it hit Live Arcade. But, for reasons I've not yet really examined within myself, I've avoided buying games. It could be as simple as, every time I buy points I end up spending them on dowloadable Rock Band song. **shrugs**

I've still not bought and played the game. But I've read enough about it to thuroughly confuse myself. I know the game mechanics revolve around the ability to reverse time. And the intent of the game is to help the protagonist correct his mistakes and somewhat more ambiguously "save the Princess". Yes, I've read the theories about what the game's ending. But, apparently, Braid's makers have done a fabulous job of throwing everything up in the air, leaving much of it to interpretation.

So if you've played Braid, let us know what you think. If you haven't played Braid, 1200 points gets you through the door. I know that sounds a bit steep, but I've been assured it's worth it.

Sorry about the late comic. I've been working so hard on the Artist for Sale! stuff that I haven't been sleeping much. So, after nodding off at my desk, I went to bed early without having done the comic.

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Today's Pimpage: Woody is wearing a "Samurai Sushi" shirt from Threadless.Com.

Originally Posted by Woody:

I get a lot of joke ideas and suggestions. And for some odd reason with the whole Artist For Sale! thing going on I've been getting more than usual.

Well I did make a blog on multiply about Artist for sale and encouraged other bloggers to help out, so you can continue making the world smile.

Dude, seriously, buy and play Braid right now. You will not regret it.

It's one of my all time favorite games now. I wish I could unplay it, so I could experience it anew and enjoy it again.

Rowyl

Well, on another site I frequent there was a sudden outcry one day on the forums.. it went something like "OMG you must buy Braid! The best platformer ever!" well, naturally as a big fan of the 16 bit games I grew up playing, I jumped at the chance to download the demo.

It looked fun, innovative and beautiful - and was a puzzle game in a platformer's skin. My dissapointment in the latter fact wasn't why I haven't bought it though, it was the $15 for a puzzle game that kept me away. Sorry! I'm likely going to have a 4000 point card arrive in the mail today - many things on my mind that I want to spend that on, but Braid takes too big a chunk of the pie.. ADD gaming doesn't work with too few games to play!

Braid was a really great game. it's very challenging and time consuming (which means fun in my eyes). i would suggest buying and playing it. i liked the twist at the end

I haven't heard of Braid til now. Is it an online game or console? Thanks!

I like Ted in a suit. Stylish yet weird.

If the black was a bit sharper, it'd look like a Hitman suit. The game, not the generic.

Edited: Awww now I made a post for no good reason...

Braid, for those like Cleoisis that had never heard of it, is a downloadable console game that plays mostly like a classic side-scroller adventure like the original Mario games, except with a very distinct (and cool) art style and the ability to mess with the flow of time. If you get hit by something, instead of losing a life or having to start the level over, you just rewind the level a few seconds to before you made that ill-fated jump, and it's got a whole slew of little puzzles that make some impressive use of the time-shifting.

Braid is pretty forgiving as far as arcade games go, but it's more about thinking out of the box and solving the puzzles than the lightning-reflexes. It's fun, relatively cheap, and at the very least, it's worth taking a look at the demo.

I played through the trial when it came out and again recently because of all the people raving about the game, I just don't understand the appeal. Is it the art that draws everyone to this game? The reversing time thing is kinda neat because it is different and you can use it in interesting ways but from what I played it gets old pretty fast.

I am not saying at all that it is a bad game but at 1200 points is there really something more that I am not seeing? If there is someone out there that didn't like the demo and bought the game anyway and enjoyed it please let me know. While 15 bucks isn't really a big deal I don't like to throw away cash on something I won't enjoy.