Live. Play. Design.

There's already so much press about this game, so i'll try keep this short.

Braid is awesome.


Maybe it's the way the game is told, having text upfront for those who choose to read it, but not forcing others to have to.
Maybe it's the many philosophical undertones that the gameplay provides.
Maybe it's the fact that each world is truly a unique experience.
Maybe it's how each puzzle is unique, and uses the time mechanics so cleverly.
Maybe it's all the subtle things, like how the music slows down, or how the background warps when you start to distort time.
Maybe it's the awesome ending!

Maybe some of these, maybe all of these, maybe even more.

But yeah... awesome.

After 20 years, it's still so good.

The one thing I can say about this movie is that it feels very honest. In a time where every movie out there has to be "cool" or "awesome," it could have been so easy for the writers of Back to the Future to come up with a cheesy story that exploited Hollywood special effects. I'm glad they didn't. Because what they ended up with was a great story about people you can really relate to and cheer for.

EDIT: I just realized that one of my favorite things about Back to the Future is the music - I really love how they have a single theme that gets rearranged to fit different situations.

This is game design elegance.


Two ships - red and blue.
Red ship kills red enemies.
Blue ship kills blue enemies.
Add two players. Stir lightly, serve.
Genius.

It always amazes me when a game with such simple rules can provoke such strong emotion. The key in this game is cooperation, of course. Teammates need each other to survive, and are therefore forced to communicate with each other. The simple control scheme helps too (left thumbstick to move - that's it!) - since you're not busy thinking about which button does what, you can concenrate on working together.