Enter the weird world of time manipulation

Braid is an enchanting indie platform game where you have to manipulate time to solve puzzles and save your princess.

The first thing that jumps out at you in Braid are the gorgeous graphics. It has a wonderful hand drawn and painted look, which sets it apart from most of this genre. The music has kindergarten feel, which adds to the overall cuteness of the game (although it’s a little eerie backwards). Some people might find this aspect grating, but if you can take the tweeness, it’s a really interesting game.

Like a million platformers before it, you have to rescue a princess by running and jumping your way through a series of worlds. The unusual thing with Braid is time.

If you die, or make a mistake, hit Shift and time will reverse. Some objects are unaffected by time shifting, meaning you can move something, then travel back in time and it will remain in its new position. Some levels up the difficulty, where walking right moves time forward, and left backward. Braid is really inventive with the time mechanic, it feels really fresh and stretches your brain a little.

For the hardcore platform gamers, the only real criticism is that the jumping feels a little imprecise sometimes, but it’s hardly a big issue and doesn’t spoil what is one of the best gaming experiences you’ll have this year.

With its thoughtful story, beautiful graphics and excellent gameplay, Braid should be top of everyone’s list of what to play next.