Comments on: The game that was a book

By: Gordie Howe

Gordie Howe — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:37:48 +0000

Very interesting. I appreciate the perspective. Having not read much on the game (not typical for me) for fear of ruining any element of mystery or surprise, I’ve became stumped on a particular puzzle about a month ago. So frustrated, in fact, that I never picked up the game again. This “reading” perspective is a novel approach though, I think, and you’ve inspired me to give it another go!

By: Ben Abraham

Ben Abraham — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:24:57 +0000

I couldn't help but think of the comparison to "the literary approach" that Tom Armitage of Infovore described in his piece Africa Wins Again. Okay, so it's about Far Cry 2, but Armitage compares it to the novel specifically, saying that "The real magic of novels is in the way they tell stories, and that’s the same of Far Cry 2. Whilst its plot emerges through a series of key beats, and a traditional three-act structure, it’s the richness of the tales told in between the plot beats that helps fill out the emotional core of the game." And he makes lots of much more interesting points. I couldn't help but notice the similarity in that he compares it to literature, however it seems quite different from your own conception. Something to think about, anyway.

By: Nels Anderson

Nels Anderson — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:04:45 +0000

Sorry, my mistake. It was World 5, Stage 4 (Crossing the Gap) that was my stumbling block. I was completely stuck and then someone in the comments of one of Michael Abbott’s Braid posts made a vague comment about that stage and then things finally clicked. And I definitely didn’t feel cheated either. It always did seem like, “Oh yea, I should have thought of that.”

I did have a similar reaction to the secret stars thing though. I heard about them after I finished the game and didn’t bother going back to seek them out. It’s possible the bullshit-ness is some tongue-in-cheek thing by Blow (akin to the “score” table in The Path). More likely it’s just sorta lame though.

By: Benedict

Benedict — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:37:12 +0000

Great post. I didn’t think about it, but my experience with Braid was very similar to programming like Nel mentioned. The first stages were easy enough, but as the difficulty ramped up I found myself becoming very intimidated by the stages. I then also took a similar approach to solving the puzzles by throwing myself at them with different approaches until one stuck. I also got quite stuck at one point in the game and didn’t go back to finish it until several months later while showing the game to a friend. This experience felt similar to pair programming, where his fresh perspective and ideas helped lift me out of my rut. Then the resolution of each puzzle felt similarly satisfying, with the puzzle piece displayed as a piece of the painting.

As far as integrating the gameplay into the narrative, I fully agree that this is really how Braid’s approach to narrative should be viewed. I remember hearing an interview with John Blow where he talked about how the gameplay was there for you to have an interaction with, and then formulate your own emotional narrative that complements the written portions of the game. This does sound a little lofty, but I feel that to some small extent this is the experience that I had with the game and I wish more games would aspire to creating that feeling.

On another note, have you played Judith? I had a really enjoyed the game and felt the use of music/noise in the game really interesting. http://distractionware.com/blog/?p=759

By: Dan Bruno

Dan Bruno — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:53:39 +0000

Nels: Was the frustrating level 4-4 (the second “Hunt!” puzzle)? That was the hardest one in the game for me by an order of magnitude. I thought maybe it was just that I personally couldn’t wrap my brain around it, but if that’s been a common experience maybe it actually wasn’t as intuitive as it could have been.

It’s interesting how different our approaches were. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a programmer’s mind, but I rarely felt like there were more details revealed by my failed solutions; I had a hard time seeing the connection between what I did wrong and what I saw on the screen. I much preferred to devise a whole solution at once, and start from scratch when I screwed up.

That said, I didn’t find Braid to be particularly difficult (aside from that one puzzle); I never felt like I was grasping at shadows as with, say, Grim Fandango. With one or two exceptions, the solutions felt fair and logical.

Not gonna lie, though — those secret stars that I’ve been reading about sound like total bullshit.

By: Nels Anderson

Nels Anderson — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:50:27 +0000

Very interesting. What you described is practically the exact opposite of how I approached Braid. I described my experience with Braid as feeling akin to programming. Experimenting with different solutions, each of which failed spectacularly, be revealed more details about the problem. This would continue until the correct solution was reached, at which point everything would just work. I never felt particularly frustrated by any of the levels (except for one in world 4 that nearly everyone I’ve spoken also ran up against).

Some other games have a somewhat related vibe, but Braid felt more “procedural” than almost any other I’ve played.