The Sandbox: “Braid” Forges a Path for Indie Gaming

How a low-budget 2-D platformer became the great hope of independent gaming.

“Braid”’s true complexity, however, lies in the way that the time-reversing ties into its metaphoric and self-aware story. Tim’s pursuit of the princess requires, at every turn, both a literal and figurative glance at what’s come before, his future unlocked only by his past. By making you go back over your steps, the game calls constant attention to the basic configuration of 2D platformers and your own role in shaping the gameplay experience. It provides an analysis and critique of the genre at the same time that it exploits that form for new, innovative challenges.

Such retracing also speaks to the character’s loneliness, his introspection and his quest to understand himself and fix the misbegotten choices he’s made. These are notions expressed not only by the onscreen prose (there’s next to no dialogue) and ingenious level design but also by the mournful classical music that accompanies his journey — tunes which are made more poignant by the constant sound of them rewinding — and the expressionistic environmental backdrops and jigsaw paintings that contain suggestions about the specifics of Tim’s circumstances. It’s not surprising that the “meaning” of “Braid” has been the source of much discussion and debate, with the boldest interpretation — founded, in part, on Kenneth Bainbridge’s famous quote “Now we’re all sons of bitches” which appears late in the game– positing the princess as a symbol for the atomic bomb, and Tim as a Manhattan Project proxy. It’s a compelling argument, albeit one Blow confesses is only one of many possible explanations.

More impressive than any individual reading is that “Braid” demands such analysis in the first place. Its text is at once easily digested on a superficial level as the story of a man pining for lost love, as well as open to more in-depth, allegorical interpretations, whether they center on ominous backdrop imagery (a WWII-era poster, twin towers, fiery stars) or subtle storytelling clues such as those found during a finale in which the princess’ wish to be rescued transforms into a desire to flee her savior. Taking only a few taxing hours to complete, “Braid” is relatively brief. But it’s also so much more daring and affecting than most of its big-budgeted competition that it’s impossible to overstate its potential to help usher in an age of daring, imaginative fringe gaming. It’s the first home console indie masterpiece, and one whose flashbacking inventiveness will hopefully prove a sign of things to come.

The Sandbox, a column about the intersection a film and gaming, runs biweekly.

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