Braid

Eurogamer

Braid is beautiful, entertaining and inspiring. It stretches both intellect and emotion, and these elements dovetail beautifully rather than chaffing against each other. Still wondering if games can be art? Here's your answer.

Xbox World 360 Magazine UK

Amazing ideas, achievement, logic, pride, beauty, and a game so good it makes every other Xbox World five-star game look a little silly. In a world without Mario and Valve and the Bethesda hit factory Braid is indeed the best game ever made; in this world, it's among the best games of the generation, and is unquestionably and immediately the best game ever to have been released on Xbox Live Arcade.

1UP

Excellent but intellectually limited as a puzzle-platformer, Braid is made truly divine with emotional depth and a bittersweet humanity -- a monumentally relevant game that speaks highly of its creators and their potential audience's tolerance for new ideas. To say nothing of an absolutely brilliant, emotionally devastating "ending" that proves that time isn't really that malleable after all.

Gamervision

Braid is a game cut from the same cloth as "BioShock" and "Portal," erasing videogame norms and reimagining the way we look at the medium. It does things with gaming that are usually reserved for novels and films, while also adding elements that would be impossible in any other form. It’s is a game that makes you think about your own life as much as it does about gaming.

Gaming Nexus

Braid is an absolute masterpiece, from beginning to end.

DarkZero

The fact is, Braid is art. There, I said it. Not only can it be appreciated aesthetically, but it was clearly created with the intention of the finished product being a work of art.

Giant Bomb

I was initially pretty skeptical about Braid, and it took me some time to get past the game's severe melancholy. I eventually found the game's story and the way it plays against the gameplay to be academically interesting, and the game's final payoff is terrific, but it's the ingenuity of the mechanics that makes Braid so engaging.

Console Gameworld

Braid is one of the best, if not the best, games I have ever played.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

This isn't a game about time, it's about memories, and how they can be repeated and eventually rewritten.

Xbox World Australia

Braid is a beautiful game and an amazing experience, and whether or not you think games can be considered works of art – or if it even matters – you simply owe it to yourself to play Braid.

Gaming Age

The story of Braid is definitely open for interpretation, and there's subtext aplenty for players who want to debate what the story could possibly mean. It's definitely ahead of the curve for most videogame plots, but it's not integral to actually enjoying the game either.

GameShark

Beautifully crafted and wonderfully realized, it is a shining example of the intersection between art and technology, love and loss, desire and despondence. It is, in one word, beautiful.

Level7.nu

Braid is an innovative hybrid of puzzles and platforming that uses manipulation of time in a great way. It's all too rare to see a unique and equally fantastic game like this and it's worth every penny. It's beautiful, captivating and filled to the brim with pure fun. That is why it only deserves the highest of grades.

LEVEL (Czech Republic)

A visual aural and spiritual delight – that’s Braid's explicit answer to all skeptics who proclaim games can only evolve in technical issues. Tens of completely different puzzles action-based or logical all connected to time-tampering created small but still one of the best games of all times. [Sept 2008]

AceGamez

A game that's every bit as original as Super Mario Galaxy and Portal, Braid is a short-lived gem.

Play Magazine

Every single genre of games could learn a thing or two from Braid’s design, and I can’t think of any type of gamer who would scoff at the title. Braid is my ruler for measuring quality in other games. Nothing anyone could say would change my mind: all the pieces fit.

GameFocus

Story is excellent.

Destructoid

As the first full-length art game ever made, and one of the most ingenious puzzle-based games ever devised, you owe it to yourself to buy Braid. It's worth fifteen dollars. It's worth fifty dollars. It's got too much new and intelligent and thoughtful stuff to be ignored simply because of a few hundred extra MS Points.

Console Monster

Braid is a stunning title which provides an experience which flows fluently from start to end. The simple concept, the complex puzzles, the beautiful presentation or the magical story.

GameSpot

A moving story, serene visuals, and brilliant puzzles make Braid an adventure that you absolutely should experience.

MEGamers

It has unique printed all over it from the start to finish. Every time you face an “impossible” puzzle, keep trying until you solve it and see how good it feels. Now this is gaming at its best.

Gameplanet

An amazing title which further solidifies Xbox Live Arcade's position as a fantastic platform for gamers and developers alike. Highly recommended.

GamerNode

Braid is the only true gaming classic on XBLA. It's a masterpiece--an "art" game and a fun-to-play puzzle/platformer. There aren't enough nice things to say about it.

GameZone

And while it might be visually unassuming, Braid offers players an experience (and a message about life) that few games have ever dared to offer.

Talk Xbox

Braid is a wonderful game. It costs a little more than your average XBLA title, true, and you’ll probably beat it in 4-5 hours or so, but those 4-5 hours will be extremely well-spent.

Play.tm

Braid is the most gorgeous slice of chocolate cake you can possible imagine wrapped in a silk cloth and tied with a pink ribbon. It's a paradoxical experience of simplistic charm and over-bearing sensory and logical complexity. No one in the gaming world should miss out on playing this game, to do so would be a tragedy.

ZTGameDomain

Braid is the kind of game that will likely change the face of downloadable entertainment.

Cheat Code Central

Braid is stellar and a true accomplishment. It not only represents the potential for more creative and innovative titles to reach the masses via downloadable service, but it stands as a game you won't forget.

NZGamer

The graphics are an amazing painterly mixture of abstract and cartoonish styles – it actually looks like a living painting you’re waltzing through. The music is of an equally high quality, switching between string compositions and folk music.

Games Master UK

Braid sums up everything we love about gaming. A near-perfect experience. [Oct 2008, p.76]

3DJuegos

Braid is one of those games that no one should miss. Innovative, impressive and really funny, this is one of the most brilliant games on Xbox Live Arcade.

Game Revolution

Whether Braid is art or just an extremely well-designed game, it is one of the best games of the year.

TeamXbox

It combines fun gameplay with an absolutely exquisite appearance - not going too far to one side or the other that it dilutes form over function, or vice versa.

Official Xbox Magazine

Braid is absolutely a game you shouldn’t miss.

Edge Magazine

A beautiful and brilliantly demanding game that barely contains its dense population of ideas. [Sept 2008, p.89]

VideoGamer

It's a game like nothing you've ever played before and something we can't recommend highly enough.

GamePro

Its sad, slightly twisted tale probably isn't everyone's cup of tea either. But how often do players get a chance to be immersed in an engrossing story in a downloadable title, especially one that looks like a painting and has haunting music straight out of an art museum?

Gamer.nl

Braid is unique. It's a brilliant little puzzler that takes you on a great, confusing and challenging adventure. The music will still sound in your head for days after playing. Backwards. Get this game, you’ll love it.

GameDaily

It looks gorgeous, with wonderfully drawn levels and a captivating soundtrack. It ends sooner than expected, but the ride Braid takes you on is worth it.

Gaming Target

Jonathan Blow has clearly proven himself as a videogame craftsman. Like Rez and Portal before it, Braid is a game you should own if you're into videogames -- period.

Totally360

This is a title that everyone must experience.

PTGamers

Don't be fooled by Braid's retro look. This game is simple in execution, but complex and clever in puzzles. It requires concentration, coordination and environment reading capacity. This is art in videogame form!

Wired

Braid is so much more than just another XBLA release. What you're paying for is a groundbreaking title that offers several hours of pure game enjoyment. Buy this game now, and experience some of the best this medium has to offer.

Official Xbox Magazine UK

Unique, charming, frustrating, innovative. [Oct 2008, p.94]

Planet Xbox 360

Brilliant.

Thunderbolt

Braid in many ways is this year’s "Portal"; not in the obvious sense but in the way it has burst onto the scene snatching most hearts that have given it the time of day, with nothing but plucky charm.

PALGN

Braid is the unique gaming experience that the critical press always cries out for and tells us to get so that more can be made.

MS Xbox World

Braid is to date the best overall game I’ve played from the Xbox Live Arcade. I say this not only because the puzzles are fresh and creative, but the story has a meaning that actually invokes emotions the way a good book or movie can.

games(TM)

The visual flair and meticulous puzzles will delight any gamer willing to lose themselves in Braid’s considerable challenge, but its true worth is grounded in something far more abstract. [Oct 2008, p.127]

IGN

Imaginative, innovative, and engrossing, Braid is a spectacular achievement. If only the experience lasted a little longer and there weren't as many puzzles with singular solutions.

Jolt Online Gaming UK

A true original, and one we’d be surprised to see surpassed in terms of quality on Xbox Live this year.

Gamer 2.0

When it comes down to it, Braid's very much one of those artsy games with an impactful story that can be something for people to talk about for a long time, which certainly lasts more than the game requires to beat it.

Worth Playing

It's not perfect, but for every bad lock puzzle and oddly written narrative, the "a-ha" moment of solving a tricky puzzle makes up for it.

WonderwallWeb

An innovative and unique game, it’s not a clone of Pacman, Tetris or Space Invaders and for that reason alone it stands out from the crowd.

Hardcore Gamer Magazine

Braid: is excellent and gorgeous, a little over-hyped, but maddeningly fun overall. [Fall 2008, p.55]

Video Game Talk

Die-hard fanatics of platformers should download the demo of Braid and check it out before pulling the 1200 point trigger. The rest of the gaming population needs to wait for Microsoft to reduce the price or find some Marketplace points on sale before purchasing Braid.

X360 Magazine UK

You can't put a price on innovation. [Issue#34, p.116]