
Time travel in Braid - panic
http://qntm.org/braid
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cecilpl
> There are also deep paradoxes which arise when one character with this power
> runs into another character with the same power. What does this person
> perceive when you rewind time, and vice versa? In a fight between you, who
> wins? How far back can you go? How much of your life are you willing to
> unravel and experience again just for the sake of a particular
> confrontation? How much of your life would you simply go back and re-
> experience over and over again?

This reminds me of the plot of the movie "Primer" (which, if you haven't seen,
you owe it to yourself to go watch).

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TeMPOraL
I second the recommendation. Also, if after seeing it you don't understand the
movie and think it sucks, watch it again. With a pen and a piece of paper.

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lmm
Did that. It still sucks and I wasted more hours now.

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TeMPOraL
At least now you have a healthy appreciation of the problems involved in time
travel.

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zerocrates
> I'm hurrying because the good bit is next.

Braid gets some frankly disproportionate praise for its skeleton of a story
conveyed by the "books" available between levels, but that final stage is
fantastic, not only as the culmination of the buildup of mechanics throughout
the game. Very few games ever manage to intertwine their gameplay and
narrative so successfully.

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john_butts
Almost no one praises the books! In fact, that's the one caveat in most
otherwise glowing reviews; that is a testament to the game design, that the
only concrete narrative is the least effective narrative. However! - I think
Blow was at least trying to do something that explains how stilted it seems,
though I'm not entirely sure what. For example: it takes only a slightly
charitable perspective to make a coherent story when the books are read in
reverse order, and confirmation bias be damned, it seems intentional.

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emsy
To me, the books wouldn't be that much of a problem. After all most games have
some form of written or cineatic storytelling. But Blow's rants against
traditional games makes it seem a bit hypocritical that he had to resort to
(only) the books for his storytelling. I mean the ending combines story and
mechanic and I wished there was something in the other levels that emphasized
the content of the books.

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wldcordeiro
There is though, I can't recall the specific buts I believe in world three the
books talk about how the main character needs to be immune to the princesses'
power (or charm, or something) and then the level introduces you to the items
that aren't affected by time reversal.

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andrey-p
If you enjoy puzzle games with unique "models" of play I'd really recommend
giving Antichamber a try.

It's got no plot or multiple levels. You spend (almost) the entire game
exploring a single level with the same consistent logic, and you progress by
figuring out what that actually logic is.

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tgb
It's really fun, but I got kind of lost since all the puzzles reset when you
leave so I never had any idea whether I had completed a puzzle or not. Is
there a good way to do that? The map helps a bit, but if there are four
puzzles in a region and I know I haven't done one of them, I have a 3/4 chance
of trying to solve one I've already solved. This is definitely a problem now
that I haven't touched it in months but have most (but not quite all) of the
game solved. And some of the problems are clear what to do but still take a
long time to complete!

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andrey-p
Yeah, it's not the best game at making clear what's expected of you. I'd say
if you've managed to progress to a new room that you haven't been able to
before, obtained an item, or at least learned something new (an actual
lightbulb moment), then the puzzle is still unsolved.

I do have to say I had to look up the solutions to one or two puzzles when I
played it.

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nlawalker
From
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Fg76c4Zfg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Fg76c4Zfg),
an interview with Jon Blow:

"I really value that click that happens in your head between when you see
something and you don't quite understand it, and then when suddenly you do
understand it, and that is a fundamental part of human existence in the world,
is that kind of mental growth, that kind of expanding of one's sphere of
understanding of the world."

Braid is a fantastic game and I can't wait for The Witness.

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caligarn
Author should check out Chronology. A much simpler version of Braid for iOS.
Not nearly as challenging but provides time travel gameplay that is different
and at times quite intriguing.

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tedunangst
There was a web site game that dealt extensively with shadow selves solving
puzzles that I ran into many years ago. For example, opening a door might
involve ten selves all piling onto a button, while the eleventh ran through.
Does anybody remember that? Have searched for it for a while unsuccessfully.

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john_butts
[http://www.thegamehomepage.com/play/cursor-x-10/](http://www.thegamehomepage.com/play/cursor-x-10/)

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tedunangst
I think that's the one. Thanks. (Got some other good alternatives too)

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DonHopkins
Game Helpin' Squad explains Time Travel Understander:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fABGyVzVwI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fABGyVzVwI)

"If you can't figure out what you're doing in the game, you're just not
thinking in the right way."

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redxblood
Hah, he missed it.

Braid is about the history of the atomic bomb, and Tim is actually Oppenheimer
trying to reach the princess (the atomic bomb)

When you find out how to climb that hidden ladder in the epilogue, you can
catch the princess, and she explodes.

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sukilot
A throwaway reference, yes , but not what the game is "about".

