Braid (2008) Number None Inc.

Once upon a time there was a game for the NES called Castle Quest. It was one of those NES Classics that hated you as much as you hated it. This was an unmerciful bastard of a game that I think I once got half way close to winning.

Braid is cut from the same cloth - a puzzle/platformer that at times makes you want to punch yourself, your television, the dog, the cat, and spike your controller though the floor. Unlike Castle Quest the designers of Braid actually made the game some what forgiving, fun, and fascinating. The puzzles start easy enough but eventually reach a point where you want to pull out your eyes. The puzzles are based on time manipulation but each world has a different style of time manipulation that doesn't carry over to other worlds - which would have made life easier. The ability to rewind time makes life a little easier and less frustrating. If Braid had lives - a la Castle Quest, Super Mario Brothers - then I probably would have spontaneously combusted.

It's a gorgeous game with great music and puzzles that made me pretty happy. Some of the puzzles actually surprised me with their cleverness. Number None Inc isn't going to make a bajillion dollars off this game. I imagine that most people aren't willing to put forth the brain power, patience, and masocism required to complete Braid. At the very least download the demo. If Braid is an example of things to come from Number None Inc then they are going to put forward so great games.