No, this isn’t going to be another article about how Braid is the best thing ever and was sent here by Jesus to save us all from XBLA purgatory. Plenty has been written on the subject, and I agree with the huge reviews completely. The game rocks.
This article is about the dangerous side effects of playing the game all the way through in one long GIGANTIC sitting.
Specifically I am here today to warn you about Braid Brain and its effects!
For those that haven’t played Braid, rather than go into the whole game, just know that in the game a HUGE part of what you do involves controlling time. Specifically rolling time backwards. For instance you don’t die ever. You get hit and fall to the bottom of the screen and then you have to reverse time until you get to somewhere safe and try again. Seriously in any given level you could reverse time as many as 50 times. Sometimes more.
Okay so I made the mistake of sitting down and playing pretty much the whole damned game in one afternoon/evening. By the time I stood up and walked away from my Xbox, I had been screwing with time for about 8 hours.
I made my way downstairs where my wife asked me if I would trim some branches in the front yard the next morning. Knowing full well I was going to get a verbal beatdown for which I had no defense, I think I said something like, “Or I could show you how the trimmers work.”
I didn’t say this because I was too lazy to cut branches. I wasn’t even mad at Lesley.
I said it because for just a second I wanted to see her reaction, and afterward I planned to reverse time and say something nice like…. “Sure!”
I expected to reverse time! I played Braid so long I actually expected that I could hit X somewhere and reverse the interdimensional time continuum!
It didn’t stop there. I got in the car to run to the store and actually considered trying to turn out in front of a pickup truck. I just wanted to try it. I forgot about those things in the REAL world called consequences.
Like I said, Braid let’s you pretty much erase any mistake by backing up the flow of time, thus alleviating you of most consequences (not all…. see also ‘Irreversibility’). Coming out of a lengthy session of the game it’s really hard for me to adjust to the real world again.
Just as you are probably wishing you could rewind time and not read this stupid blog post, I really wish I’d been a little more careful. Now I have to figure out where wifey hid my Xbox controllers and AV cable.
Damn you BRAID!
Have any of you ever experienced anything like this with Braid or any game for that matter?
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This is obviously a dangerous game as it can trick youngsters into believing they have no need for personal responsibility. I bet we’re going to see a rash of youth doing stupid things on YouTube with the belief they are invincible and can simply rewind time. This game is going to be the downfall of society. Where is JT when you need him? We need an uproar! Wal-mart needs to ban the sale of 360s to save our youth from playing this game!
What a GREAT article, perfect shot at the stupid video game violence critics. Well done.
doc you’re an idiot….
(pressing x button)
that’s what i always do doc
Try playing Braid in one sitting then follow it up with Portal the next day. I’m still not thinking right.
this happened to me once, but it was with the “The Sims” game, the first one, i mean, i always had fun forwarding the time and sometimes after i played, i thought that i can make the time pass faster!
That happened to me after playing Medal of Honor Frontline for several hours. I was walking down the hall right after playing it and I tried to move the left analog stick to turn. I was embarresed.
Dear Doc
Please…give the car keys to your wife after playing “Grid”
im not judging anyone but i didnt getthis game i thought it was kindof crappy like is the full game any better becse if it is the trial and the fact that its 1200 ms points doesnt give it anyjustice at all…….
oh and i forgot this article was great
Worst thing that ever happened to me was after hours and hours of Dr. Mario in school, then going to class, all I could see were the spaces between the words, and all the elaborate slip-ins that I could use to get the words to fall.
SonOf –
Yeah, the game dominates. I felt the same way you did, seemed pretty straightforward kind of platformer at the beginning, but after a few levels it really picks up, and becomes the good.