RemasterXbox · Switch · PC · PlayStation

Braid: Anniversary Edition

Thekla, Inc · Puzzle, Action, 2D Platformer

Overview

Control the flow of time to solve puzzles in this new version of the indie classic, featuring fully repainted artwork, a new world of puzzles, and seriously in-depth commentary.

Control the flow of time to solve subtle platform puzzles in this update of the indie classic "Braid," featuring refreshed artwork and seriously in-depth creator commentary. Travel from a city house through a series of interconnected worlds where time behaves strangely, searching for an elusive Princess. Along the way you'll explore memories and regrets that still haunt you. This Anniversary Edition remaster of the award-winning platformer contains fully repainted high-resolution graphics, new sound effects and extensive audio commentary.

MANIPULATE TIME TO MOVE FORWARD

Rewind, pause and use the strange properties of time in each world to run and jump through beautifully painted environments. Avoid hazards, unlock doors and collect jigsaw puzzle pieces to assemble. If you get hung up on a particular puzzle, feel free to move on and return later.

A FRESH COAT OF PAINT

This is the game you remember, with all the original challenges and the same haunting, evocative score — but repainted pixel by pixel so that each carefully rendered world comes to life in high resolution. New visual details, animated brushstroke effects and revamped sounds add to the immersive experience.

GO (DEEP) BEHIND THE SCENES

Explore the most extensive developer commentary ever put into a game, with over 15 hours of recorded insight and conversation from developer Jonathan Blow, artist David Hellman and more members of the "Braid" creative team. Navigate it by visiting a new in-game world, which also contains new puzzles and redesigns of classic puzzles.

Created By thekla, Inc.

From the game's Steam store page.

THE GAMEQ VERDICT904 reviews analyzed

What players are actually saying

1. Summary

Most reviewers recommend the Anniversary Edition, and their praise starts with Braid's time puzzles; several point out that each world is built around its own rule for time. Players also praise the repaint. Several returning players say the new art looks the way they remembered the original, and a one-button switch back to the 2008 look lets them check. The developer commentary is the main extra, and dozens of reviews recommend it to anyone interested in game design, including several from people who say they make games.

Criticism of the commentary (54 reviews) is mostly about how it is delivered: you stand still while a track plays, there is no speed control, playback stops when you alt-tab, and the talks are spread across a maze of doors. Owners of the original split on whether the package justifies buying Braid again at full price. Most reviews that discuss the new puzzles in the commentary world like them, but nine felt the "40 new levels" billing oversold what they counted as about 16 new puzzle pieces. In thumbs-down reviews the complaint that comes up most often (25 of 76) is about puzzles that demand precise timing or hinge on rules the game never shows, and reviewers note that the remaster left those puzzles as they were. That complaint became more common after the launch year, and the positive share fell year by year: reviews written in 2024 were 95.9% positive, those from 2025 86%, and those from 2026 80.6%.

2. What keeps coming up

What players praise

Time puzzles that still surpriseHigh

Praise for the puzzles centers on how each world takes one rule for time and works through it without filler. One player called it "Possibly the cleanest puzzle platform design I have ever experienced," and another wrote "The difficulty ramp-up with the puzzles is also really well done." The rewind button earns credit even in negative reviews; one lists "The time rewind mechanic is slick and nicely cuts out the frustration" of waiting after a death first among the things it liked. A couple of players like that you can leave a puzzle you are stuck on, try another world and come back later, and one of them wrote "The Eureka moments are amazing." The minority who found the puzzles unfair are covered in the frustrations panel.

A repaint that looks the way people remember itHigh

Players praise David Hellman's repaint, and several single out its animated brush strokes: "the living painting effects are SO GOOD," wrote one, and a long-time fan said "World 6, which looked terrible in the original, is now a masterpiece." Several returning players say the new version matches their memory of the old one ("this is how I remember it"), and some add that switching the old graphics back on shows how much was added. Fewer reviews comment on the sound, but one player who says they spent hundreds of hours in the original wrote "The sound design is probably the biggest upgrade".

Some returning players hold on to the old version: 18 reviews prefer the original in places or call the redo unnecessary. One wrote "I prefer most of the backgrounds from the original game over the new ones", another found that on Steam Deck the extra detail brought "an increase in visual noise". The new music over the final scene divides the few who mention it: "The epilogue now has music, I think that is a plus," against "Why oh why did they add soothing music to the final scene? It's much less creepy now."

Developer commentary that works as a design courseHigh

Reviewers describe hours of talks with Jonathan Blow, David Hellman and other collaborators placed inside the game world, illustrated with sketches and with prototype versions of levels. Dozens of reviews recommend it to anyone interested in game design, and several of those come from people who say they make games themselves. One player thought the edition "might be the best self-paced course on game design released to date"; another wrote "Think of this as a 15 hour of high-quality, interactive GDC talk." A third set it against an older benchmark: "You remember the Valve game commentaries? Those are CHILD'S PLAY compared to this." The illustrated format gets specific praise, for example when "the commentary track actually draws lines on the screen to highlight what is different and why." Complaints about the commentary are more often about sitting through it than about what is said (see the frustrations panel).

Old and new at the press of a buttonMedium

One button switches between the 2008 and 2024 art and sound at any time, and 53 reviews bring it up. "It's just so satisfying to spam X to see the difference between the old and the new graphics!" wrote one player. People use it to compare, to keep the original look in levels they prefer that way, and in two cases to get past a bug that only happened with the new art. Two players said they found the feature late, one writing "i wish i knew about that earlier in the game, but you aren't told until you visit the commentary levels".

Runs well on modern screensLow

Reports of smooth performance come from 30 reviews, covering 4K and high refresh rates, ultrawide monitors, Steam Deck, native Apple silicon and Linux through Proton. One player reported "the game runs at a buttery smooth 60 fps in 4K on my 1070", and another was "incredibly impressed that the game loads in 2-3 seconds". A smaller group had performance problems, covered in the frustrations panel.

Where players are split

The story and its endingMedium

Of the 113 reviews that give an opinion on the story, 75 like it. Fans praise how the text and the time mechanics tell one story, and the twist in the last world: "That ending changed me for good." One player found it "vague enough to allow multiple interpretations, but solid enough to make sure anyone can understand it." The other 38 found it confusing, overwritten or beside the point: "Those books at the beginning of each section are verbose, over-elaborate and tell more than they show," and "It's really, i mean REALLY confusing". Several of those critics call the story "pretentious", a label a few fans reject. Most of the 38 who disliked the story still recommend the game.

Worth buying again if you own Braid?Medium

Price and value for owners come up in 73 reviews. Among owners, 16 reviews say it is worth buying again and 21 say skip it, wait for a sale, or buy it only for the commentary. "This version is worth the purchase even if you've played it as many times as I have," wrote one returning player. A negative review took the other side: "If you have played Braid already, pass. If you have not, enjoy a great game!" Another explained that for a returning player "The only thing about the main game that's changed is that the graphics are even better", which leaves the commentary as the reason to pay. On price, 20 reviews say the full price is too high and suggest waiting for a sale, some because the game is short ("$20 is asking a bit much for the length of the game"), while 15 call it worth the money, 11 of them mentioning the commentary. One negative review adds that owners lost the cheaper choice: "The original game got delisted and now forces people to buy a 20$ priced game instead of the cheaper original."

The new puzzles in the commentary worldMedium

The new puzzles sit behind doors in the commentary world, World 7, and 69 reviews discuss them. Two-thirds of them (47) like what they found: "The 16 new puzzle pieces, meanwhile, are all top-notch," and the new levels are "less cohesive than the originals but sometimes delightfully bonkers." The other 22 object to how many there are and where they are. Nine reviews call the "40 new levels" or "whole new world" billing misleading, saying most of those levels are commentary rooms and prototypes; one quoted the trailer, "The Braid, Anniversary Edition launch trailer promised: 40 New Levels.", and counted "only 16 new puzzle available and they are quite straightforward". A few wanted them gathered in one place: "Why was not these puzzles just another linear world?" Difficulty is disputed too, from "quite straightforward" to a World 7 puzzle "sitting at 6.5% completion".

Has it aged well?Low

On whether it has aged well, 41 reviews take a side. 22 say it holds up: "you usually expect that game to be way worse then you remember. This game is the exact opposite." 19 say it feels dated or has lost its magic: "If ever a game aged like milk it is Braid," and "most puzzlers have since discarded this kind of puzzle". 12 of those 19 were written from 2025 on.

A short gameLow

The length draws comments from 35 reviews. 26 treat it as a strength ("Right length, I don't need another Talos with 700 puzzles that are only 1% different from the next.") and 9 as a drawback, three of them tying it to the price. One of those felt the credits came "after what felt like should have been 1/3rd of the way through the game".

What frustrates players

Puzzles that hinge on timing or unexplained tricksMedium

Complaints about how some puzzles play come from 54 reviews, and this is the complaint that turns up most often in negative reviews (25 of 76). Two complaints recur. The first is execution: 27 reviews say solutions need precise timing or long setups, so knowing the answer is not enough. One player argued that "a well designed puzzle is one where the time it takes to execute the solution is faster than figuring out the solution"; another wrote "Too often they rely on being difficult to execute instead of difficult to figure out." The second is obscurity: 25 reviews say some solutions depend on rules the game never shows, as in "the solution to the trickier ones often relies on some mechanic that hasn't been introduced or even hinted at". 11 reviews call the controls or platforming clunky. Defenders answer that awkward execution means a wrong answer: "if you think you've found the solution to a puzzle but execution proves to be difficult or impossible, chances are you haven't found the right solution." The remaster did not touch these puzzles ("The core puzzles are unchanged (even the ones that should have been tweaked)"), and the complaint became more common over time, from 3.8% of reviews written in 2024 to 9.9% of those written from 2025 on.

Commentary you have to stand still forMedium

The commentary draws criticism in 54 reviews, most of which still recommend the game. Playback is one main complaint (21 reviews): a track plays only while you stay near its marker, there is no speed setting, and it stops when you alt-tab. One player described having "Tim standing still for upwards of ten minutes not doing anything"; another compared it to "a 20-hour conference seminar where you are forced to switch seats every 3-5 minutes on average". A third wrote "I do wish there were speed controls for the commentary though, I mean...of all games..." Navigation is the other (22 reviews): the talks sit behind nested doors and portals, "The commentary hub is a nightmare to navigate", and "There's no visual indication that you've already listened to a piece of commentary." 19 reviews found parts of it too long, repetitive or dull, and 12 would rather hear it as a podcast or video. A few fans defend the layout; one wrote "I think it's really meant to be experienced in an exploratory way".

Hidden stars, a two-hour wait and the speedrunLow

The optional star collectibles and the 45-minute speedrun achievement draw complaints from 18 reviews, while 9 enjoyed them. Complaints include that nothing hints at where the stars are ("There are no hints in the game about the star locations") and that one star takes about two hours of waiting on a cloud; one review adds that another can be missed for good unless you restart your save. "The stars are still exactly as annoying to get as they were before," wrote a returning player. Fans of the secrets see it differently: "Even waiting on that cloud again for 2 hours to catch the star was worth it."

Stutters, lag and a few bugsLow

Technical problems show up in 18 reviews. They include a crash on launch, heavy lag on some PCs ("unplayable on a monster pc with rtx 4080", followed by a refund), stutter at startup, and Steam Deck slowdowns ("Sometimes performance suffers dramatically on Steam Deck"). A few found physics that behave differently under the new art: "Except for platform collision. That got worse and I needed to switch to older graphics on 2 levels to beat them." Another had a key that kept falling through the floor until they switched to the old graphics. One reviewer reported that the Japanese text was machine-translated at launch, then added that a May 31 update restored the old translations but that, as far as they knew, the commentary still had problems. One launch-week reviewer also missed ultrawide support.

A 75% sale a month after launchLow

All 6 reviews on this point are negative. They protest that the game went 75% off about a month after launch, after owners of the original had pre-ordered it at a 50% loyalty discount. "The developer drastically cut the price by 75% just one month after the game's release," one wrote. These reviews are about the price, and three of them still speak warmly of Braid.

3. The player conversation

The conversation is warm and fan-heavy, with a long tail of one-line endorsements ("Masterpiece", "Classic") and a run of joke reviews quoting Soulja Boy's old video about the original. The launch month brought 269 reviews at 96.3% positive, full of nostalgia and of first impressions of the commentary; 32% of reviews written in 2024 mention the commentary. The one notable early dip came in the week of June 24, 2024, when four of 17 reviews were thumbs-down over the 75% summer sale.

Reviews written from 2025 on mention the commentary about half as often (17%), and several say they bought the game on sale. Complaints about timing-heavy or obscure puzzles became more common in those later reviews, more of the "dated" verdicts arrived, and the positive share fell each year. Commentary critics have played longer than reviewers overall: a third of them had logged 10 or more hours, against about a fifth of all reviewers.

4. What the developers could do

Add optional hints for the obscure puzzles. Puzzle complaints are the most common complaint in negative reviews, 25 reviews say some solutions rely on rules the game never shows, and one player found the commentary's explanations already help: "I especially appreciate the solutions given for the puzzles. It beats looking things up outside the game."
Give the commentary real playback controls. Speed settings, playback that continues when the window loses focus or the player walks away, and a pause would answer the 21 reviews about standing still for minutes with no faster option.
Index the commentary and mark what has been heard. Players asked for "a form of a list, for quick access to all topics" and complained that "There's no visual indication that you've already listened to a piece of commentary."
Collect the new puzzles in one world and describe them accurately. Nine reviews felt the "40 new levels" billing oversold what they counted as about 16 new puzzle pieces, and a few wanted them in one sequence like the original worlds.
Offer owners of the original a standing upgrade price. Owners split on paying full price again, one review says the original was delisted, and six negative reviews protest that a 75% sale undercut the 50% pre-order loyalty discount a month after launch.
Signpost the stars and fix the missable one. One player asked for some in-game sign of which levels hide a star, and another objected to a star that can be lost for good.
Fix the remaining performance and collision bugs, and retranslate the commentary. Reports cover startup stutter, lag on some PCs, Steam Deck slowdowns, collisions that change under the new art, and Japanese commentary that one reviewer says was never retranslated.
Tell players about the art toggle and the commentary from the start. Two players found these late, one writing "I wish that I had played it through this time with everything toggled on".