The Art of Braid: Fascinating Insights into Game Art and Design
If you haven't checked out the brilliant new XBLA platform puzzler Braid, go do so. I'll wait. No, don't worry. It's completely worth the 1200 points.
Back? Good. There's a super interesting article up at Gamasutra discussing the art direction in Braid, from the first initial developer baby steps to the final working product.
When I sent these to Jonathan, he jumped on the rectangular "cut out" on the bottom of the center platform. It was a conspicuous geometric variation in a puzzle game where the player will assume everything has been placed for a reason.It would be bad for the player to get stuck trying to figure out the puzzle-solving purpose of something with purely aesthetic value. As we went along, I got more disciplined about eliminating stuff that might distract or confuse the player.
Really fascinating read for anyone remotely interested in delving into the creative process.
[link via Gamasutra]
image: Braid concept art courtesy Gamasutra
What say you?!