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Comment by mjr00 | Hacker News Reader

> He’s released two games which barely qualify as games.

Everyone's entitled to an opinion, but it's worth pointing out that Braid is not only widely considered one of the best games ever made[0], its success was also instrumental in the explosion of indie games in the late 00s/10s. The Witness didn't quite reach the same heights, but it got an 87 on Metacritic and was a financial success.

Even if it's only two games, that's a much stronger resume than most. You can argue that he takes too long to develop games, but other studios also take 8 years to make games and come out with Concord or Dragon Age: Veilguard.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_considered...

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> Braid is not only widely considered one of the best games ever made[0]

The source here is a wikipedia article containing "A list of video games that multiple have considered to be among the best of all time"

I don't know anyone who is into gaming that takes the opinions of "video game journalists or magazines" seriously anymore. They are so obviously just a marketing extension of the videogame industry that you can't trust anything they say. Look at recent developments with Dragon Age Inquisition. Reviewers gave it great scores, but it flopped hard enough that Bioware had huge layoffs [0]

Braid is a game that people barely remember exists today, and in another 10 years it will be even more obscure. It is not remotely an all time great

> its success was also instrumental in the explosion of indie games in the late 00s/10s

Don't give Braid too much credit here, it caught the indie game wave at the start but the wave was coming either way. The explosion happened at the same time Braid came out, not years later inspired by its success.

[0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2025/02/02/after-drag...

> Look at recent developments with Dragon Age Inquisition. Reviewers gave it great scores, but it flopped hard enough that Bioware had huge layoffs [0]

First off, it's Dragon Age: Veilguard, not Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Second off, it's had a better release (in terms of sales X days from launch) than literally every other Dragon Age came to date.

While it's true that it underperformed expectations, that's more because the expectations were ludicrous to begin with, and the actual performance can hardly be called a flop.

I like Braid. I do. But, it’s more of a puzzle than a game. Once you figure out the answer, you’re done. Like Myst.

Games have some element of skill involved and Blow’s products lack that.

And that’s not to knock the products. I like puzzles. And not everything has to be a game. Will Wright has said that he does not make games, he makes toys. Digital toys.

I also think people judge his work on his reputation more than on its merits

> I like Braid. I do. But, it’s more of a puzzle than a game. Once you figure out the answer, you’re done. Like Myst.

This criteria is very specific to you. Outer Wilds is also widely considered one of the greatest games of all time, and also one of the least replayable once you've beaten it. Myst too, since you mentioned it.

Besides, Braid is as much a platformer as it is a puzzler... is Super Mario Bros not a game since the levels don't change once you beat them?

I'm confused. When did puzzle games stop being games?

I despise Blow but this is a critique that borders on the incoherent. You could just as well say that when you figure out how to hurt enemies without taking damage, you're done with action games.

Being able to execute the action is part of the challenge. Being able to do it once does not guarantee you will be able to do it again.

Neither Braid nor The Witness nor Myst have that quality. Once you know solution, it’s done, it never changes.

You seem to think being a puzzle is an insult. But it’s not, it’s just not a game.

Wentworth and Ravensburg make decent money publishing puzzles. But neither company tries to say this is how all construction should be done. Which is how Blow comes across to me.

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