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Comment by bena | Hacker News Reader

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

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> 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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