This is the fourth part of my series of Braid hints. It’s not a walkthrough, because simply giving the puzzles’ answers would ruin the game. But I got so frustrated at the game that I gave in to temptation and looked online to find answers to a puzzle in both world 2 and world 3, so I’m now providing the spoiler-free hints I wish I’d had access to.
The official walkthrough says…
Some of the puzzles will be hard. But when you manage to solve those hard puzzles, you will feel very good about it. The game will feel very rewarding. Don’t rob yourself of that feeling by reading a walkthrough!
I urge you to only read the hints on levels where you’re completely stuck. Once you read a spoiler, you can never un-read it.
World 6: Hesitance
World 6 introduces the ring. The ring that slows time. And creates all kinds of freaking difficult puzzles…
The Pit?
There’s actually no puzzle piece here.
There and Back Again
1. (very easy)
No hint.
Phase?
1. (easy)
It might take a bit longer than you like to get there, but two steps forward one step back is still progress.
2. (medium)
Take note that you can climb all the way to the top.
Cascade
1. (medium) – this is the one at the upper left
You’ll need to use the ring, and you’ll need to have some pretty good timing. Thank goodness for the rewind button.
2. (very hard) – this is the one just above the door
There are many many steps involved here, as you’ll notice if you’re manage to get the key. Put the ring in a hard-to-get-to place.
3. (easy)
You’ll need to use the ring here too.
Impassible Foliage
1. (hard)
There are two challenges in getting this puzzle piece. Firstly, getting past the plant. You need to find a way to use the ring to slow it without slowing yourself. Secondly, actually getting to the puzzle piece. If you’re having trouble with this, just enter the level, stand still, and watch what’s going on. You might have to kill a couple monsters while watching, but just watch.
2. (very hard)
To me, this is one of the hardest puzzles in the game. Obviously, bouncing off of one monster doesn’t get you up there. You’ll likely spend a lot of time in trial and error to get two through. It’s tedious. Experiment with different positions for the ring. It’s helpful to remember that you can jump up through certain portions of floor.
Elevator Action
1. (medium)
This is one of my favorite puzzles in the game. The solution is so elegant. I’m really hesitant to give even a hint, since finding the answer is so fun. Getting past the cannons is pretty easy, it’s getting out that’s the trick. I urge you not to read this hint: How can you slow down not just one or two, but all the cannons?
2. (very hard)
This was the last puzzle piece in the game that I ever got. The thing I wish I’d known was that one of those two moving platforms is actually blocking the other one. Knowing this by no means makes the whole thing easy, but it sure helps.
3. (medium)
The trick here is to realize that once you’re on either of the glowing platforms, you’re immune to both rewinding and to the ring’s time-slowing.
In Another Castle
1. (hard)
It’s all about the glowing section of floor to the left of the lever.
The second puzzle in Impassible Foliage can be made relatively simple if you remember that the monsters are unaffected by any changes to time while the plants are affected by all. The using the ring, coupled with pausing time can circumvent the need for much of the experimentation and careful timing the puzzle otherwise demands.
For the second piece in Impossible Foliage, if you realise that bouncing off a monster that is falling BEFORE it hits the floor gets you a little bit higher, than its a lot easier to grab the piece.
If possible, can you give me a hint as to how to get the key in ‘Cascade’? I know how to get the ring to the ‘hard place’ and get to the door, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to get the key in the first place.
I LOVE your idea of a hint w/o solution. I’ve done the same for friends (on the puzzles I did solve) and it is a VERY satisfying feeling to divine the solution on your own.
Austin –
Here’s a series of hints. Try to get it by reading only the first one, but read the second if you need to.
1. As I’m sure you know, jumping on two monsters’ heads gets you much higher than jumping on a single one. This is how you get up to the key, although it’s a multi-step process.
2. Placing the ring properly will cause the monsters to group up so that they’re closer together.
I had tried the double jump before, evidently not in the right spot. Just made it to the key and hence the puzzle piece. Thanks for the tidbit
and yes, it’s an excellent game. I wouldn’t mind seeing a full price and full length sequel.
Great hints page. Love not having to look at a walkthrough to get past the hard bits.
Can I just check though… you did climb the ladder in the main house and find the final levels right? The lack of world 7 hints made me worried you didn’t see it kept going! (Something I nearly did)
Yes – I found world 7. But it’s so drastically different from everything else that I didn’t write up any world 7 hints.
On ‘impassable foliage’, I found the best way to ensure the monsters’ passage through the plants is to repeatedly rewind/replay a very short period of time. In other words, wait until all three plants have retracted their jaws, then just press/release the rewind button fairly quickly over and over again (say, one second on, one second off). This repeatedly replays the short period when the plants are out of the way, allowing lots of monsters to pass. As I recall, I had the ring near the far end of the run (away from the cannon) to give me a better shot at making the double-jump.
I haven’t breathed such a sigh of relief on completing a game achievement since I won the race with Kai in Okami.
[…] to figure out exactly what I was missing. If you’re interested, I’ve written up some hints for the Braid game which attempt to nudge you in the direction of the answer without outright […]
Elevator action was just killing me. Just knowing that you can rewind time and not be affected while standing on the platform, was what helped me figure out the rest. Thanks a bunch for hint and not the answer!
To pass the monsters through impassable foliage, use the ring to make the three plants come into sync. Then up arrow once to go to 0X when all plants are retracted. I was able to able to pass 4-5 monsters before running about to start jumping on them.
beats trial and error every time.
[IMPASSABLE FOLIAGE HINT]: Glitching can also be fun. Pretend you’re a DJ!