Because I don’t have an XBox, I don’t have access to XBLA games until they’re released on other platforms. This is why I never got to try Braid until it was released on Steam. When I eventually got access to the game through Steam, I found out just how hard its puzzles really were, and I was eventually forced to look up walkthroughs, and found this. It was that page that motivated me to create the Braid Hints pages that I posted on this site back in 2009. Those pages continue to be the most popular posts on this site. So now that Limbo has finally come out on PSN and I’ve been able to play, I find it apropos to write up some Limbo Hints.
This isn’t a walkthrough – I’m not going to provide hints on each and every level. If you’re interested in walkthroughs, there are plenty on YouTube. but I’d urge you not to use walkthroughs. The game’s puzzles are sometimes very challenging, but if you can suck it up and just spend some time and experiment, you’re likely to figure them out. And it’s very rewarding – you’ll enjoy the game more.

But for those times when you’re absolutely stuck, when you’ve spent a half hour and more than two game sessions trying to figure out what the hell to do on this or that damn puzzle and you’re at your wits end… I bring you hints. Not solutions, just gentle nudges that may help you figure out the solution without handing it to you outright.

First, a few pointers about the game in general.

• Remember your controls. Aside from the jump button, there’s also a button that lets you pull things. The game doesn’t present you the controls explicitly, so if you haven’t realized that you can pull things, you’ll never get past the first chapter.
• You can swing on ropes as well as climbing them.
• If you can’t get past a certain part and you keep dying, then you’d might as well experiment. Sure, you might get killed, but if you keep dying anyway then what does it matter?
• A couple of Limbo’s toughest puzzles involve waiting. It’s hard to do nothing, and it’s certainly not the first thing you’d think to do, but if it makes sense for the puzzle you’re on, give it a shot.

Okay, now some specifics. I’m not going to cover every chapter, because while there are plenty of parts in the game that may have you scratching your head for a few minutes, there are relatively few that have a chance to hang you up indefinately.

Damn that spider! I can't get near him without being speared like a fish, and he's blocking my progress! There's not much to my left other than an unreachable bear trap in a tree, so what am I supposed to do?

Firstly, that spider isn’t nearly so coordinated as you might think. Try experimenting. Risk dying. Play around while you’re close to him and see what happens. Stop reading right now and go back to the game. Only read the next paragraph if you absolutely need to.

If you’ve gotten your hands on the bear trap, made use of it, and still are stuck, you should note that repetition has value.

What am I supposed to do here? To the left, there's an odd machine with a lever that does nothing. Then there's a ramp that I can get to if I jump hard enough and a frog-looking thing hiding under a ridge. Over to the right there's a hanging rope that I can pull, but it doesn't do much.

As you may have noticed when you first ran up, that frog really wants the glowing stuff growing on the underside of the ramp. Know what I call that? Bait. Stop reading right now and go back to the game. Only read the next paragraph if you absolutely need to.

Impact will knock that crap on down for the frog. From there, it’s all about you mustering whatever speed and timing you can. Good luck.

Come back soon for a second batch of hints on Limbo.