The story follows a man, named Tim, who attempts to rescue his princess from a monster. The game features traditional aspects of platform titles; the player runs, jumps, and climbs through a linear set of stages, while solving puzzles and defeating enemies. The player may also control time, allowing actions to be “rewound”, even after death. Using these abilities, the player progresses the story by finding and assembling jigsaw puzzle pieces.

Blow designed the game as a personal critique of recent trends in game development efforts. He funded the project with his own money and spent three years creating it. David Hellman drew the artwork, which underwent several iterations until it satisfied Blow’s desired vision. A preliminary version of Braid without the final artwork won the “Innovation in Game Design” award at the Independent Games Festival in 2006; the final version received additional accolades. The game received positive reviews from critics, eventually becoming the top-rated title on Xbox Live. The game’s price and length were points of criticism.