Braid's protagonist, Tim, is a young man searching for a princess, whom he has wronged in some way. In his quest, Tim has to collect a variety of puzzle pieces in order to progress throughout the game and unlock subsequent stages.

At first glance, Braid might seem like your typical side-scroller, but it also incorporates a set of unique mechanics dealing with time. Not only can you reverse time to stop yourself from dying (after you fall in a pit, for example), but in many cases, the manipulation of time is required for solving the puzzles. Further levels add additional gameplay tweaks, such as time slowing down, or even playing in a sort of parallel "shadow" universe.