The Escapist 2008 Holiday Buyer's Guide

The Escapist Holiday Buyers' Guide: Net Setter

Braid (Xbox Live Arcade)

Frat boys have their sports games, angst-ridden teenagers have their JRPGs and chronic hand-raisers have their puzzle games. And now the highest echelon of obnoxious overachievers, who scoff at Sudoku and thought Portal was too easy, have Braid.

It's not that Braid's puzzles are hopelessly difficult, although they may initially feel that way. It's that once you find the solution, you feel like a complete jackass for not figuring it out sooner. To play Braid is not to become smarter, but to realize how stupid you were before. And for the elite puzzle gamers out there (yes, both of you), this knowledge is a weapon they will use to bludgeon you over then head. You should never, under any circumstances, play Braid with this type of individual: His constant snickers of smug self-satisfaction will drown out the game's gorgeous string instrumentals, and you'll end up thrusting your Xbox controller down his throat while repeatedly screaming "rewind this, motherf**ker" at full volume. Or so I'm told.

For an overview of our 2008 Buyer's Guide, click here.