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Main Page • Walkthrough • Speed Runs • Secrets • Secret Stars • Achievements

Introduction

Speed runs have been around for a very long time now and the goal is simple. Finish a set goal in the minimum amount of time. They not only require skill, but patience as well.
To access the speed runs in this feature, simply bring up the game menu and select speed runs. These speed runs are complete or 100% runs, meaning you must collect every puzzle piece. The times set in Braid are close to the fastest times possible. To achieve this you will need to practise the runs and be consistent. While practising you can ignore mistakes and continue onwards. However, when you are trying to beat the time making even one mistake you must restart the run. The occasions where you don't need to will be slim to none.
Before starting a speed run, a simple counter will be shown. Know what you want to do before it hits zero.

Leap of Faith

Challenge Time: 1:05.00

As soon as the counter goes, you should be moving towards the first ladder on the right, jump and climb it. At the top immediately hit the switch. Once the monster lands on the platform hit the switch again. Go down the ladder and move left towards the first puzzle piece. Jump on the monster and collect it.

Immediately start moving towards the right again, this time using the moving platform to get Tim across. Here comes the most difficult part. It requires precise timing and I advise you practise it several times by using the rewind feature. You must jump so you hit the downward falling monster to get across to the puzzle piece. This is roughly when the fuse is getting around the last bend.

Move, not jump, off the ledge, then attempt to hog the left. Carefully maneuver Tim past the first set of spikes and then pressure towards the left. He'll bounce off the wall, landing on the platform with the puzzle piece.

Now move towards the ladder to the right, but don't start climbing it. Wait next to it for the first monster to drop, then climb all the way to the final puzzle piece waiting in the cove for the monster to pass. After the monster drops, climb the ladder to the top, past the piranha plant and head for the castle.

Phase

Challenge Time: 26.00

Climb the fence and use the clouds to start jumping towards the right of the screen. The bottom clouds are not affected by timer alteration. To keep them going without setting you back, hit the rewind button and then the forward button once to stop time. The best strategy is to do this on the fly, while you are jumping to a normally cloudless space. Continue jumping along the clouds until you get on top of the canon to collect the puzzle piece.

Move onwards to the right and again, climb the fence to the first girder. Hop along the clouds and use the same strategy as above to reach the final puzzle piece.

Now hurry towards the exist, because this is a close call.

Jumpman

Challenge Time: 38.00

Move towards the right, passing by the first ladder of the Donkey Kong section. Head up the ladder of the fireball section. At the top quickly move to the right a bit so the fireball vanishes, then jump to the left onto the stone block. Jump up behind the cannon. Be sure to be positioned right or the cannon will shove you to the left and towards the ground. Then jump onto the cannon and from there up to the right of the stone (possibly using the ladder). This is about three second faster than moving along the girders avoiding fireballs. Quick move to the right and then jump onto the stone. From there jump the girders to the right to collect the key. Jump right to collect the puzzle piece.

There are two strategies here. You either move left and jump over the backwards moving fireballs, using the game's set rhythm or you hold down rewind and crank it up to eight times by hitting the backward speed button. The later tends to be faster.
No matter which you choose, you must climb the ladder of the Donkey Kong section. Move across the platform to the next ladder. Climb it and then jump onto the stone. You must now use the monster to get up to Donkey Kong. Jump over Kong, then jump to collect the puzzle piece. You will probably jump onto the monster, be careful not to jump off the platform.

Now jump over to the locked door, Tim uses the key, collect the puzzle piece and head towards the fireball section again.

The piranha will be up when you try to cross and since time is controlled by your movement, you must use the ladder to reach the above platform. Jump over the fireballs and then the cannon and head for the door. Exit the stage.

Crossing The Gap

Challenge Time: 48.00

Move right, climbing the small ladder, then climb the large ladder that comes next. Move left, climb the ladder. Move past the switch dropping down onto the monster and killing it. Rewind (up the speed) until you are back at the switch. This is a very short time, so quick reactions are required. Once your shadow drops down, hit the switch and crossover. Immediately jump onto the monster to get onto the girder. From there, jump to the right to get the puzzle piece.

Now quickly move right to the carpet you past by earlier. Wait for the monster to come, then use it to jump onto the rug. From here climb the ladder to get to the puzzle piece.

For the last one, drop down to the right and wait at the top of the ladder until you see the monster. Now drop down to the right when the monster is about halfway across the purple rugs/cushions on the ground. You need to head butt it from the bottom so it shots upwards. Immediately rewind, again using speed, until you are the top again. Now your shadow will do the head butting, so be ready to jump onto the flying monster mid air to reach the final puzzle piece. Just drop down the right and exit the stage.

Impassable Foliage

Challenge Time: 1:30.00

When to remove the time ring.

Immediately place your time ring under the vertically moving platform. Kill the monster and bunny that approach you. You can let the bunny kill the monster, but doing it yourself is usually easier. When the horizontally moving platform is about midway through the second ornament of the platform above, remove your time ring. See the image to the right.

Move right towards the ladder, killing the monster on the way. Climb it and climb the next ladder. Move towards the right where there are three pipes with piranha plants. Place your time ring under the first one (farthest left) when it's almost in the tube. Now wait a little bit and you should be able to sync the piranhas to all be in their tube by freezing time. The monsters aren't affected by time, so let two pass, unfreeze time and pick up your time ring as well. The monsters will fall down to the right of your current position. Jump over the first one and wait for the second one to fall. Jump on one of the two, then on the other to get to the girder with the puzzle piece.

Move back to the left where the single speedy piranha plant is. Place the time ring under it and start moving up the ladder. Pass by the plant, but watch out, it's still fast. Past the monsters and onto the movable platform to the left to collect the last puzzle piece of the level.

Head back down, using one of the monsters to jump up onto the platform above the piranha plant. You do not need to collect your time ring. Move towards the exit on the right, but watch for the flower, it's a hidden bunny, so be sure to avoid it.

Full Game

Challenge Time: 45:00.00

In this section, instead of detailing the speed runs as above, there will simply be general pointers for the world or stage.
Things to note are that you cannot leave stages, you must always progress through the whole world to get out. The game will pause the timer in puzzle building mode, so don't panic if you suck at puzzles. However, on the opening screen (world select) the timer is running. You need to become comfortable with speed rewinding. If you make a mistake and must rewind (or it is necessary to complete the stage), be sure you can do it fast. You don't want to double the time it takes.
I advise practising by completing the worlds one at a time. You can either do it outside of a speed run, but run a stop clock to monitor your average completion time for the world, or you can practise in speed run mode. The later worlds can then be easily accessed by running by the already practised once.
Take breaks. Pause the game and think about what you are going to do. What is the solution for the current stage? Before advancing and possibly making a critical mistake, be sure to think about your next steps! The fact that the timer stops with pause is a real help.
Aside from collecting all the puzzle pieces, you must also assemble the puzzle. Do not forget to do that. Each world will at the end display what the stop watch is roughly at. A good time to compare is when you reach the castle (the watch is stopped, but you can still see it - unlike pause). A buffer is already figured in, giving each stage a bit of additional time. If you find that you are very good at one world (making up time), but bad at another, just adjust the buffer to your personal skill level.

You will start out straight at the opening screen, so immediately move and enter World 2.

World 2

Proper puzzle piece placement.

2-1 should be a breeze. 2-2 however requires parts of the puzzle to form a bridge. You can only collect the first two puzzle pieces and then you must continue on. At this point there are two strategies.

A - Ignore the second puzzle piece and get it you second time around. This erases the need of running against cloud direction, thus slowing you down.

B - Collect it and just jump down

So move onto 2-3, another breeze through and further to 2-4. Following the strategy from the detailed guide above, collect the first puzzle piece. You now have the pieces you need for 2-2, so I advise you to exit 2-4 via the door to 2-3 making your way back to 2-2.

Here assemble the the two puzzle pieces to form the girder. Remember that the counter is paused, so take your time to get it right. Then place it as seen in the image on the left. Once the monster is on the far right, edit the puzzle and move the girder away from under its feet. It'll drop and move towards the right. Either you adjust the puzzle for later now, or you do it on your way back, it doesn't really make a difference. If you went with strategy A, the girder must be placed in between the two, you run back to the ladder, jump the clouds, collect the puzzle piece and then use the puzzle placed girder to jump to the last one.
If you went with strategy B, instead of going back and running over the clouds again, you will use the puzzle to boost you upwards. Put it in the bottom right so you can just about jump onto the girder. Jump straight up and hit the action button at the height of your jump. Move the puzzle beneath your feet. You'll have to estimate, better too low than too high. Do this until you can jump to the platform with the final puzzle piece.
Now that you have what you came for, head back to 2-4.

Collect the remaining puzzle pieces as previously detailed. If you did the previous speed run, you should be able to do it efficiently. Once done, head to the castle. You've completed World 2, assemble the puzzle and head to World 3.

Stop Watch: 5:00.00

World 3

Most of the stages just require you to perform a nearly flawless execution of the solution, just watch out for the surprise bunny ambushes. 3-6 may require some practise and patience. Remember not to use your time controlling capabilities until the horizontal barrier will have passed the vertical one. This will be after roughly eighteen seconds. Instead of waiting around to get that puzzle piece, head towards the ladder that goes underground. You must however clear the immediate zone of bunnies since they will otherwise block your way back out. After collecting the puzzle piece down there, head back to the beginning and collect the one you previously ignored. Then out the exit to 3-7 where you'll have to beat the horned King monster. Chances are, you will waste a lot of time here. I can only advise you to practise luring the monster into position to be hit by the chandeliers. Afterwards, grab the key and head to the last stage. Grab the puzzle pieces here to finish off. Remember to assemble the puzzle before going straight onto World 4.

Stop Watch: 14:00.00

World 4

The only real advice I can give for this world is that you go a head and play it stage by stage. Know where you have to stand, and when, so that everything flows beautifully. I found the best way to get to practise this was to start a speed run and rush through the previous two worlds. That way all puzzle pieces can be collected. I highly advise to remember which things are and which things aren't affected by time. If a puzzle piece is not affected by time, it is probably easier to just speed rewind yourself out than to walk the distance. Case in point, 4-7. In the later part with the two doors, it is much faster to rewind yourself out of the area. Solve the puzzle and proceed.

Stop Watch: 21:00.00

World 5

Wait, then press the action button.

For the most part, this will be like Crossing Gap, as described detailed above. I recommend you think all your steps through thoroughly since there is no time to just try them out. There is however a real issue with 5-5. It is possible to get stuck, if you use the wrong strategy, so I'll detail a safe one to use. After getting the first puzzle piece via the two doors, you get to a section that requires you to lift a platform underneath another platform (blocking exit) and flipping a switch. The best way to do this is to stand at the top of the ladder, move down it, run to where the switch is (stand underneath it) and press the action button. Now rewind to just above the ladder. Let your shadow run down, you instead move to the right and flip the switch to move the platform upwards so your shadow can hit the high switch. After you hit the switch, move to the movable platform immediately. Collect the puzzle piece and leave.

The next stage is the often difficult monster king. Use the technique described in the walkthrough. You should be able to pull it off consistently with a bit of practise. If you fail, instead of restarting (as advised in the walkthrough), remember the monsters current damage, remember the amount of hanging chandeliers and then pause. Now think if it is possible to solve from this situation, then apply it. Grab the key, use your shadow to flip the switch so you can nab that puzzle piece. Similar to 5-5, you can get trapped, only this time there is no saving strategy, you just have to time it right.

The last stage of this world must be done in one go. One screw up and you need to exit and re-enter. Follow the strategy from the walkthrough and you should be just fine. Once you've picked up the final puzzle piece of World 5, remember to put it all together.

Stop Watch: 28:00.00

World 6

The time ring is the key to your success. Know where to place it and know whether or not you need to pick it back up again. Don't waste your time going back to get it unless you actually need it. It'll reappear with you in the next stage if you leave it. Refer to the walkthrough constantly and start memorising your movements. For 6-4, however, you must adapt the technique found in the walkthrough for it. Collect the second puzzle piece first, then collect the key, afterwards collect the puzzle piece near the cannon and finally let a monster drop for the new time ring placement on the cannon in the middle. Both 6-5 and 6-6 are delicate, so be sure to practise them and have them down. Once you've collect all the puzzle pieces, assemble it to finish off this world, then head on over to World 1.

Stop Watch: 39:00.00

World 1

This is the easiest of the lot. All you need to remember that everything is moving backwards and where the monsters sprout from under the ground. In fact, 1-1 is more or less already a speed run.
One thing to note however is that the time correction, i.e. holding the rewind button after arriving at the princess is also part of the speed run. The epilogue is as well. Both will take roughly four minutes, so be sure to factor that time in.

Stop Watch: 44:59.99