David Hellman

I’ve been asked to explain some of my recent actions.

At two conferences in early ‘09 I will be sharing my side of Braid’s development process.

Animex - February 2-6, 2009, Middlesbrough, UK.

Game Developers Conference - March 23-27, 2009, San Francisco, CA.

I’ll let you know when I have more specific times.

Surprisingly, my session is one of three highlighted in GDC’s Visual Arts track. In a recent entry to her Bosslady Blog, Meggan Scavio wrote: “One of the highlights, and a session I’ll be in for sure, is ‘The Art of Braid’, presented by David Hellman. Braid was a two-man show. Jon Blow, the man behind the Experimental Gameplay Sessions at GDC, among other things, designed it, and David Hellman made it really freaking pretty. Everything Jon touches has multiple layers and deeper meanings, and it will be really interesting to hear (and see!) how David visually translated Jon’s philosophies.”

It might be wise for me to do one or two practice lectures in small venues, perhaps in January. If anyone knows of an opportunity of that sort near San Francisco, feel free to get in touch: davidlesson … “at” … gmail.com.

2D Boy received the Best Independent Game nod at the Spike Video Game Awards yesterday for their goo-based construction puzzler, World of Goo. Congratulations to Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel, two intrepid and well-deserving souls! World of Goo was selected by its fans in an online vote, which surely sweetens the honor.

Other games in the category were Audiosurf, Pixeljunk Eden, and Braid.

Certainly a proud year for indies!

Time magazine has included Braid in its list of the top 10 games of 2008, slotting it into the high-ish position of 2. In his blurb, Lev Grossman strongly implies that Braid offers “near-infinite entertainment.”

Grossman’s list favors big-budget, well-marketed heavies like Grand Theft Auto IV, Little Big Planet and Rock Band 2, although it notably includes three exceptions. Besides Braid, those are Hunted Forever, a graphically spartan yet evocative Flash platformer at #8, and Fieldrunners, a tower defense title for iPhone at #9.

Watching Alfred Hitchcock’s 1942 espionage thriller Saboteur recently, I couldn’t help but see the film’s hero, played by Robert Cummings, as a doppelganger Ricky Gervais. Being a huge fan of Gervais from The Office, Extras and his podcasts, I fantasized about presenting him with the comparison. I wondered if he’d be flattered when I’d avoid saying “a thinner Ricky Gervais.” After all, it goes without saying, adds nothing, and would be rude.

Here’s a segment from Spike’s recent indie games feature where Geoff Keighley talks to me about Braid. Will Wright also appears. This video is actually part 4 of 4.

The music is very dramatic!

You’ll notice I’m shy at first because Geoff was sitting very close to me for a man.

Below are parts 1 through 3, which feature Dylan Cuthbert (Pixeljunk Eden), Dylan Fitterer (Audiosurf), and Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel (World of Goo).

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