List of Things That Seem Odd

List here all the things that seem odd to you in the game, we will try to find explanations or list theories!

= The list, by area =

Not linked to any specific area

 * The anemones. Their name in the game's code ("logic flowers"), as well their placement in the game world, suggest that they are supposed to serve as hints for how to tackle the puzzles in the areas that they appear, but it is doubtful that many players, if any, relied on them to this end. Most players learn the logic of the puzzles from the first few "tutorial" panels in each area. Furthermore, in several of the locations where the anemones appear, it is unclear what they are supposed to be communicating to the player. Interestingly, several flowers much like the anemones appear dotted across the levels of Braid, often on their own.


 * The single star that can be seen off the east coast of the island. This star is directly referenced in the ending reading of a four-line gatha from the end of the 26th section of the Diamond Sutras. It is the "star at dawn" from that gatha. The other lines all coincide with certain places and things on the island coming into view as you fly in the elevator, and seem to serve as hints. The "flash of lightning in a summer cloud" seems to be a hint for the environmental puzzle involving the gray cloud and the desert laser, the "flickering lamp" may be a reference to the transplanting of the laser box by the "thief" statues from the colossus to the summit of the mountain, and may be to encourage the player to examine it and discover the secret on its underside. The "phantom" and "dream" lines may be references to the nature of the island as a virtual reality simulation and to the existence of the secret hotel. However, it is unclear what the star is supposed to be a hint for. The "bubble in a stream" line is also curious, but it could be a hint for the environmental puzzle that seems like it is supposed to be the first one the player finds, i.e. the mountain river / waterfall.


 * The obelisks. What is their nature? If there is a backstory to the island simulation, what was the function of the obelisks? Also, what exactly is the nature of the energy produced by solved environmental puzzles, and 1. why do the obelisks attract it? and 2. why do the obelisks turn white when enough puzzles have been completed other than to signify completion to the player? Also, completed obelisks appear to be made of the same chalky stone being extracted at the quarry, it's hard to believe Jon Blow and co. overlooked this - hard to believe the similarity between the two things wasn't something Jon Blow and co. were not aware of.
 * Related: why do we have a mean to track completion of environmental puzzles and obelisks, but not panel puzzles?


 * The 7 orange audio logs. In a game where everything seems to be intentional and by design, it's hard to believe Jon Blow and co. didn't have a specific reason for coloring a select few of the audio log players orange. There is good reason to believe that they are supposed to be a breadcrumb trail, so to speak, hinting at and leading to the secret FMV ending, but some of the logs resist being interpreted in this way.

Start Area

 * The stone pillar in the beginning area. Though many believe that the pillar is simply part of what is supposed to be an elaborate environmental puzzle, the pillar itself is strange. There's no real precedent in the game for an object like it. It has it's own unique set of usage sound effects, and a strange electromagnetic sound (sort of like a lightsaber being repeatedly and quickly swung) can be heard from it if the player gets close. It seems as though it could have easily been an environmental puzzle itself - a pillar that happens to have carvings which enable the player to solve it like a pillar puzzle - but in fact it allows the solving of an actual environmental puzzle.

Symetry Island

 * The vases in the Glass Factory produce individual sounds.

Desert

 * The warped trees above and to the west of the quarry. These trees are just south of the tree of faces. Why are they warped? What's the story behind them?

Peninsula

 * The (lighthouse?) ruin on the peninsula, and the sound it continuously emits when you step inside it. It can be assumed that the sound does not emanate from the display cabinets therein, because some more of these cabinets can be found in the secret hotel, and do not produce any sound. It sounds as though it could originate underground, but the underground doesn't pass under the peninsula at all.

Keep

 * Redundant Laser Activation: Why does the castle area fire its laser after only half of its puzzles are solved?
 * Elements of answer:
 * Like the 7 vs. 11 lasers needed for the mountaintop, maybe something unseen happens when you solve both sets of castle puzzles.
 * Simpler Explanations:
 * Some story element about east vs. west duality or whatever.
 * Maybe the rear half of the puzzles are considered part of environmental puzzles, similar to the stone pillar and floor puzzles you find in the initial starting area.
 * Maybe the original intention was that the player had to solve both sets of puzzles, but they decided to only require one set of puzzles so that a hearing impaired player could activate this laser.

TreeHouses

 * The evidence of a fire in the treehouses. As the player walks from the east from the quay up into the treehouses, there is a house amidst some scorched and severed looking boughs. Further in, near the keep, there is a burnt out house and tree with orange leaves growing around it (presumably put there to suggest fire). What happened exactly? And why is it that the fire seems as though it was localized to these two fairly separate spots.
 * Elements of answer: the burnt treehouse participates in a perspective trick where it looks like a man is starting a fire on the roof of the house. Also, the charcoal may have been used in the Keep where we see traces of a black substance. That substance may have been used on the roof of the Glass Factory.

Marsh

 * The purple canisters on the side of the movable bridge near the dock of the marsh. What is their function supposed to be, and why do several appear to be missing?
 * Element of answer: it has been suggested to interpret them has a 16-bit binary sequence, which encoded as hexadecimal gives BECA. Could be an easter egg (the name of some woman in the team?), a code to input somewhere or a key to decipher some coded message.


 * The coat hangers throughout the marsh area. Specifically, their strange configuration, with the 4th coat hanger always hanging lower than the others(screenshot).
 * Elements of answer:
 * Some kind of obtuse secret code?
 * Simpler Explanation: Perhaps intended for an earlier version of the story, where a character's father drowned while swimming. (There are quite a few game elements that could be seen to reference a boating accident, drowning, etc.)

Mountain

 * The Pressure Plate by the doors to the cove (room with the flying elevator of the first ending). Specifically, how it keeps working even after it has apparently served its purpose.
 * Elements of answer:
 * It makes an extra clunk noise a couple seconds after it has already closed the covers on the doors.
 * It might be some kind of timer, for a puzzle other than the ones on the doors.
 * If you view the ending Cove area as being shaped like a puzzle, then the pressure plate would be at the Start point of that puzzle.
 * The fact that it stays active might mean that the game wants to call attention to it.
 * Simpler Explanations:
 * There are other odd "glitches" in the game involving what happens after doors open.
 * The purpose might simply be to remind the player of / foreshadow the existence of timed puzzles, even allowing the player to try one right here.

Hotel

 * The 3 (4? can't remember) static screens in the secret hotel. These screens stand out because most of the other monitors throughout the hotel each display a perspective trick. Some have suggested that there might be some way to make these screens display something other than static. It is likely that the decision to make the screens display static was a conscious one, i.e. there is a reason they were made to display static.


 * Why is the logo of the hotel a pattern that reminds of the lilies on the lake?

Others, to be detailed

 * The orchard with its cherry blossom trees and workshop with strange drawings.


 * The Flute tree that produces a Shepard tone in the bamboo Jungle.


 * The references to a Siren and man reaching for a "grail" (see also Statue of a man reaching for a goblet).


 * The alternate goalpoint on the hedge maze panel at the top of the keep tower.


 * The floor puzzles in the cave.


 * The floor of the endgame cave with the flying elevator.


 * The boat and how it spawns.


 * The panels in the challenge cave that serve as a clock during the challenge but display strange unsolvable puzzles the rest of time (also, in the code, the method that generates random puzzles of the challenge is called  (a reference to the Odysseus ?). What is the significance of the whole "lotus eaters" thing?)

Others with specific pages

 * The Statues.

= See also =
 * Puzzles With no Visible Effect