We always thought They Breathe was going to be a game you played in one sitting. In fact, we were so convinced of this, we never really considered a save and load feature. As people started playing the game, it turned out we were very wrong. Our poor players would get stuck on the later waves of hideous creatures, and keep playing more out of fear of having to restart from the beginning than of any genuine curiosity. Sometimes you just need to take a break and come back later. There was really no excuse for this flaw. And since I have just been employed as a game programmer, despite having most of my background in design, I figured I wouldn't be able to live up to that title if I couldn't spend my last day of unemployment making They Breathe save your progress.
If you download They Breathe from Desura today, what you will find is a game that automatically saves all your progress, and upon restart simply gives you the choice if you want to start over, or zoom downwards to the place where you left the game last. In the spirit of They Breathe, it's all very minimalistic and won't get in the way of your experience. It's an undeniable improvement.
I'm a bit more split about the other thing - I felt I had to add the game's first and last tutorial message; the one about being able to swim faster by pressing space. They Breathe isn't supposed to help you or lead you, and I fear this may give people the wrong first impression. Still, playing through They Breathe without understanding this is such an enormous pain that I saw no other way. Design gods, forgive me!
Hugo
