The Binding of Isaac

I can recommend this game, if you get the right version. I bought the original and was disappointed a few times when I bought DLC then found out there was yet another DLC that was incompatible with my purchases. I ended up buying them all but I feel price gouged by the way McMillen handled that. I get that it costs money to make games but I've watched other developers, like The Fun Pimps, who spent a decade updating their games and never asked for one extra dime.

As for the game itself, it has a hefty RNG mechanic that forces you to choose between upgrades and where to go and what to do. Sometimes that can be great. I got lucky enough in one playthrough to get a combination of buffs that allowed me to absolutely destroy everything in every room I entered without being hit. In other playthroughs I had to struggle to take down bosses with half a heart and the weakest abilities of them all.

You get a lot of content for the final version of the game and it is worth the expense. As someone who supported the developer from the beginning, however, I do feel kind of cheated. There isn't anything here that reinvents the wheel but it took the fun aspects of a lot of games, particularly the original Legend of Zelda, and added a few more mechanics that are both fun and frustrating at the same time.

Oh, and if you are religious, you should absolutely avoid this game. It will piss you off on many levels. I thought it was quirky but the biblical overtones get boring with a game so repetitive.

The Binding of Isaac, a game that’s somehow hailed as a masterpiece of roguelike design by many. Now, don’t get me wrong—I’m all for dark, twisted narratives and difficult games. But let’s be real: calling Isaac “brilliant” feels like some weird hazing ritual where everyone pretends that suffering equals fun.

Isaac, our sad little protagonist, who lives in a house where his mom has decided God wants her to sacrifice him. Naturally, Isaac decides that running through a trapdoor into the basement filled with monsters is the better alternative to a psychotic parent with a knife. You know, just a regular Tuesday.
After a while, the story fades into the background, and what’s left is the grind. Any emotional or thematic depth is suffocated by endless runs through grimy, repetitive basement rooms.

Isaac’s primary weapon? His tears. At first, you feel bad for him. But then you realize you can upgrade those tears. Suddenly, you’re firing lasers of sadness, or even homing despair missiles. And it’s oddly empowering.
The item system in The Binding of Isaac is like going to a flea market blindfolded: you don’t know what you’re picking up, and half the time, it’s something completely useless. Worse, many items straight-up ruin your run.

The game has endless replayability thanks to its randomization. But here’s the dirty secret: endless randomization doesn’t mean endless fun. There are only so many ways you can mash together the same pixelated rooms, enemies, and poop piles before it all starts to blur together. The gameplay loop, while initially addicting, becomes a slog. At some point, it stops being about the thrill of discovery and becomes about pushing through to see if maybe—just maybe—this run will finally break your losing streak.

The art style makes you go, “Aw, that’s horrifyingly adorable!” as you slaughter your way through deformed enemies that ooze and explode in grotesque ways. Monsters that feel like they were pulled straight out of a middle schooler’s notebook doodles. It’s an edgy, almost try-hard attempt at being dark and disturbing, but after a while, the shock value wears off and you’re left with a pile of pixelated poop enemies. Literally.

For those who enjoy pain and suffering, sure, this might be the perfect game. But for the rest of us who don’t equate unfair randomness with good design, The Binding of Isaac feels more like a test of patience than a test of skill. It’s not terrible—but overrated? Absolutely.

Currently you can get the original for just 3 dollars. I think it's a great deal or you can get the bundle with all the new characters for just a few dollars more.

game is amazing, however it has its flaws. personally i started it after i 100% the remake, so i noticed some differences between the two. you get way less overpowered and the hard mode is truly ruthless (unavoidable damage yes!). you should definitely try it if
a) you enjoy losing many many times
b) you enjoyed the remake (which is much more popular) and you are okay with a watered-down version of it

At this point, this game is more of an archive piece. It is fantastic, and I love it. I cannot, however, recommend it because The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth exists. If you have any interest in this game, go buy that one.

this game is life changing. (not really) ((still good though))

I bought this game cuz it was around 0.50USD. Honestly I'm shocked how is this game so addictive. I recommend this game even it will for 10USD, this game is my fav indie game. Its worth your time and money. :D

An overrated Flash game I got with some bundle that Steam absolutely won't stop trying to get me to play by keeping it at the top of my "Play Next" list for the last decade, for some reason. I finally played it and, as I anticipated, it's a style over substance overrated Flash game. Whoopie. Thankfully, Isaac will now be dead at the bottom of my Library.

Everyone freaking loves this game. It's the darling baby of any VG journalist who believes video games are art. But I hate it. It's too hard. There are so many buffs to get, it's impossible to get decent ones that'll help you beat the game. It's more of a twin-stick shooter than a rogue-like. And the aesthetic is just... unpleasant. I mean, it takes a lot to offend me, but you're basically playing as an rejected fetus shooting placenta goo at other fetuses. That just doesn't satisfy the desire for escapism in me.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☑ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☑ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☑ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☑ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☑ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second live for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☑ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☑ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10

The game doesn't hold up as good as rebirth. Wouldn't recommend it to new Isaac players. Still fun

7/10 Worse than rebirth, much harder early on due to less items. Also relatively few items means less diverse successful runs, Just buy rebirth and play it. When you are looking for a challenge pick it up it is cheap and worth money.

Pretty fun, really hard tho but, still a overall good experience, I have found a few bugs here and there but not often, it's even more fun when you get the dlc but, a really good and fun game, just really difficult

Very fun and nostalgic! Would recommend to anyone looking for a fun shooter game.

I loved this game as a child now i cant even play it with my mac wtf! i spent 2,000 dollarws on this mac and I cant play my favorite game ever. I truely have nothing now. First i get fired from my joib, then my girlfriend cheats on me and now I cant play this game on my 2,000 mac WTF!

The Binding of Isaac is a cornerstone in the rougelike genre. It's one of those games that stands out as an inspiration for so many other titles, while still holding it's own unique style.

If you're really interested in playing this game, just get Binding of Isaac: Rebirth instead, as it's the same but better and more content. However, it's impossible to not reccomend this game still due to it's ridiculously low price point. Pretty sure I bought this for 50 cents on sale. Almost any game is worth that price, let alone a game as great as Isaac.

7/10

This is a good game, however, I would recommend purchasing and playing its remake The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. It is the same game with some base improvements and more content.

I really enjoyed it back in the days, but this one doesn´t feel very good anymore. Rebirth is just so much more polished, feels much less clunky and is just a more expanded, modern and enjoyable experience.

It was a great game back then, but got improved massively in the newer rendition.

البعض إذا شاهد رجل في الشارع بسروال قصير سيقولن عنه مجنون لا يستحي كيف يخرج هكذا أمام الناس
ولكن
نفس الشخص
إذا صعد على المسرح بكلسون أبو خط وأبرز مؤخرته سيقولون عنه وحش بطل رفعت رؤسنا بعظلاتك و مؤخرتك

من المجنون هنا ..!!

The sort of game your library just isn't complete without. Perfect for bus rides and long flights. could probably run on a potato, assuming that potato has a graphics card. can't recommend it enough.

What a delightful experience I had playing this excellent game! I would definetly recommend this to individuals who enjoy playing 2d platformers. - John Browal.

GRAPHICS

🔘 MS-DOS graphic
🔵 Ugly, but still bearable
🔘 Fine, nothing too fancy
🔘 Pretty good
🔘 Next gen graphic or art
[hr][/hr]
STORY

🔵 What is the story?
🔘 Written by 5 years old child
🔘 Something that'll hook you up with the game
🔘 You can remember the story after you finished the game for a while
🔘 You cannot get it out of your head
[hr][/hr]
FUN

🔘 You want to delete it after a few minutes
🔘 It's not for everyone
🔵 Could be bored after a while
🔘 Can keep you entertained for hours straight
🔘 It's already morning?
[hr][/hr]
MUSIC

🔘 Just mute it
🔘 Few of them are good
🔘 Not the best, but it's good
🔵 You get immersed in the game
🔘 Sometimes you will need to stop playing the game to hear it.
[hr][/hr]

TOTAL SCORE: 10/20

As long as you like rogue like games then this is perfect for any where since it can be a quick tab if your waiting for something or just focus in and have a good time. Either way you can't really go wrong.

Ok its is super good and fun and re-playable. The thing is rebirth is so much better. If you want to get a little taste of issac try this game only 4 dollars. if you do enjoy it play rebirth. I have rebirth on xbox and its tons of fun. Check out both of them. Binding of Issac is AWESOME. (Prob No One Would Read This Comment NGL)

unpolished but hella fun. It also allows you to b0mb the homeless.

Fills the void between Dead Cells and Enter The Gungeon sessions.

Um dos melhores e mais completos jogos que eu ja joguei, fui muito felizardo de ter comprado essa pérola, vale até o preço cheio

This game would have been alright without eternal edition.
The hard mode in this game is not hard, it is just dumb. Normally in any game where there is a hard game, you usually get some rewards that would actually make you play hard mode, nah not in this game.

Go play the other, newer games.

If you want to play a game like Smash TV, play Smash TV. This is a lame, amateurish copy of much better games. There are loads of power ups to collect but most of them are completely useless and some of them actually kill you. The weapons are awful, the clipping detection is broken and the "edgy internet atheist" setting is absolute cringe. Avoid.

Shite. Enemies come at you relentlessly and give you 0 breathing room. some rooms you enter are just undodgeable bullet storms and some items just give you 0 idea of what they do, forcing you to look them up to make sure you're not trading something good for something garbage.

Half the bosses are just bullet sponges. the other half are bullet sponges that spawn shit in the arena that you NEED to focus on or they#ll fill the room, meanwhile the boss will do an AoE across the room making the room impossible to navigate. Even in the very early stages, enemy spawns are ridiculously unforgiving. You could go the entire first floor without finding a single item to help you and your first boss will be *any horseman* and you might aswell restart.

Take damage in the first floor at all? might as well restart

traded an item for a worse one without knowing? might as well restart

Ontop of all of this, it runs like shit. FPS drops constantly and movement delaye out the wazoo.

Garbage.

---{ Graphics }---
☑ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☑ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☑ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☑ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☑ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☑ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Game Size }---
☑ Floppy Disk
☐ Old Fashioned
☐ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data

---{ Difficulty }---
☑ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☑ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☑ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☐ Long
☑ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☑ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☑ 10

its fun, its funny, it has some dark humor. The only thing it lacks is a useless pay to win spin-off that pisses off the fans. to say the least its a great game.

I can only recommend this game to fans of The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth that have already completed 100% of the game with the DLCs and want to experience the original.

The original Isaac has fewer synergies, more game-breaking bugs, and it's more unfair altogether. I'm a huge fan of Edmund's games, so I still enjoyed it, but those with less patience who do not feel nostalgic over it will definitely see it as an inferior version.

An old but gold roguelike game with lots of replayability, and the jumping board for Northernlion's career.