The Binding of Isaac

 PC
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1122 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 898 out of 1122
  2. Mixed: 148 out of 1122
  3. Negative: 76 out of 1122

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  1. darkside1510
    May 11, 2013
    10
    The best game ever! anyone who gave this less than a 7 does not know what they are talking about!
    The best game ever! anyone who gave this less than a 7 does not know what they are talking about!
  2. drSpockwa
    May 4, 2013
    3
    The introductory movie was interesting and entertaining, but that is about all I can put in the pros column. The game play is something you'd see 15 years ago. I know, nostalgia is becoming all the rage, but it feels like a cop out that indie developers are using to put out poor production value. I'm not slamming all indie work, there is quite a bit of good stuff out there. Next, thisThe introductory movie was interesting and entertaining, but that is about all I can put in the pros column. The game play is something you'd see 15 years ago. I know, nostalgia is becoming all the rage, but it feels like a cop out that indie developers are using to put out poor production value. I'm not slamming all indie work, there is quite a bit of good stuff out there. Next, this is a rougelike. Again, I know rougelikes are becoming popular. But I just don't find it fun to loose all progress and start over from the beginning with a randomized map. It makes me feel like I wasted my time. I got a bit intrigued about the various items and collectibles, but you apparently have to use them to find out what they do, and even then I wasn't sure what happened. You can't jump on the Apple bandwagon of providing no user assistance, when your user interface is not intuitive. There may have been an interesting story here, but I'm not going to punish myself to unfold it.… Expand
  3. BopCN
    May 3, 2013
    9
    街机闯关风格的迷宫探索游戏，6个关卡因为丰富的随机要素使得次次的游戏体验都会不同。适当的长度，并不刁钻的难度，丰富的搜集要素会令你沉迷好长一段时间。主角丰富的外观变化是个亮点。
  4. Fraz
    Apr 29, 2013
    10
    Binding of Isaac is a great game that you'll never get bored of and never have the same run twice! It looks simple but plays allot more complex. The Art style and Story is what you expect from Edmund McMillen, Creepy but simply amazing. Like Super Meat boy, this game is quite difficult for inexperienced players and may make you rage allot due to dying and restarting the game from theBinding of Isaac is a great game that you'll never get bored of and never have the same run twice! It looks simple but plays allot more complex. The Art style and Story is what you expect from Edmund McMillen, Creepy but simply amazing. Like Super Meat boy, this game is quite difficult for inexperienced players and may make you rage allot due to dying and restarting the game from the beginning.

    I have a load of games on my PC, but The Binding of Isaac is at the top for most time played. This game is really enjoyable and makes the player really want to finish the game! You can pick up this game on Steam for a couple of pounds and highly recommend picking it up.    … Expand
  5. iseeall
    Apr 26, 2013
    7
    This game has a great story and absolutely terrific artwork. The sense of humor of whoever wrote the in-game texts is excellent. The music is great as well. Unfortunately, the gameplay is pretty much mediocre, I mean it's just a 2D top-down view arcade game, and the fact that you can only shoot in horiz/vert direction and not just at the clicked spot makes it's pretty difficult to play andThis game has a great story and absolutely terrific artwork. The sense of humor of whoever wrote the in-game texts is excellent. The music is great as well. Unfortunately, the gameplay is pretty much mediocre, I mean it's just a 2D top-down view arcade game, and the fact that you can only shoot in horiz/vert direction and not just at the clicked spot makes it's pretty difficult to play and the fights too chaotic. Overall, this game is good for having a look, enjoying it for one evening and then dropping it, because in the long run the thing which could hold you in front of the screen (the gameplay) is missing. Art: 10!, Music: 10, Sounds: 10! Design: 4… Expand
  6. Lord_FibreMedic
    Apr 25, 2013
    10
    I bought this game on sale on Steam for $3, as well as the DLC for 2$ for a total of 5$ (you don't say). All i have to say is, best 5$ i ever spent. I have over 150 hours logged in The Binding of Isaac and I'm still FAR from completing the game and getting every achievement. Despite being a very unforgiving rogue-like game, it's just so smooth, fun, and with near perfect controls, everyI bought this game on sale on Steam for $3, as well as the DLC for 2$ for a total of 5$ (you don't say). All i have to say is, best 5$ i ever spent. I have over 150 hours logged in The Binding of Isaac and I'm still FAR from completing the game and getting every achievement. Despite being a very unforgiving rogue-like game, it's just so smooth, fun, and with near perfect controls, every time i died, it wasn't because the game had bad controls or unfair mechanics. It was my fault for my deaths, and when I finally beat the the final boss(es), it was one of the most rewarding things I have experienced.… Expand
  7. crubleigh
    Apr 16, 2013
    10
    tl:dr You can aim with your mouse

    It seems a lot of people are complaining about bad controls. The only reason they are bad with the controls is their own ignorance. If they played the game for more than 10 seconds they could of figured out that YOU CAN AIM WITH YOUR MOUSE. Literally the exact same controls for almost every PC game ever. WASD, aim with mouse. Pretty standard stuff.    tl:dr You can aim with your mouse

    It seems a lot of people are complaining about bad controls. The only reason they are bad with the controls is their own ignorance. If they played the game for more than 10 seconds they could of figured out that YOU CAN AIM WITH YOUR MOUSE. Literally the exact same controls for almost every PC game ever. WASD, aim with mouse. Pretty standard stuff. Some people have also been saying that "it's a keyboard mashing game." It's as much keyboard mashy as any other game. The only time you have to spam click is with the Chocolate milk item to get your full fire rate. Besides that, you can HOLD DOWN your mouse to fire at full speed. Like I said, pretty standard stuff here.It seems the other problems people were having all had to do with difficulty and interest, which are all very understandable, however, if you put just a little more effort into it, (and use your mouse to aim) it won't be so terribly difficult, and the farther you get, the more interesting and engaging it becomes. Others have complained about how there is no strategy. Sure, on the first to levels. After that you have to deal with patterns and dodging, strafing, circle strafing, arcade farming etc. There are also different characters you can chose from. Anyways, with all that out of the way, I think the game is great, ad get the DLC it's awesome too. Sorry if it's long.    … Expand
  8. Herkkutatti
    Apr 16, 2013
    9
    Great fun, lots of items and replayability, Randomly generated rooms,nice musics,good variety of monsters,cheap DLC with good amount of new content And the best thing, it is cheap for that good indie game. Solid 9.
  9. Sidekick_Otto
    Apr 16, 2013
    8
    I'm a big fan of rouge-like games and The Binding of Isaac is probably one of the best game of it's kind I've ever played And I've played a few! It's addictive, and harder then hell. It's a buy!
  10. boxfriend
    Apr 12, 2013
    9
    Personally, I am a huge fan of Edmund McMillen’s work. I’ve enjoyed all of the games I’ve played that he has produced/developed, but The Binding of Isaac is by far my favorite one. His interesting art style, paired with Danny Baranowsky’s amazing musical talent make this a this game a wonderful piece of art.

    The game starts up with a background story cutscene before the title screen,    Personally, I am a huge fan of Edmund McMillen’s work. I’ve enjoyed all of the games I’ve played that he has produced/developed, but The Binding of Isaac is by far my favorite one. His interesting art style, paired with Danny Baranowsky’s amazing musical talent make this a this game a wonderful piece of art.

    The game starts up with a background story cutscene before the title screen, with the ability to skip past it. However, if you have not seen the cutscene, I highly advise that you do so. It gives a humorous take on the story of Abraham being ordered to kill his son Isaac in the bible. Isaac’s mother, a christian fundamentalist gets orders from God to purify her son and she does so by taking all of his belongings away to remove any chance of him sinning, but God is not pleased with that so she must kill him. However, Isaac escapes into a trap door in his bedroom that leads into the basement. This is where the game begins. The keys W,S,A and D are used to move the character and the arrow keys (or clicking the mouse) are used to shoot tears from your eyes at your enemies. You go around defeating these mutant creatures, like headless bodies that leap, floating heads that spit blood at you, maggots that charge at you, flies, spiders, and much more. The game is designed to get progressively harder as you get farther along, but this isn’t always the case. Occasionally you will run across a tough boss (such as Widow) on the first or second depth and you have a hard time winning (although this may be different for each player as the game is generally skill based). The enemies are mostly just annoying instead of difficult, and the bosses aren’t balanced very well. These aspects don’t detract from how addicting and fun this game is. It will piss you off from a cheap death, but you’ll just play again because it is just that good. When it comes to death, you will restart from the beginning no matter how far into the game you are which makes this game so difficult to beat, but that’s the point. You can die one thousand times and, unlike most games, you will have a different experience each time you play. The game is procedurally generated which means each level is generated at random every time. This gives the game its replayability. Every time you play, you get a different map layout and different items. Some times, you may get an item you’ve never seen, other times you’ll get one you’ve found plenty of times. With so many items in the game, you’ll play it with a different style each time. The way the items work is pretty cool too, the collectible items stack so you keep the abilities of the items you get until you die, then there are the activated items.You may only carry one activated item at a time, and after each use, you have to charge the item again by beating rooms. Then there are the pills and tarot cards which may only be used once after picked up. These items aren’t always helpful, and the pill effects change every time you play, so if you get a blue pill one time and it’s a health up, the next time you play, that blue pill might be something harmful like health down. There are also trinket items which work like the collectible items, but you may only have one at a time like the activated items. With all of the items, most of which give a cosmetic change to the character, by the end of the game you will have a up looking mutant baby, but you will be powerful. Even with your stats maxed out, though, the later levels are still very tough. After you beat Mom, you go into her womb and eventually fight her heart. Now that’s pretty up, but hey, it’s a game so who really cares? After beating Mom’s heart, you go to either the Sheol, or the Cathedral where you fight either Satan, or Isaac (respectively). That’s right, you can end up fighting yourself. The game is pretty up and weird, but that just makes it more interesting. Now personally, that’s about as far as I ever got, but I know there is still another level (the Chest). From what I read, the Chest is only accessible by taking the Polaroid trinket to the final boss room in the Cathedral and beating Issac. The Chest is filled with bosses and the final boss is and fights similar to Isaac.

    So all in all, the game is brutal, but very very fun, and very addicting. I recommend it to anyone who wants a good challenge that they can play over and over.    … Expand
  11. ST0rmbr3ak3r
    Apr 6, 2013
    10
    The binding of Isaac is an awesome indie-game! I love it, that you have to play the game again and again to get better items and stuff, but also fight stronger bosses and mobs. To beat the final boss in the dlc wrath of the lamb and to get all the achievements you need to be very patient, you need a lot of luck and also skill! This is actually what an indie game should be!
  12. Herska
    Apr 2, 2013
    9
    With the wrath of the lamb, the 8€ cost of Isaac is still ridiculously cheap. I've played the game for ridiculously long, currently clocking at 84+ hours. Still, the game experience seems to be only enhancing as new items, bosses and areas are introduced. Through skill and tactics the player learns to master different floors, and the process is always swinging from tidious to extremelyWith the wrath of the lamb, the 8€ cost of Isaac is still ridiculously cheap. I've played the game for ridiculously long, currently clocking at 84+ hours. Still, the game experience seems to be only enhancing as new items, bosses and areas are introduced. Through skill and tactics the player learns to master different floors, and the process is always swinging from tidious to extremely enjoyable. The challenge is moderate and the controls are fluent enough, so there is no one to blame for your mistakes.

    The roguelike element can be pretty tiring at times, for a run can last almost a full hour. As long as you know what you are doing (or know how to google a item and/or floor guide) Isaac offers a really well balanced and nice retro-like rogue challenge. Its problems have not bothered me during my 84 playing hours, and I still return to it from time to time.    … Expand
  13. MisterNoodles
    Mar 31, 2013
    9
    The game is cheap at about $5 and it always seems to stay interesting when you find a new item or enter the next room. Though it does tend to get boring after awhile, but you will at least need to spend a good 32 hours before it gets boring. And I can't help coming back and playing it again time to time.
  14. kuehnau
    Mar 24, 2013
    5
    You may have read people comparing The Binding of Isaac to classic games such as The Legend of Zelda or NetHack. While The Binding has some similar concepts, it is completely and totally inaccurate to describe this game as such. At it's most basic core, The Binding is nothing more then a very shallow, very simple, very basic roguelike. The entire game is completely randomized andYou may have read people comparing The Binding of Isaac to classic games such as The Legend of Zelda or NetHack. While The Binding has some similar concepts, it is completely and totally inaccurate to describe this game as such. At it's most basic core, The Binding is nothing more then a very shallow, very simple, very basic roguelike. The entire game is completely randomized and completely unforgiving. Due to the graphic and macob nature of the game, it tends to be very interesting, for the first few plays. After which, it is nothing more then aggravating and annoying. If you are a fan of wasting your time, then by all means, buy The Binding of Isaac, everyone else, avoid at all costs.… Expand
  15. pills
    Mar 22, 2013
    9
    A quite smashing game, i love how creepy it can be at points with all of the satanic influence throughout it. i thoroughly enjoyed wasting countless hours on this game when i should've been doing my work
  16. DogFacedGod
    Mar 16, 2013
    9
    A cheap ,dark zelda styled dungeon crawler mixed with rogue elements with very disturbing themes. Challenging with lots to discover. It can feel a bit unfair in the beginning but you will learn to love it. Lots of replay value, especially with the addon "Wrath of the Lamb"

    For fans of very dark humor and who look for a challenge. Not recommended for pious religious people. :p
  17. TeamBlueFox
    Mar 10, 2013
    10
  18. ReubenIsAGod
    Feb 23, 2013
    9
    Fun, Hard, MAKES ME WANNA CUT MY BALLS OFF, GOD I LOVE THIS GAME WORTH ALL YOUR MONEYS,
  19. ninja_dolphin
    Feb 5, 2013
    10
    This is one unique game, playing like the original zelda but in my opinion far better. This game requires hours upon hours to see everything. It took me 10 hours to beat the game due to it's brutal difficulty. However despite being challenging it rarely feels unfair and whenever you die it's never due to the controls. It does somewhat rely on luck due to you needing some good items toThis is one unique game, playing like the original zelda but in my opinion far better. This game requires hours upon hours to see everything. It took me 10 hours to beat the game due to it's brutal difficulty. However despite being challenging it rarely feels unfair and whenever you die it's never due to the controls. It does somewhat rely on luck due to you needing some good items to stand a chance on the later floors. The animation is fantastic and genuinely weird. The designs of the monsters are extremely unique and the items all have cool effects. This is a great game to just open up and play for half an hour if your bored or need a break from work. I can see why people don't enjoy this game but for me this is a near perfect game.… Expand
  20. doniell
    Feb 1, 2013
    6
    Though I generally like difficult games, I am not a fan of The Binding of Isaac. You do get better every time you play it, and it is very rewarding to beat the game and it's always fun to find new items. But I don't like the whole Everything-Is-Random concept. It makes chance a big part of the game. And you have to try again and again until you not only play well enough but also are luckyThough I generally like difficult games, I am not a fan of The Binding of Isaac. You do get better every time you play it, and it is very rewarding to beat the game and it's always fun to find new items. But I don't like the whole Everything-Is-Random concept. It makes chance a big part of the game. And you have to try again and again until you not only play well enough but also are lucky enough to beat the game. And trying so many times seems like such a waste of time to me.

    To me the weird look and setting was ok. I liked it, but it wasn't great. The soundtrack is great I really like Danny's work! But I don't understand why it is just mono and such a bad sound quality. Maybe there were limitations in the sound engine, because also there are short dropouts during playback probably when the loop starts over again. But still that's a shame.



    All in all it is a game worth playing, but not worth spending too much time on it.    … Expand
  21. Timber
    Jan 25, 2013
    6
    Looks like a flash game but its no reason to not play it. The concept is interesting with EVERY map and weapons being random but personaly i didnt find it that much satisfying.
  22. mckw
    Jan 22, 2013
    8
    Addictive. The game got me hooked for hours just playing and playing it through. Despite having some difficulty spikes, the game is still adorable, simple and you just can't stop playing it! Though, I feel the price does not justify the purchase of this game
  23. ColGamers
    Jan 20, 2013
    0
    As ColombiaGames said this game should be for a cell phone, the story makes no sense.

    for me 0 because you need to pay to 10 dollars for this game.0
  24. JRainbowfist
    Jan 11, 2013
    9
    A fine game with a lot of replayability in this game. Tons of items to collect. I would recommend buying the DLC: Wraith of Lamb. It extends the game by a lot. The game takes only a bit to master and adjust to the controls. The story can and has been interpreted many different ways. I find it very entertaining.
  25. AlanComek
    Jan 8, 2013
    9
    An absolutely brilliant and well-polished game with very nice core mechanics and a fantastic art style. Only problem: THE DIFFICULTY IS FREAKING ABNORMAL. Seriously, I have died so many times that the number of deaths I have equals the number of times I was sent to detention in school, meaning a lot. Psuedo-9.5/10
  26. SympathyChan
    Jan 7, 2013
    10
    This is one of the best games I have ever played. Period. You just go around, shot some tears, kill monsters. Simple as cutting of the ginger's nipple. The game is short, you finish it in about 30-45 minutes and every single time it's different. The game is awesome untill it gives you JEBENE USRANE
  27. LopsterPopster
    Jan 5, 2013
    10
    The most addicting game I've ever played. I can't put this game down. If you see me on my laptop, 9/10 times I'm playing this game. It's so wonderfully dark, creepy, and just plain amusing. For being a flash game, some of these monsters really do scare the hell out of me. The music for this game is absolutely wonderful as well. The replay value of this game is very high, the randomlyThe most addicting game I've ever played. I can't put this game down. If you see me on my laptop, 9/10 times I'm playing this game. It's so wonderfully dark, creepy, and just plain amusing. For being a flash game, some of these monsters really do scare the hell out of me. The music for this game is absolutely wonderful as well. The replay value of this game is very high, the randomly generated dungeons, items, and monsters are a blast to find. My only complaint is once I find a really nice item that gets me far in the game, after I've died I can almost never find it again. The best part about this game is that it's super cheap, and Steam has sales on it all the time. Sometimes you can get it for under a dollar. This is one of my favorite games there is.… Expand
  28. Faundleroy
    Jan 3, 2013
    2
    There is a trend emerging in the last years for loving games just for them being hard. Be it "Dark Souls" (which is a great game in itself without taking the difficulty into account) or McMillen's previous hit "Super Meat Boy" (which also is a great game DUE to its very rewarding level of difficulty), and apparently this is the reason why everyone hails "The Binding of Isaac" as much asThere is a trend emerging in the last years for loving games just for them being hard. Be it "Dark Souls" (which is a great game in itself without taking the difficulty into account) or McMillen's previous hit "Super Meat Boy" (which also is a great game DUE to its very rewarding level of difficulty), and apparently this is the reason why everyone hails "The Binding of Isaac" as much as they do. However, there is a major flaw that keeps the difficulty from beeing rewarding: It is the system of randomization. While beeing a great asset in theory because it may increase the replayability, it just doesn't work out with a rogue-like game of this difficulty and in these dimensions. Rogue-like is usually all about trying out different builds, improving your strategies and skill and thus doing better and better in every try. In "The Binding of Isaac" however the majority of your runs will end so early that you aren't able to become any better, and that is not necessarily your fault. If you just get bad items on the first levels (or close to none because no keys dropped) and pick some of the harder bosses for the first level then you are going to have a very bad time. Also there is no choice of character build which means you are even more reliant to good drops. Another major problems is that many of the items have disadvantages that you don't know of before picking them up, and there is no way I know of to unequip picked up gear. The trinkets introduced in the expansion "Wrath of the Lamb" are even more of a pain in the butt because their effects are passive and it is incredibly hard to find out some of them. Some other items render a majority of dropps useless because they change your form.
    The general tone of the game is very dark and straight out nasty. While that may appeal to some, for me it is mindlessly provocant. I don't get the point of crying on turds and using a used and rotten sanitary napkin as weapon.
    The enemy design is good mechanics-wise and all have different patterns to accustom to, but the bosses all look generic. They are all just huge hunks of meat and/or maggots with some blood splattered in. Some of the bosses also require specific gear or they are incredibly hard, which is unfair considering that its just pure luck if you have said gear or not.
    In summary, I guess the majority of people loving the game so much in their reviews never played the games which "The Binding of Isaac" considers itself a homage to, and think it makes them some kind of retro-god to have finished the game. I for my part will just stick to "Dungeons of Dredmor" when I want some modernized piece of rogue-like. Or I will just play one of those old games instead.
    2 points is all I can give.    … Expand
  29. Mykwon
    Dec 30, 2012
    8
    Surprisingly addictive as the game looks completely outdated and a very pale copy of a Zelda-like. However, the cleverness resides in the rogue approach and the tons of items and upgrades that make each game very different and the replay value humongous. You get yourself caught playing game after game after game and each experience is truly unique. Warning though: this game is not forSurprisingly addictive as the game looks completely outdated and a very pale copy of a Zelda-like. However, the cleverness resides in the rogue approach and the tons of items and upgrades that make each game very different and the replay value humongous. You get yourself caught playing game after game after game and each experience is truly unique. Warning though: this game is not for everyone. You better have a good dose of black humor because the background is very sordid.… Expand
  30. G_Mackzy
    Dec 29, 2012
    5
    This game is comparable in depth of the gameplay to many flash games you'll find on the net, which is why I wouldn't pay anymore than the $1.25 I did during the most recent Steam sale. In saying this it is still a fun game that'll push you to keep playing til you beat it. The random elements of the game can make it unforgiving and incompletable on some runs however you will also haveThis game is comparable in depth of the gameplay to many flash games you'll find on the net, which is why I wouldn't pay anymore than the $1.25 I did during the most recent Steam sale. In saying this it is still a fun game that'll push you to keep playing til you beat it. The random elements of the game can make it unforgiving and incompletable on some runs however you will also have playthroughs that frequently reward you with good loot. This kind of variety means each time is different and you'll have to adjust your play style to suit your upgrades. Worth giving it a go if you're bored and have a few loose dollars to burn.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

25
#25 Best PC Game of 2011
25
#25 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
21
#21 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. GamingXP
    Mar 19, 2012
    83
    The Binding of Isaac looks like an old school game like the original Zeldas, but with a dark scenario and dark humor. It has the typical difficulty of a McMillen game, which is not found anywhere else these days. This game will motivate you to try and try again in such a simple way – just brilliant. If you like the style and the old school gameplay of The Binding of Isaac, you'll have a lot of fun with it.
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  2. GameCritics
    Mar 10, 2012
    90
    One may play for an hour or two, but they're constantly tempted to go back in and uncover the scads of remaining secrets. It's a style of game that really intrigues me, and one I want to see more of
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  3. 4P.de
    Feb 28, 2012
    87
    Zelda meets Robotron: Isaac celebrates old school topdown action in randomly generated dungeons.
    Read full review
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