The Binding of Isaac is a game made by Edmund McMillan (creator of Super Meat Boy), Florian Himsl and with music by Danny Baranowsky.

What genre is it?

The game is kind of genre defying. It takes elements from rogue-likes and dungeon crawlers, such as randomly generating floors and perma-death (Note before I get shouted at: Although perma-death isn't uniquely a rogue-like mechanic, it mainly features in rogue-likes these days) however it isn't tile based or turn based. It also involves crafty dodging of bullets, rather like a bullet hell, but without the instant death. I would describe it as a Dungeon Crawler probably, though genres aren't the best way to describe it. I'd reccommend watching some stuff on YouTube.

Ok... How much does it cost?

£3.99 for the main game, £1.99 for huge Wrath of the Lamb expansion DLC which I would say doubles the size of the game.

Any future DLC planned?

They cannot physically add anything to the game at this point due to Flash's limitations, so a new Binding of Isaac is being built using a new language so they can add more.

How long is this game?

Depends how good you are at it. Pretty much everyone will take at least 5 or so hours to beat Mum, then Mum's heart will take a lot longer. Most 100% players have spent at least 100 hours (for Platinum God).

What is the main reason to play this game?

It's a GREAT game. I've told Jorster about it... it's just great.

The main reason to play this game? I din't really know. This isn't a game which has some hidden mechanics or story or Braid like puzzles in it, it's just a blast to play. I'm 50 hours in and I'm finally closing in on Golden God. I'd just say that if you don't mind the fact that the game is pretty luck based on what items you get on the fist few floors (you won't survive off a few range upgrades, but an item like Epic Fetis is so powerful it pretty much breaks the game), it is undoubtedly worth the money.

Oh, also every run will last a maximum of about and hour an half if you go very slowly. If you're doing a speed run style with good items (especially when using something like Book of Belial or Candle) they will last about 40 mins. Don't expect to get more than a couple of floors on te fisrst few tries. The bit where people get stuck tends to be the floor before Mum and the Cathedral.

When I first heard about this game, I was completely turned off by its intentionally dark and ugly visuals/concepts. Edmund McMillan's games have always been very harsh and almost blatantly offensive, and so I've never been really into them (there are some exceptions, though, such as Meat Boy and Spewer, both of which were featured/linked to from the Interguild at some point).

Anyway, I had a friend who pretty much felt the same way as me about Binding of Isaac, but then he got the game through one of the Humble Bundles and he quickly fell in love with it. He let me download the game using his copy of the Humble Bundle, and even though I did find the overall tone of the game to be creepy and somewhat disturbing, the gameplay was really amazing. I suddenly found myself become a fan of the game.

Much of the fun comes from the fact that this is a rogue-like game where every experience is randomly generated, but it's also incredibly well-polished (like all of Team Meat's games) and the core experience is the "game" itself, the challenge, and your desire to always want to try again after losing. The theme of the game seems pretty depressing, but when it's combined with that kind of gameplay experience, it becomes pretty uplifting after a while, at least for me, anyway. It's a game about this pathetic kid in a super nasty world, but you just keep trying and fighting onward.

I will be buying this game.

Here are a bunch of my personal stats:



4 items from Golden God.



DLC items.



My Mum kills to deaths is pretty bad, however that's partly because I tend to just kill myself if I don't get a good item within the first few floors. I've unlocked every ending.

23 minute chest run

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ0YbUp6BFU&feature=g-all-u

Just beat the final boss without taking damage. Any damage would have killed me. Holy crap that was tense.

And... I just had to reset my save to nothing because a game-breaking glitch would have prevented me form getting 100%...

Just beat Mum on first run back which is good I guess though.

Run 3, beaten pre-DLC game as Maggie, despite the entire game screwing me over.

I'm gonna write down the list of items I need for Platinum God here so I don't forget:

Number 1
Skatole
Mega Mush
Dollar Bill
Fetus in a Jar
Wiggle Worm
Distant Admiration
Super Bandage
Book of Sin (I swear I must have got this at some point...)
Shears
Mon's Contact
Guardian Angel (not unlocked)
Demon Baby
Monster Manual (not unlocked)
Forget me now (not unlocked)
IV Bag
Guppy's Head
Prayer Card
Celtic Cross
Dad's Key
Daddy Longlegs (not unlocked)
Black Bean
Blood Rights (not unlocked)
Guppy's Hairball (not unlocked)
Abel (not unlocked)

...For whatever reason, I have 14 items (I think) locked, but only 7 locked according to my items screen. Maybe 7 of the Items were trinkets...?

UPDATE:

Number 1
Skatole
Mega Mush
Dollar Bill
Fetus in a Jar
Wiggle Worm
Distant Admiration
Super Bandage
Book of Sin (I swear I must have got this at some point...)
Shears
Mom's Contact
Guardian Angel
Demon Baby
Monster Manual (not unlocked)
Forget me now (not unlocked)
IV Bag
Guppy's Head
Prayer Card
Celtic Cross
Dad's Key
Daddy Longlegs (not unlocked)
Black Bean
Blood Rights (not unlocked)
Guppy's Hairball (not unlocked)
Abel (not unlocked)

UPDATE:

Number 1
Skatole
Mega Mush
Dollar Bill
Fetus in a Jar
Wiggle Worm
Distant Admiration
Super Bandage
Book of Sin
Shears
Mom's Contact
Guardian Angel
Demon Baby
Monster Manual (not unlocked)
Forget me now (not unlocked)
IV Bag
Guppy's Head
Prayer Card
Celtic Cross
Dad's Key
Daddy Longlegs (not unlocked)
Black Bean
Blood Rights (not unlocked)
Guppy's Hairball (not unlocked)
Abel (not unlocked)

5 items left. Just going to cheat engine two because I know I have gotten them before, the game simply hasn't registered it.

Super Bandage
Mum's Contact
Daddy Longlegs (not unlocked)
Blood Rights
Forget Me Now