“Isaac and his mother lived alone in a small house on a hill. Isaac kept to himself, drawing pictures and playing with his toys as his mom watched Christian broadcasts on the television. Life was simple, and they were both happy. That was, until the day Isaac’s mom heard a voice from above.” These are the first words you are greeted with upon starting your journey into the depths below. This is the famous story you hear when first opening up The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, which is a roguelike game with amazing pixel art, complex game mechanics, difficult enemies and bosses, and a very interestingly complex story. There is much to cover, so let’s start with the basics!

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (Tboi) has many items, trinkets, mechanics and interactions between the vast selection of things to find. The game holds simple combat mechanics: you get projectiles to shoot in 4 cardinal directions, simple movement, and you may find pick-ups like bombs to use for combat or other purposes. The real game-changer for becoming strong is the expansive items you can find on every floor of the game. Many of the items have either simple effects, such as stat increases or buffs, whilst others may completely change the way you must play the game, such as replacing your projectiles with one big controllable orb, or turning your shots into a beam that requires you to hold down the shoot button. These items can combine together upon picking them up, causing whacky and powerful synergies that can be game-breaking! The possible interactions are almost endless and are really worth checking out yourself once you get the chance. Items and such aren’t the only thing that make this game interesting, however, as the game has a start, which means there must be a way to end it.

The main progression of the game is the different characters you can unlock and play as. With the game having a heavily religiously themed background and story, there might be names you may recognize, such as “Judas” or “Azazel.” Upon choosing your character, you’re tossed into the first floor of the game, the “Basement” and must go through rooms of enemies and defeat the main boss in order to progress to the next floor. It’s a simple concept, but the floors and enemies you face become stronger and much harder to combat, and you can easily lose if you aren’t careful enough. The game can reward risky gameplay, with “Boss-Trap Challenge” rooms and “Challenge” rooms appearing, which offer “free” rewards to pick up. Upon picking up said “free” awards, the door will lock behind you and you must go through 3 waves of the current floor themed enemies, or 2 waves of current floor themed bosses. Rewards may vary from a singular penny, to an entire item itself, so play at your own risk! 

This isn’t even scratching the surface of all the games content, I have so much more I want to say, but that’d just be spoilers at that point. I would heavily recommend trying the game out for yourself, and would also recommend waiting for it to go on sale in order to buy the game and all of its DLCs. You can find it on almost every platform, Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Mobile, and PC via Steam. The game has incredible replayability, a great community, and if you play on PC, tons and tons of mods to check out and enhance your game with. That’s all for now, have a great time and good luck to any first timers! You’re gonna need it.