The Binding of Isaac

The Binding of Isaac is a PC game available on Steam.

And it is fantastic.

It is a delicious rogue-like that is incredibly hard to put down.  I've only put 16 hours in to this game, and yet I've seen such a large variety of items, and with every play-through I see more.

Now when I say play-through, I mean I start the game, I play the game, and I die horrendously.

At the hands of a monstrous grub, your own mother, or the devil himself.

I've never beaten this game. This game lovingly beats me.  Every. Damn. Time.

And I love every minute of it.

I love the art.  Every damn piece of it.  And there is so much to love. Every item I pick up transforms me, making the end result of a few floors a horrendous hodgepodge of hormone-injected, curse-ridden, high-heel wearing goodness.

What even am I anymore?

Now let's get a little bit design sexy.  I love this game.  This game.  The intro, the character selection, the drop in the basement...

Simple, direct way of telling me how to play!

The enemy designs! The controls!  The power progression! The randomness of the layouts and what enemies I see, but the predictability of what types of rooms are always there! I love the little fights, love the big fights, I love the mini-bosses I run in to!

I love the enemies I hate...

Effing spiders!  I'll show you!

...and the enemies I love...

Haha!  Headless zombie dudes!

I love how powerful I feel when I get a new item. I love that some items give you descriptions and some don't...

Eternal Life?  I'm like 90% sure that is a lie.

The vertical slice of this game, if you can even sum up this game in a slice, is a delicious slice of cheesecake smothered in smokin' hot game design.

And I love it.  100%.


<3 Amy Price, Gameplay Programmer @ Gearbox Software