The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

Not only we got and old build at release, plus the lack of achievements and whatnot, but the devs/publisher also haven't bothered to update the GOG version. This flat out feels like a cash-grab. Will update if something changes.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a well-regarded roguelite that came out after The Binding of Isaac that doesn't borrow something from it. It'd likely be inaccurate to say that the game invented the features that define the genre (especially since so many of them were lifted from classic 2D Zelda), but it certainly popularized them. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is, simply put, the best roguelite and one of the best games I've ever played. Nearly a thousand hours in and three expansions later, I'm still discovering new rooms, new item combinations, new strategies, and I'm loving every second of it. There's a breathtaking level of depth and strategy, as well as a stunning breadth of content to be had with its hundreds of items, dozens of characters, and constantly branching paths. Plus there are 45 challenges and a daily run feature that'll make you rethink everything you know about the game. That's not to say every element is immaculately balanced, and that's partly by design. Breaking the game is both intentional and ones of its best features. It's not perfect. A couple notorious enemies will doubtlessly leave you frustrated, and sometimes the RNG will be unkind, but despite that, with enough patience and skill, you can almost always salvage a run no matter what it throws at you. It's also not for everyone. The aesthetic is unapologetically gross, and the narrative is among the darkest I've seen in a popular game. Personally, I'd recommend starting with Rebirth and picking up the expansions as you learn the game. They make it considerably harder and each offer their own learning curves. Repentance is practically a sequel in and of itself. But all of them should find a way into your library eventually. If you have even the slightest interest in the genre or what you've read here, I can't recommend Rebirth enough. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it and its predecessor have redefined gaming as a hobby for me over the past decade.

EDIT: 17/09/2025 The game now has achievements, but the rest of my review isn't changing. Missing mods, daily runs, and latest patches are good reasons to not buy it on GOG. Binding of Isaac Rebirth is really good and represents the talent of indie developers! But, the GOG support for the game is pretty lame. There's no modding and no achievements. Not being able to use them is pretty saddening. If mods and/or achievements are available, I will edit my review.

Aight, got a few points to hit here. First: this game, sans DLC, is still a complete experience. This is not a title for which you *need* to purchase DLC. I loved it when it originally came out, and I have loved every version of it since just as much. Second: Many other reviews advise you to avoid purchasing this game on GOG because the developers have not updated the latest DLC despite updates on Steam. They also mention a missing Daily Challenge feature that's present on Steam. If you want to follow that advice on principle, sure -- do as you wish. But The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, as I said, is a complete experience, and shouldn't have any version differences from Steam. (Daily Challenges were only added in the first DLC, and they weren't required for achievements until the second DLC.) It's been a long, long time since I played plain Rebirth, so my memory of the particulars is vague, but the fundamentals have always remained the same: the game is a top-down, WASD+arrows shooter with a variety of enemies that follow individually simple, predictable patterns. You collect consumables (coins, bombs, and keys) and items (permanent power-ups) that randomly (and predictably) spawn throughout the game. When you first play, you will probably be at the mercy of luck, and you will die repeatedly, because HP is limited (you have six hits to start) and you haven't seen the types of enemies enough to predict their behavior. But soon, you'll get comfortable with the first two floors and their villains, and you'll graduate to dying on the next two floors. And you'll find particular items that make you feel powerful, and change your gameplay in a way you like. And when you get a very powerful synergy, you'll absolutely crush Mom, the final boss on floor 6 -- huzzah! finally! -- only to be told that the end of the game is now floor 8. And you'll chase that high again. And you'll feel it, more and more. If you can roll with the intial punches, you will love this game.

Disclaimer: I haven't purchased the game or its DLC on GOG. All of my experience with it is through Steam, so I can't speak to anything specific to the GOG release that may sway people to/from purchasing it here (aside from the lack of DRM, of course ;) This is easily one of the most entertaining games I've played in a long time, possibly ever. You can easily squeeze hundreds, if not thousands of hours out of it, and that's just with the base game. The expansions only add onto that - more characters, more items, more enemies and bosses, and plenty more ways for your run to suddenly do a 180, in either direction. The game plays like a mix of 2D Zelda, twin-sticks shooters, and rougelike/lites. You explore essentially a dungeon, floor by floor, fighting various enemies and bosses, collecting items and pickups along the way to help (or hinder) you as you progress. There are many other quirks to the game's mechanics - special room types, curses, how enemies attack/can be attacked, etc. - but that's the base of the experience. Each character also has their own quirks - Eve and Samson both play into a "take damage to do more damage" gimmick, Cain can make better use of gambling games and pills, Judas is basically a glass cannon, and the Lost is... well, painful (especially in the base game). My suggestion? Buy this game with its expansions - it's the most fleshed out, refined experience the game has to offer at this point.