Part 1 (Sep 2023) · #3 of 9 in that tierWatch the moment (0:10:08)
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
- Developed by
- Nicalis, Inc., Edmund McMillen
- Published by
- Nicalis, Inc.
$14.99
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is a randomly generated action RPG shooter with heavy Rogue-like elements. Following Isaac on his journey players will find bizarre treasures that change Isaac’s form giving him super human abilities and enabling him to fight off droves of mysterious creatures, discover secrets and fight his way to safety.
Consensus
S86.8/100
Steam players96.8% positiveOverwhelmingly Positive459,340 reviews
Metacritic ↗88/100Users: 8.2/10
OpenCritic ↗87/100
VG Insights estimate ↗≈8.5M copies · ≈$87.4M gross
What creators say
Ranked Apr 2022 · #1 of 8 in that tierWatch the moment (0:21:37)
Ranked Oct 2022 · #11 of 21 in that tierListen to the episode
Scored 7.79/10 · tier derived from the score
Ranked Jun 2023 · #9 of 18 in that tierWatch the moment (0:47:25)
Ranked Sep 2024 · #2 of 5 in that tierWatch the moment (0:15:01)
Ranked Dec 2019 · #1 of 4 in that tierWatch the moment (0:28:18)
Ranked Apr 2023 · #2 of 15 in that tierWatch the moment (2:03:54)
Ranked May 2026 · #3 of 9 in that tierListen to the episode
Ranked Apr 2025 · #2 of 5 in that tierWatch the moment (1:12:09)
What players say
A twin-stick, room-by-room dungeon crawler by Edmund McMillen where Isaac descends through randomly generated floors collecting hundreds of synergistic items, wrapped in grotesque religious-horror imagery.
Regarded as one of the defining roguelikes: Steam shows 96.8% positive across about 459k reviews (Overwhelmingly Positive) and critics landed in the high 80s for Rebirth (Metacritic 88 on 15 reviews, OpenCritic 87 with 92% recommending). Players praise near-endless replayability from 700+ items and 34 characters, tight shooting, and the bleak-funny identity. The recurring complaints are RNG swings, opaque item text, a long unlock and completion grind, and steep difficulty for newcomers. The game is fully released and very much alive: Repentance is the final expansion and the community keeps it going with mods and Workshop content, and a 2026 patch triggered some DLC-loading complaints on Steam.
Players love
- Huge replayability: 700+ items, 188 trinkets, 34 characters (with Tainted versions) and thousands of hours are cited by long-time players
- Item synergies produce wildly different builds each run (Brimstone, Tech X and similar combos are commonly named as highlights)
- Tight, responsive twin-stick combat with a fast, addictive 'one more run' loop
- Strong, committed dark and gross aesthetic with a memorable soundtrack and a story told through endings and secrets
- Repentance rebalanced overpowered and weak items, added new routes, bosses and thousands of rooms; one review gave the DLC 9.5/10
- Very good value, especially on sale, given the content volume; Steam Workshop mods extend it further
- Hidden secrets and discoverable mechanics reward curiosity and community knowledge-sharing
Common complaints
- Item effects are poorly explained in-game, so many players rely on mods or the wiki to know what pickups do
- Heavy RNG: item pools are bloated, so bad rolls and unwinnable seeds are common, and top players restart early floors until they find a strong first item
- Hostile onboarding: new players report difficulty even learning controls and the game's systems, with little guidance
- Some content gates are harsh: powerful items like Godhead and Death Certificate require beating hard late bosses, sometimes with one-hit characters like The Lost
- Repentance-era balance: trap rooms and sudden damage can ruin runs regardless of knowledge; Delirium is described as broken by teleporting onto the player
- Multiplayer/co-op reportedly desyncs, and you cannot rejoin mid-floor
- Darker themes (child abuse, religious extremism) and crude humor put some players off; content is not for younger players
- Recent patches reportedly broke DLC loading or launch (Afterbirth+/Repentance), with some players rolling back to older versions and unable to refund
Can feel tedious
- 100% completion and unlocks are a long grind, cited as 500+ hours, including killing final bosses repeatedly across many characters
- Daily challenges act as real-calendar time gates for certain unlocks, which players compare to mobile-game design
- Restarting early floors or rerolling until the item pool looks promising, and slower clears when pools are diluted (a reported habit, not a top review theme)
- Hard-mode requirements for best unlocks feel punishing for casual players
- Some players dislike specific characters or modes (Jacob and Esau, Curse of the Blind, Lazarus, Tainted Lost are named in reviews)
- Four-way shooting and enemy design feel restrictive or boring to a minority, with hitbox or movement complaints in a few reviews
- Forced modes for unlocks, e.g. Greed Mode, are said to stall enjoyment of the core game
What's unique
- Extremely dense item-interaction system with 700+ items, giving emergent builds no other roguelike matches in raw variety
- Shoot-in-four-directions dungeon crawl structure with Zelda-style rooms instead of continuous levels
- Uncompromising religious-horror and body-horror theme paired with cartoon visuals and dark comedy
- Completion meta with 34 characters, dozens of endings and a 'Dead God' 100% achievement that can take 500+ hours
- Shaped the modern roguelite genre; the series originated from a Flash game in 2011 and was remade in Rebirth in 2014
Players want
- Better in-game item descriptions or an optional info display (the most popular mod simply tells you what items do)
- A gentler tutorial/onboarding so new players learn controls and core systems
- Less RNG dependence and tighter item pool curation so runs feel less dependent on early luck
- Fewer time-gated and grindy completion requirements (daily challenges, repeated hard-mode clears)
- More reliable online co-op and better patch QA so DLC does not break after updates
Summarised from Steam reviews and community discussion.
Steam tags
Action RoguelikeRogue-likeIndieReplay ValueDifficultPixel GraphicsDungeon CrawlerGreat SoundtrackSingleplayerDark
Similar games
More runs with shared subgenres and Steam tags.
Tier list Part 1 (2023)
The Binding of Isaac is the top-down roguelite that helped bring the genre back to modern gaming, and he calls it probably the most packed roguelite around. He says it is the one game he could play forever because it never gets old. He has over 300 hours in it and notes it keeps receiving new content. He places it in S tier without hesitation and tells viewers who haven't played it to go play it.
Liked
Disliked