RoguedexPart 1 (Sep 2023) · #25 of 35 in that tierWatch the moment (2:47:49)
The Legend of Bum-Bo
- Developed by
- Edmund McMillen, James Interactive, Ridiculon
- Published by
- Edmund McMillen
$14.99
A puzzle based deck building rogue-like prequel to The Binding of Isaac... Made of cardboard!
Consensus
D63.8/100
Steam players80.6% positiveVery Positive5,938 reviews
Metacritic ↗73/100Users: 6.4/10
VG Insights estimate ↗≈178K copies · ≈$2M gross
What creators say
Ranked Apr 2023 · #3 of 11 in that tierWatch the moment (2:03:54)
What players say
A match-3 puzzle deckbuilding roguelite, cardboard-craft prequel to The Binding of Isaac, by Edmund McMillen, James Interactive and Ridiculon.
Players rate it Very Positive on Steam (about 81% of roughly 5.9k reviews), while Metacritic sits at a Mixed 73 critic / 6.4 user. The core loop of matching tiles to cast spells and building a loadout is widely called addictive and charming, but it is held back by heavy RNG, thin explanation, a grindy unlock system and lots of bugs. Development was rocky: the original programmer left, and the last official patches came around 2021 before a later community-linked 'Windfall' update was announced. Many negative Steam reviews read like 'fun game, but unfinished and buggy', so the score is dragged down by polish rather than by the core idea.
Players love
- The match-tiles-to-cast-spells loop is satisfying and addictive, with big combo turns feeling great when a board lines up
- Cardboard cut-out art style and child-like Isaac-prequel atmosphere are charming
- Deckbuilder-style decisions (skills, items, trinkets) pay off when you plan around the board
- 100+ items, 80+ trinkets, several playable characters and 10 bosses give a decent item pool
- Isaac-style humor and lore expansion appeal strongly to Binding of Isaac fans
- Ridiculon soundtrack is praised (Steam tags include Great Soundtrack)
Common complaints
- Very buggy: softlocks (especially from clicking too fast), run resets, broken puzzle boards and visual glitches
- Achievements and unlocks often fail to trigger or duplicate; players resort to third-party fixes
- Steam achievements are so unreliable that players say a third-party fix (the Windfall mod) is practically required; the last official patch was around March 2021
- Save data can be lost, and saves are local rather than properly cloud-synced
- Heavy luck dependence: a bad board or a room with 5-6 enemies can end a run before you act
- Little is explained, so boss and enemy mechanics become knowledge checks
- Limited content at launch (four dungeons) and the game feels unfinished or abandoned to many
- Critics called the UI feedback (tooltips, tile highlighting) unpolished and mobile-like
Can feel tedious
- Unlocking new items is gated behind a chance-based system that only rolls after winning long runs, so the grind is painful
- Some later areas and progress are gated behind playing specific characters
- Limited coins per floor make stat upgrades and shops feel too scarce
- Enemies that resist everything or multi-hit counters can make turns feel unfair
- Repetitive play over extended sessions, per critics
What's unique
- Mixes a match-3 board game with roguelite deckbuilding and Isaac-style items
- Handmade cardboard look and tone, as a literal toy-theatre prequel to Isaac
- Spells are fueled by matching colored tile types, so board reading and spell planning interlock
- Gross-out Isaac humor applied to puzzle combat (for example flinging excrement at enemies)
- Edmund McMillen's biggest project by his own account, after a roughly four-year development
Players want
- Fix the long list of bugs, achievement issues and save problems
- Reduce run-ending RNG from board draws and enemy stacking, and tighten balance
- Explain enemy and boss mechanics in-game instead of relying on trial and error
- Rework the slot-machine-style item unlock system so progress is not so grindy
- Add more content and more creative synergy/deckbuilding options, since many builds feel samey
- Improve UI feedback such as tooltips and tile highlighting
Summarised from Steam reviews and community discussion.
Steam tags
Rogue-liteIndieStrategyAdventurePuzzleMatch 3SingleplayerGreat SoundtrackFunnyDifficult
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Tier list Part 1 (2023)
The Legend of Bumbo is a Candy Crush-style match-puzzle roguelike built on The Binding of Isaac, with an all-cardboard look. He loves the art style and the core gameplay concept. He thinks the game feels rushed and unfinished, with run-losing bugs, very long fights and heavy RNG. There is little left to do once every character has been played. He places it in mid B tier and says he wishes he could rate it higher.
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