The Binding of Isaac

The Binding of Isaac joins the overhead view and separate rooms of older adventures to the structure of a repeatable run. A boy descends into a basement, fights with tears and finds items that change his body and abilities. Room layouts, enemies and rewards vary, making knowledge of items more useful than a memorised route.

The most significant effects happen between items. A change to a shot's shape or behaviour, or to the character's protection, can make you reassess the next discovery. The resulting combination becomes the character's temporary identity. It disappears after death, but unlocked items, characters and other elements broaden future possibilities. Repetition means learning a system that assembles itself slightly differently each time.

Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl created the original 2011 game in Flash. In his postmortem, McMillen described combining Zelda's dungeon structure with roguelike elements and personal religious imagery. The grotesque presentation and unpredictable combinations work together: the character keeps changing while you learn to make decisions with incomplete information.