The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is a 2014 game that combines elements of action, adventure, and a style of gameplay called "roguelike." It was created by Edmund McMillen and made and sold by Nicalis. The game was first released for Linux, Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita in November 2014. Later, it was released for Xbox One, New Nintendo 3DS, and Wii U in July 2015. It became available for iOS in January 2017 and for Nintendo Switch in March 2017. Versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were released in November 2021.

Rebirth is a remake of The Binding of Isaac, a game first made by Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl in 2011. The original game was created for Adobe Flash, a platform with limits that led McMillen to partner with Nicalis to develop Rebirth using a more advanced system. This allowed the game to include more content and features. Since its release, Rebirth has had four major updates: Afterbirth (2015), Afterbirth+ (2017), Repentance (2021), and Repentance+ (2024). These updates added more game content and modes. Afterbirth+ also allowed players to use content created by other users.

Like the original game, Rebirth is based on the biblical story of the same name and was inspired by McMillen’s religious background. In the game, the player controls Isaac, a boy locked in his room by his mother, who believes she is acting on God’s will. When Isaac’s mother tries to harm him, he escapes to the basement and fights through randomly generated, maze-like levels. Players defeat monsters by using Isaac’s tears as weapons and collect items that change his look, strength, and abilities. Unlike the original game, Rebirth includes a limited multiplayer mode, allowing one additional player. This was later expanded to support three extra players in Afterbirth and Afterbirth+. Full local co-op support for up to four players was added in Repentance, and online co-op support was introduced in Repentance+ in November 2024.

Rebirth received high praise from critics, who appreciated its gameplay and improvements over the original game. However, some reviewers found the graphics too intense. Afterbirth, Afterbirth+, and Repentance also received mostly positive reviews, with critics noting their difficulty but praising the added content. By July 2015, Rebirth and the original The Binding of Isaac had sold over five million copies combined. The game is considered one of the greatest roguelike games ever made.

Gameplay

The game The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is a 2D game where the player controls Isaac, a boy, or one of 33 other characters. The player explores a basement and other areas, fighting monsters and collecting items. The gameplay follows a roguelike style, meaning levels are created randomly using a seed, forming separate rooms, including at least one boss fight. A game ends when the player defeats one of several final bosses. Like many roguelike games, the player loses progress if their character dies. However, Rebirth allows players to save their progress at any time. Map seeds can be shared, letting others play the same dungeon layout. But runs using shared seeds do not earn achievements.

Controls are similar to a multidirectional shooter: the player moves with one set of controls and shoots "tears" (bullets) with another. Health is shown as hearts, with each heart representing half a life. Players can find items that restore hearts or add more hearts. Bombs damage enemies and break obstacles, keys open doors and chests, and coins buy items. Many items change the character’s abilities, such as speed or the power of tears. Some items, like floating helpers, aid in combat. Items are either passive (permanent effects when picked up) or active (used at any time, either consumed or recharged). Players can collect multiple passive items, whose effects combine for powerful results. Only one active item and one consumable (like tarot cards or pills) can be carried at a time. One trinket, similar to passive items but swappable, can also be carried. Each floor includes special rooms, such as treasure rooms, shops, mini-boss fights, and curse rooms.

Rebirth adds more items, monsters, and room types (including large areas) compared to the original game. It also supports controllers and allows a second local player to join using a drop-in-drop-out system. The second player controls a follower with the same abilities as the main character but costs one heart. This follower cannot plant bombs or carry items. The Repentance expansion adds support for 4-player co-op, where all players control fully functional characters.

Plot

The game The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth has a story that is similar to the biblical tale of the same name, just like the original game. The story is shown mainly through ending scenes that players unlock by defeating bosses. These scenes are either still images with narration or short animations.

Isaac, a young boy, and his very religious mother live in a small house on a hill. One day, Isaac’s mother believes she hears the voice of God, who tells her that her son is filled with sin and needs to be saved. She takes away his toys and clothes, thinking they are bad influences, and later locks him in his room to keep him safe from evil. When she receives instructions to sacrifice her son to prove her devotion, Isaac escapes through a hidden door in his room.

As Isaac travels through different floors, he faces his mother in battle. After defeating her, the game returns to Isaac’s room, where his mother is about to kill him with a knife. A Bible falls from a shelf and hits her on the head, seemingly killing her. Isaac celebrates, but his mother appears behind him, still holding the knife, showing that the events were imagined.

Beating other bosses unlocks different endings. These endings usually suggest that Isaac, burdened by intense religious guilt, locked himself in a toy chest and suffocated, with the game’s events being a hallucination.

The game’s expansions add more endings that provide further details about Isaac’s life. These show that Isaac’s father left the family, and his mother has been hurting him for a long time. In the final ending, Isaac goes to Heaven as his life flashes before him. Then, the narrator interrupts, revealing himself to be Isaac’s father. The narrator asks if Isaac wants to change the story, and Isaac agrees. The narrator begins a new story that includes Isaac and both of his parents.

Development

The Binding of Isaac was created by Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl in 2011 during a game jam after finishing Super Meat Boy, McMillen’s earlier game. Because Super Meat Boy was successful, McMillen did not worry about making a popular game. Instead, he wanted to make a game that combined The Legend of Zelda’s top-down dungeon style with the roguelike genre, using religious themes from his childhood. They used Adobe Flash because it allowed them to develop the game quickly. McMillen quietly released the game on Steam for PC, where it became unexpectedly popular. To expand the game, McMillen and Himsl found problems with Flash that made it hard to add more content. While they added more material with the Wrath of the Lamb expansion, McMillen had to stop planning a second expansion because of these limitations.

After The Binding of Isaac was released, McMillen met Tyrone Rodriguez of Nicalis, a company that helped bring PC games like Cave Story and VVVVVV to consoles. Rodriguez offered to help move The Binding of Isaac to consoles. McMillen agreed but asked that the game be recreated outside Flash to include new content and fix bugs. He also wanted to avoid handling business matters, as he had had difficult experiences with Super Meat Boy. Rodriguez agreed. Rebirth, a console version of the game, was announced in November 2012. It aimed to improve graphics to 16-bit colors, add new content, and include local cooperative play. However, online cooperative play was not added because it would take too long to develop.

McMillen wanted to completely redesign the game, especially its graphics, which he called an "eyesore." After asking players for their preferred art style, McMillen and Nicalis hired artists to update the original designs. They also commissioned a new soundtrack from Matthias Bossi and Jon Evans.

Initially, McMillen and Rodriguez wanted to develop The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth for the Nintendo 3DS as a tribute to its connection with Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda series. However, Nintendo did not approve the game for the 3DS in 2012 due to content concerns. They shifted focus to PC and PlayStation versions, which allowed for better performance. Nicalis discussed releasing the game on Xbox systems, and McMillen considered an iOS version. In August 2013, development moved to the PlayStation 4, and the PC, PlayStation 4, and Vita versions were released on November 5, 2014.

During development, three Nintendo employees helped secure approval for the game on the 3DS and Wii U in 2014. McMillen and Nicalis adapted the game for these systems, spending about a year converting it. Although the original 3DS version performed poorly, they used a new 3DS development kit with better hardware. The 3DS and Wii U versions were announced with plans for an Xbox One release. The game was released for all three systems on July 23, 2015.

In January 2016, Nicalis began working on an iOS version of the game. Apple rejected the application for iOS in February 2016, citing "violence toward children" as a policy violation. Nicalis worked with Apple to get approval for a universal iOS version, including the Afterbirth+ expansion, with features like iCloud support. The iOS version of the core game was released in January 2017.

After hinting at a Nintendo Switch release, Nicalis confirmed in January 2017 that Rebirth, including both expansions, would be released for the Switch in March 2017. The release was delayed to March 17 due to last-minute changes. Because of their prior work with Nintendo, Rodriguez said they could access Switch development tools. McMillen noted that the game’s design made it easier to port to the Switch, and the version supported up to four players in cooperative mode. The physical Switch version included a manual similar to the one for The Legend of Zelda on the Nintendo Entertainment System.

In October 2025, Amazon listed a Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game. Nicalis later announced the port would be released in Q1 2026.

McMillen announced The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth, the first expansion for Rebirth, in February 2015. Afterbirth added new items, enemies, floors, bosses, and endings, including a harder mode called Greed Mode. The expansion was released for PC in October 2015 and for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in May 2016. It is unlikely to be released on other platforms due to hardware limits and complex mechanics.

McMillen included hidden secrets in The Binding of Isaac, which fans discovered on a Reddit forum. He took extra steps to hide the Lost, a new playable character, in Rebirth. Unlocking the Lost required specific actions, and hints were hidden in the game. However, players found the Lost within 109 hours of the game’s release by searching its files. McMillen expressed disappointment that the community discovered the secrets quickly, but he still planned to release Afterbirth without rushing its development.

Reception and Legacy

According to Metacritic, a website that collects reviews, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth received "generally favorable" reviews overall, while the iOS version was described as receiving "universal acclaim." Dan Stapleton of IGN praised Rebirth for its many different ways to play each time, which kept players motivated to keep playing. He noted the game lacked clear information about power-ups. Brent Todd of GameSpot wrote that even though the game’s story and images might seem unsettling at first, Rebirth offers fast, varied gameplay and new features that keep players entertained for a long time. Simon Parkin of Eurogamer said Rebirth feels like the result of a difficult process but is easier to play than most rogue-like games because of its simple controls and random levels. Nic Rowen of Destructoid called Rebirth a major improvement over the original game, calling it an "incredible experience that can't be missed."

Afterbirth+ received mixed-to-favorable reviews from critics. Jose Otero of IGN praised its variety, saying the unpredictable items and enemies made it one of the most fun and replayable games he had played. Peter Glagowski of Destructoid gave the DLC (downloadable content) a positive review, calling it an "impressive effort," but said the base game had little to offer new players.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun criticized the DLC’s difficulty, which it said came from enemies acting unpredictably. Adam Smith of a review website said the DLC’s design felt like "putting together parts of the game in a way that doesn’t work well," creating a weak or messy version. Beastby criticized Afterbirth+ for being unfair, asking players, "How many times will I fail before I have a fair chance to succeed?" Members of the Team Alpha modding group called the DLC’s modding tools disappointing, saying they had many problems and the developers provided little help.

Jeffrey Yu of Game Rant said the game’s lasting popularity comes from its easy-to-learn gameplay, which allows players to jump in quickly while offering depth through many item combinations and hidden secrets. He also noted that the fan community on YouTube helped the game succeed by showing its replayability and learning curve. The game’s inclusion in Steam sales and the developer’s previous success with Super Meat Boy also helped increase sales months after its release.