What Counts as Beating The Binding of Isaac?
Beating The Binding of Isaac isn’t as straightforward as conquering a single final boss. The game, known for its roguelike elements and immense replayability, has several layers of “victory.” Fundamentally, beating The Binding of Isaac means progressing through the game’s various floors and defeating specific bosses, unlocking new content and achievements along the way. However, the definition of “beating” it is fluid, often depending on player goals and the specific version of the game. A simple run might involve defeating Mom’s Heart and considering that a win, but a true completionist will delve much deeper, targeting much harder goals.
Understanding the Core “Wins”
At its most basic level, defeating the game starts with reaching the final boss of each floor. Initially, this culminates in battling Mom’s Heart. However, this is merely the first step on a long path. Defeating Mom’s Heart the first time will lead to unlocking the next layer of gameplay and new bosses. The journey of “beating” the game is not about one run, but about consistency and progression. Here’s a breakdown of how the game progresses:
- Initial Win: Beating Mom’s Heart for the first time. This is often considered the first “win” and opens new possibilities.
- Unlocking It Lives: You have to defeat Mom’s Heart 11 times before It Lives spawns. It Lives! is the actual “final boss” for the base game, replacing Mom’s Heart as the end of your run in subsequent playthroughs.
- Defeating Isaac & Satan: Beating Isaac or Satan multiple times leads to unlocking essential items. You need to defeat Isaac 5 times to unlock the Polaroid and Satan 5 times to unlock The Negative. These are needed for further progression.
Beyond the Basics
Once you’ve conquered the primary bosses, The Binding of Isaac reveals further complexities and deeper levels of challenge. Here’s what else counts towards “beating” the game:
- Unlocking Characters: Progressing often means unlocking new characters, each with unique starting stats and abilities. “Beating” the game often involves completing runs with each character.
- Completion Marks: The game records your wins against different bosses with each character. Getting completion marks for all characters against all relevant bosses is a major goal for many players.
- Reaching New Areas: The game world expands upon multiple playthroughs. Reaching and defeating the final boss of each new area is a key objective.
- Unlocking Items: A huge part of the game’s appeal is collecting items that modify your character. True completionists often consider gathering all items a requirement for “beating” the game.
The Repentance Factor
The Binding of Isaac: Repentance is the definitive version of the game. With this expansion, the challenge is greatly extended and more wins are added to what a full victory looks like. It introduces a multitude of new content, including new bosses, items, and areas. It also changes the way many mechanics work. It’s important to know that these new “wins” should be considered when you are aiming to beat the game. Beating the game, now with Repentance, means progressing through these new challenges.
What is the Ultimate “Win”?
For most fans, “beating” The Binding of Isaac is an ongoing process, not a single destination. It involves unlocking everything, getting every completion mark and, more importantly, mastering the game’s mechanics to a point where you can consistently overcome its challenges. This includes:
- Full completion marks with all characters on all difficulties.
- Unlocking every item and learning their effects.
- Defeating all secret bosses.
- Fully understanding all game mechanics.
The Binding of Isaac is a game that rewards perseverance, knowledge, and skill. What you consider the final “win” is personal. But for the majority, beating Isaac is a goal that often takes hundreds of hours of dedication to reach.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. How Long Does It Take to 100% The Binding of Isaac?
Focusing on just the main objectives, The Binding of Isaac is roughly an 11-hour experience. However, achieving 100% completion, including all unlocks and achievements, is a much larger undertaking, commonly requiring around 139 hours, and even more if you consider all the content added in Repentance which can add upwards of 500 hours of new content.
2. How Many Times Do I Need to Beat Mom?
You need to beat Mom’s Heart 11 times to unlock the It Lives! boss battle. After that, It Lives! will replace Mom’s Heart in every run.
3. How Many Times Do I Need to Beat Isaac and Satan?
You have to kill Isaac five times to unlock the Polaroid and Satan five times to unlock the Negative. These items are necessary to progress further into the game.
4. What is the Most Complete Version of The Binding of Isaac?
The Binding of Isaac: Repentance is the ultimate edition. It has added tons of new features and quality-of-life improvements.
5. What Are Completion Marks?
Completion marks are shown next to each character on the character select screen. They represent the bosses you’ve beaten with that specific character, and unlocking all of them with every character is one of the main challenges of the game.
6. Which Character is Considered the Easiest for Beginners?
Bethany is often cited as the easiest character, offering a forgiving start to learn the game. Other good starting characters are Isaac, Azazel and Cain.
7. Is The Binding of Isaac One of the Hardest Games?
Yes, The Binding of Isaac is known for its high difficulty and in-depth gameplay. It requires many hours of gameplay to fully master.
8. Is it Hard to Get the Platinum Trophy in The Binding of Isaac?
Yes, earning the platinum trophy is very challenging. The game has a lot of replay value and slow progression, requiring hundreds of hours of play with all 34 characters.
9. Does The Binding of Isaac Get Harder the More You Play?
Yes, the game does get harder as you unlock more levels and content. Devil Deals should always be considered as a good way to get great items and unlock more content.
10. How Many Endings Does The Binding of Isaac Have?
There are a total of 22 endings in the game, with 16 in Rebirth, 2 in Afterbirth, 2 in Afterbirth+, and an additional 2 in Repentance. These are unlocked by beating bosses at the end of levels 3 to 6.
11. What Does Mom’s Bra Item Do?
Using Mom’s Bra will place the bra over Isaac’s head, and a picture of Mom will appear on the screen. Afterward, all enemies, including bosses, will be frozen for 5 seconds.
12. What is the Likelihood of Getting an Angel Room?
The odds of getting an angel room is 62.5% on the first room. However, the chance can rise to 71.875% if you have previously skipped the devil deal.
13. What is the 1001% Achievement?
The 1001% achievement unlocks when you have unlocked 276 secrets/achievements, the amount of total secrets available when the Afterbirth DLC was the newest version. The number required has increased with the release of new DLC.
14. Is Rebirth Harder Than the Original Isaac?
Rebirth is considered harder overall due to several changes that were made, such as making Isaac and ??? bosses harder to dodge.
15. Is There a Damage Cap in The Binding of Isaac?
There is no true maximum damage, however, the damage calculation is hindered by a square root function, which means successive damage upgrades return smaller increases in damage output.