I can't seem to enjoy this game. The controls are tight, but having three hearts and dying is just dumb. Especially in a game where you are in narrow corridors with lots of pellets flying around. Even touching an enemy causes injury.

Not only that, but I die and lose absolutely everything I acquired? What gives, what am I missing here? Thank God this game only cost me 2$ yesterday, because if I payed full price, I would have been pissed.

I'm going to read comments here and give it another shot, but so far it feels like I just paid money to play a game I could have played for free on Kongregate.

The game was only like $4 at launch so it's not like you saved much. And dude, it just sounds like you don't like the game; plenty of other people do very much like the game, it's just the way it is sometimes.

It's a RogueLike. You have one life to make it as far as possible (there is a 1up Mushroom you can find for an extra life though). The items you 'unlock' become available to find in subsequent playthroughs.

There are literally dozens of items that will increase your life bar, finding them is always a priority.

It's also important to know that only Isaac's head can be damaged, let the bullets fly through his body. It's an incredibly great game if you can adjust to the rules. There's even an expansion coming out next week with a new character, new items and a new system of items called Trinkets.

What you're describing are the general tropes of rogue-likes and they're probably why the genre is a fairly niche one. Games like this are meant to be very challenging, but the people who play them consider the challenge worth it for how rewarding the game is when they do overcome its challenges.

@BlameGamer: You're not missing anything. That's the game. It's a Roguelike game. I suggest you give it another shot, it's actually a great game, in my opinion. And as games of this genre goes, it ain't too hard.

I think you missed the point of the game entirely. Everything you just meantioned is intentional.

@Gamer_152: Not at all I like roguelikes. I'm a huge dungeons of dredmore fan.

I've played about 40 hours of Binding of Isaac. The difficulty curve is steep, but you just have to get used to the mechanics of the game, the patterns of the enemies, etc. The more you play the better you get, the more useful items you unlock, etc. It requires a bit of dedication but it's a great game. It also has a really cheap expansion pack coming out that just about doubles the amount of content.

@BlameGamer: Dungeons of Dredmor is probably even more casual than The Binding of Isaac. If you like Nethack or Dwarf Fortress, on the other hand...

I didn't "get it" for the first 20 hours or so. Now I'm 150 hours in. It's amazing.

Probably a silly question but are you using a controller?

You hit the nail on the head of what this game is. It's brutal and unforgiving. The challenge is to make it as far as you can with what you are able to scrounge in the environment. I think I've got 100+ hours in the game, died over 150 times and just unlocked the beat the game 10 times.

It may not be a game for you. That's all.

Well, the game does have a steep learning curve, but after the first 10/15 hours you won't have any problem beating it. I haven't played for a while and I'm sure I could beat it all on my first try.

The problem then won't be beating the game, but getting the achievements.

Still, an amazing game.

It's also meant to be taken slowly and carefully (even with frantic waves of enemies). Lots of dual stick shooters are fast, arcadey things that start fast and end just as fast. Isaac requires you to be extremely careful while still being quick on your toes with the mad number of enemies being thrown at you. It's different than the usual dual-stick mentality, and it took me a while to wrap my head around it.

And think of it more in terms of runs rather than actually winning. The game is random so you could simply be boned from the start, or you could have the run of your life. Don't worry about persistance; you'll earn items regardless. Just have a run, enjoy the thrill of however far you get, and keep playing.

Then when you actually beat it the first time, it is so, SO sweet. Until you realize you have to do it a minimum of 12 more times and with bonus levels to get all the endings. :P

For the first while, the game is pretty OK, but once you learn all the enemies, your favorite items, bosses, ect, it becomes amazing. After 100 hours I could beat it fairly consistently(comparative to the beginning anyways, sheoul is fucked up), but now wrath is fucking me up pretty bad, god this game is amazing. Also, if you enjoy roguelikes, how is losing everything an issue? It's kind of core to the style.

@Sbaitso: Because I'm used to turn based roguelikes. Not flash games like this one. I've given the game another go, still didn't click. I regret buying it. Honestly, I've played flash games that are more fun for me.