Like Munchkin, this game gets better the more people you add as the cards in play become more plentiful. They suggest 2-4 players for Binding of Isaac, and set the age recommendation at 13+. For character damage, we generally just used the pennies since base health is 2. The pennies allow you to buy cards that power you up, and the D10 can be used to keep track of damage on a monster. You kill monsters and try to screw your opponent over as best you can to stop them. In many ways, think of this as a Munchkin style game with a few extras. The second game we played, the game came alive! We drew a better mix of cards and for the first time saw the true mechanics and possibilities the game offered. It seemed okay, but it failed to impress me. The card play came across simply and I won decisively. The game played straight forward and ended within 15 minutes. The first time I played this as a two player game, we caught on easy enough, and it’s simple enough you do not spend half the first play-through questioning everything you do. Four Souls – Game Experience and Replay Value If you miss you take the damage from the monster card. You roll the D6, and if you tie or beat the monster’s defense value you do damage equal to your current damage number. You and the monsters have a health and damage number. Collect four souls and you win the game! The battle mechanics are also incredibly simple. Killing monsters gains you treasure cards, money, and some select monsters grant you souls. Of course the various loot cards change rules and how often things can be done. The active player can choose from the following actions: play 1 loot card, purchase 1 treasure from the face up cards or top of the deck, or attack a monster. Shuffle the three decks (loot, treasure and monster), turn two of each card face up for the Treasure and Monsters, and boom! You are ready to go.
They then pick the corresponding starting item and gains 3 cents. Each player selects (or blindly draws) one of the ten hero cards. Four Souls – Set-up and Gameplayīinding of Isaac is an extremely easy game to set-up and begin playing. The cute thing about the pennies is they come wrapped in coin wrappers just like actual pennies do when you get them from the bank. For Accessories, the game also comes with a dice bag, a D6, D10 and x50 plastic pennies. This container holds everything not a card (dice, coins, etc), so the overall box design is simple yet perfect for the future. Inside you receive the game cards in a long channel built for future expansions and a small container in one end. This really means nothing other than it seemed odd, which really fits this game’s character. It’s taller than its width, so the cards stand up instead of laying sideways. The slightly different thing about the box comes from the dimensions. This is a card game, so the box is pretty simple. I have not played the video game, so this review is largely from the average gameplayer perspective.
Wikipedia entry for Binding of Isaacįor those who know anything about the game, this card game will harken back to the gameplay and stir up lots of memories, so I’ve been told. Players control Isaac or one of eleven other unlockable characters through a procedurally generated dungeon in a roguelike manner, fashioned after those of The Legend of Zelda, defeating monsters in real-time combat while collecting items and power-ups to defeat bosses and eventually Isaac’s mother. In the game, Isaac’s mother receives a message from God demanding the life of her son as proof of her faith, and Isaac, fearing for his life, flees into the monster-filled basement of their home where he must fight to survive.