12 years on, roguelike royalty The Binding of Isaac is suddenly bigger than ever

I love seeing new releases explode in popularity, and this year has been filled with such stories, from returning favorites like Slay the Spire 2 to fresh names: Meccha Chameleon, Super Battle Golf, Far Far West. There's something just as pleasing in watching a familiar face rise back up the ranks. The Binding of Isaac, not only one of the best roguelikes but among the most influential, is serving as a reminder that even 12 years on (and 15 since its original Flash release), it's every bit as good as it always was. Bolstered by a huge Steam Sale saving, Isaac has just exploded in popularity to reach all-new highs on the Valve store.

If there were a Mount Rushmore of roguelikes, The Binding of Isaac would certainly make the list. It merges Zelda-style room-by-room dungeon crawling, twin-stick shooter combat, the run-based and mystery elements of Rogue, and a signature gross-out cartoon style heavily inspired by creator Edmund McMillen's Christian upbringing. The result is a foundational entry in a genre that has since grown into one of the most popular around, particularly among indie games.

After it was rebuilt by Nicalis in a custom engine, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth continued to grow through multiple expansions. Honestly, the base game alone has enough replayability to keep you going for hundreds, if not thousands, of hours - but the option to pack even more weird and wonderful weapon and item combinations in there, along with new challenges to face, means you'll never run out of possible permutations. It's even introduced online multiplayer.

Right now, you can get The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth at a frankly ridiculous 90% discount. If you only want the base game, it'll set you back just $1.49 / £1.09. For the complete package with everything that's been added since launch, you're looking at $5.06 / £3.70. I'll stress again: the original release by itself can easily keep you going for hundreds of hours if you're a roguelike fiend.

The result of this significant saving is that The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is now pulling in more players at once than ever - substantially so, and right amid the chaos of all the other deals up for grabs in the Steam Summer Sale. In the past 24 hours, it's broken the 100,000 concurrent user mark for the first time, dramatically surpassing its previous record of 70,000 to reach a new peak of 109,557. We could see that number climb even higher if the sales continue to pull in new people.

Perhaps you missed The Binding of Isaac at the time, and are curious why it was such a key influence on the genre. Maybe you got hooked on Mewgenics, McMillen's 2026 cat-breeding tactics extravaganza, and want to see his older work. Whatever the reason, you'll struggle to find a better-value offering among the Steam sales than this one.