A monster of content and replayability, whose depth remains unmatched in the roguelike. The deliberately grimy style and difficulty put off at first, but the wealth of combinations grabs you for hundreds of hours.
Your verdict
Category
Roguelike2 players16+
Co-op
Description
An expanded version of Edmund McMillen's cult roguelike, published by Nicalis on Switch in 2017. You explore randomly generated dungeons firing tears at nightmarish creatures, picking up items that radically transform each run. A maze of items, secrets and combinations of near-bottomless depth.
The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ review
3/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Polished"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
2/5
Story
★★★★★
"Classic"
Gameplay
"Masterful"
The genius lies in the combinatorics: hundreds of items that stack and mutate into unpredictable synergies. Every run invents its own rules, and discovering that some pairing utterly breaks the game remains a joy that never wears out.
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
The addictiveness is legendary: hundreds of items, endings and unlocks keep a permanent carrot dangling. Every run promises an unseen combination, and the certainty that there's always something left to discover keeps you restarting, again, for hundreds of hours.
Difficulty
"Difficult"
Lifespan
"Massive"
The lifespan is among the most gargantuan in gaming: hundreds of characters, endings, items and challenges to unlock. You can pour hundreds of hours in without seeing the end, each unlock opening new ways to play and start over.
A gallery of nightmarish bosses drawn from religious imagery and childhood dread. Their variety is colossal, and their difficulty depends entirely on the items you've picked up: the same foe can be a formality or a flat-out execution.
Better with friends
The local co-op mode transforms the experience: one player pilots Isaac, the others tag along as satellites. Sharing the discovery of synergies and laughing together at a devastating item adds a convivial dimension to a roguelike already brilliant solo.
Is The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ still worth playing in 2026?
Nearly ten years after its original version, The Binding of Isaac remains the absolute benchmark of the roguelike, and this Afterbirth+ edition is still one of the most complete on Switch. Its influence on the whole genre is immense, and nothing has dethroned its insane item combinatorics. As roguelikes dominate the indie scene, returning to the source is more illuminating than ever. On Switch, its loop of short runs and bottomless depth make it a fathomless well for gaming on the go.
