The Binding of Isaac is thematic as all hell and a solid game, and I don't want to play it. If forced to squeeze it into a genre, I'd call it an unforgiving Rogue-like shooter, which I didn't really know was a thing before playing this game. It's right up my alley, and I still don't want to play it. The opening story is that of a child who has been abused by his mother because she is suffering delusions of commands from God. The game begins as she hears a final command to kill her son and goes to do so, and only the discovery of a trapdoor to the basement in his room allows the son to escape. The entire thing feels like the self-protective hallucination of a boy about to die, and it's rather depressing. Not to mention the elements that fill the hallucination-slash-gameplay that suggest just how terrible the boy's life has been.

Gameplay is good. The difficulty curve is moderate but surmountable. The knowledge curve is far steeper, with a broad range of powerups that often aren't clear about what they do for you. Part of this is the legacy of the Rogue-like, items that you have to test and experiment with to figure out what they do. Part of it is just obfuscation.

I might be able to ascend this knowledge curve with another handful of hours of play, but I don't want to. The game just doesn't suck me in enough to make that time commitment worthwhile.

The Binding of Isaac is available for $4.99 on Steam, or at the Humble Bundle storefront for $7.99 (bundled with an expansion).