The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

Limited source coverage. Repentance+ tested PC crossplay between Steam and Epic through an opt-in setting. The same update added commands for muting and unmuting players in online chat.

Repentance+ launched on November 18, 2024 as free DLC for players with the required previous expansions, bringing online co-op in beta. Later changes expanded online features and adjusted items and daily runs.

• Online play: Players could use public and friend lobbies, match filters and an emote wheel, with support across game modes.
• Daily runs: Tainted characters were added to Tuesday daily runs, while lobby improvements supported online play.
• Gameplay: Key Master and Bomb Beggar gained an instant item payout option.
• Balance: Item and trinket adjustments included changes to Mom’s Knife.
• Descriptions: Defeating Mom unlocked descriptions for collectibles, consumables and trinkets.

Repentance Online Beta launched on November 29, 2023, bringing online co-op to The Binding of Isaac: Repentance. It initially offered Normal mode, with Online Matches Hard Mode and broader co-op recovery features added in the January update.

• Online multiplayer: The Repentance Online Beta enabled online co-op, supported achievements and completion marks for runs joined from the beginning, and added UI/HUD options for displaying co-op partners’ health and items. It was exclusive to Repentance rather than earlier versions.
• Co-op gameplay: Online Matches Hard Mode expanded the beta’s options, while Mom’s bed gained the ability to revive all players. Runs joined in progress still did not award achievements or completion marks.
• Co-op reliability: The beta updates corrected several multiplayer problems, including incorrect off-screen character indicators, camera movement caused by aimed attacks, pause-overlay desync, text-chat lockups, and wisps remaining after a player died. Specific fixes also addressed Book of Virtues + Mr. Me!, Lilith’s ghost baby, Easter egg menu, and pedestal-item issues.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth introduced several notable changes during its ninth year, highlighted by the addition of unique drops for Corpse polyps on November 11, 2022. This update also brought significant gameplay adjustments, including new interactions with the Book of Virtues and Judas' Birthright, and optimizations for the Breath of Life mechanic.

• Gameplay Changes:

  • New interactions were added for the Breath of Life with the Book of Virtues and Judas' Birthright when executing a perfect block.
  • The Breath of Life no longer wastes a charge if released after being fully charged by clearing a room.
  • Flying enemies were fixed to teleport to accessible positions if rerolled into non-flying enemies using the D10.
  • Sanguine Bond now spawns its spikes immediately when picked up in a Devil Room.

• Balance Adjustments:

  • The chance of Baby Plum being struck by a missile on death was reduced to 0.0001%.
  • The maximum damage dealt by Cube Baby when pushed was increased.

• Modding Enhancements:

  • Several new HUD functions were introduced, including HUD:Update(), HUD:PostUpdate(), and HUD:Render().
  • Added support for Devolution IDs to follow room layout rules for enemy rerolls.

• Visual Improvements:

  • A new death portrait for the Mausoleum door was added.

The November 10 update made C Section functional and obtainable, turning the previously unlocked item into a usable pickup. It also added Glass Eye, Stye, and Mom’s Ring to boss and chest pools, filled in missing Birthright effects, and added partial support for Japanese, Korean, Spanish, German, Russian, and Simplified Chinese.

• New items and character support: C Section received functionality, while Glass Eye, Stye, and Mom’s Ring joined the item pools. Tainted characters also received descriptions in the selection menu, and characters missing them gained Birthright effects. December fixes further resolved high-tear-rate and looping-synergy problems involving C Section.
• Tainted character mechanics:
  • Tainted Eden stopped rerolling on self-inflicted or fatal damage.
  • Tainted Azazel received a shorter beam duration unless he held Brimstone, and sneezed automatically while charging.
  • Tainted Eve’s clots dropped to the ground when recalled at full health and began with 15 HP.
  • Tainted Cain could pick up items normally in the Genesis room, while Tainted Forgotten’s soul gained Isaac’s Heart effects.
• Run variety and item interactions: Bumbino gained Dead Tooth and Monstro’s Tooth in its special drop pool; Echo Chamber was limited to copying the last three cards or pills; and D1 stopped creating exact pickup copies. Genesis, Red Redemption, and several special-room layouts also received gameplay and generation changes.
• Balance changes: Holy Mantle granted one second of invincibility, while 20/20 was adjusted to reduce Polyphemus damage appropriately. Hook Worm, Ring Worm, and Ouroboros Worm gained tears-up effects; Ipecac + Hemoptysis stopped damaging players; and Little Horn took reduced damage from his own bombs.
• Modding and presentation: Modded items without collection sprites received a placeholder, the goto command accepted default for special rooms, and Lemegeton wisps rendered correctly for modded items. The Lost’s health and Holy Mantle status became visible in the HUD, while several Tainted-character and enemy sprites were updated.

Repentance launched on March 30, 2021, bringing an expanded version of Antibirth with hundreds of gameplay, item, music, and visual changes. It also introduced Downpour, true co-op, and was confirmed as the final DLC for The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.

• Repentance content: The expansion substantially widened the playable game with new paths, characters, enemies, bosses, items, challenges, and alternate encounters.

  • Downpour added a lush alternate path with new enemies, bosses, and mechanics, while Dross expanded it with another alternate chapter.
  • Bethany brought a soul-heart-focused playstyle built around the Book of Virtues and its defensive wisps.
  • Min Min and Clog joined the boss roster, alongside enemies such as Planetoid, Slog, Bulbs, and Holy Mulligan.
  • The Spirit Sword, Divine Intervention, Dirty Mind, and Montezuma’s Revenge added new item effects and combat options.

• True co-op: Repentance introduced normal 2–4-player co-op through a character-selection screen, with Steam Remote Play supporting online sessions. Players shared coins, bombs, and keys, received boss-item sharing, and returned as weakened ghost babies after dying until the floor boss was defeated.

• Gameplay and balance: Glass Cannon was redesigned to remain usable until the player took damage, while Bethany’s Soul Charge and Book of Virtues interactions added a new resource loop. Repentance also rebalanced high-impact item combinations, buffed weaker items, made pills more valuable, restored Restock Machines, and increased Hard Mode’s shop and tinted-rock rates.

• Modding: The Lua API, EntityPlayer functions, and players.xml gained new functionality, while separate mod save data and the new mods directory reduced the risk of losing progress when updating or unsubscribing from Steam Workshop mods.

The Forgotten Update arrived on Steam on April 30, 2018 as a free booster for players who owned Afterbirth+. It expanded both the pool of rooms and the rewards players could unlock.

• Character and unlocks: The booster added a playable character and gave returning players new unlocks to pursue across runs.
• Rooms and enemies: More than 800 new rooms broadened the pool of layouts, alongside new enemies to encounter.
• Items and trinkets: The update added more pickups, widening the combinations players could find and build around.

Afterbirth+ launched on January 3, 2017, extending Rebirth with another expansion. Subsequent patches adjusted gameplay, modding and achievement requirements.

• Afterbirth+: The expansion arrived early in 2017 and provided the context for subsequent updates in this window.
• Achievements: The Dedication achievement changed to require 31 total Daily Challenges rather than 31 consecutive ones.
• Gameplay and balance: Mom’s Void Teleport became a Void Portal, while shops, libraries and Ipecac interactions received adjustments.
• Mod support: Lua sandboxing changed and resource loading began prioritizing pack files over loose files; some scripts needed updates.
• Save handling: Steam Cloud save detection was adjusted during the January patches.

Afterbirth launched on October 30, 2015, expanding Rebirth with new content. Earlier updates addressed save handling and game stability, while the soundtrack became available separately.

• Afterbirth: The expansion arrived near the end of this anniversary window, adding a major new chapter to the game’s post-launch support.
• Soundtrack: The soundtrack DLC launched on November 10, 2014, making the music available outside gameplay.
• Cloud saves: A December 2014 change saved directly to the synchronized Steam Cloud folder to reduce accidental save overwrites.
• Maintenance: The same period included balance adjustments and fixes for issues including the Linux screen saver.