How Deep does the Basement Go?

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Issac who lived happily with his mother who spent all her time watching religious television programs. One day, while watching her programs, she heard the voice of God (or, most likely having an episode of Schizophrenia, that's what she thought she heard) that told her that her son was evil and had to be punished, so she locked him away in his room, never to come out. The next day she heard the voice again, Issac was still evil, so she took all his toys and left him with an empty room. Issac didn't understand why, but he knew there was something very wrong with his mother. On the third day, his mother heard the voice again, telling her that the only way to cleanse him was to sacrifice him, so she went to the kitchen and took a carving knife. Issac, peeking through the keyhole in his room, saw her coming and panicked, desperately searching for a way out. he discovered a trap door leading to the basement under a rug. Not knowing what was down there in the dark, but more afraid of his mother turning the key in the lock of his door, he jumped down into the darkness.

The Binding of Issac is definitely one of the more disturbing games, but that's what makes it fun to play. Everything is warped and wrong in so many kinds of ways that you can't help but feel an ominous presence hang over you while you guide Issac through the dark depths. Enemies are horrible, disfigured creatures and the dozen or so bosses are some of the most gruesome and horrid creature you'll ever see.

Issac himself is not defenceless; he shoots his tears as projectile weapons while dodging the ranged and melee attacks from enemies. Issac can't defend himself, so you have to avoid getting hit by the blood globs and touching any enemies. There are, however, literally dozens of items that Issac can find throughout the basement; each one gives him a stat boost or a new power entirely. Unfortunately, each one usually represents itself on Issac in some bizarre or gruesome way, and when they start to stack it will transform Issac into an equally disfigured character compared to the rest of the denizens of the basement.

There are also other items that require activation that you'll be able to collect and hang on to until you need them. Issac can carry one type of pill which gives a randomised effect, but they’re not always good. Tarot cards can be found and give a specific effect, but you’ll have to learn for yourself what each one does by using it. Finally, you can carry one useable item that can be used repeatedly but must recharge between rooms. These items are usually the most powerful in the game, but the more powerful it is, the longer it takes to recharge.

The best thing about The Binding of Issac is that each playthrough is completely randomised and you can (usually) complete a playthrough in half an hour, unless you did well enough and manage to get access to Sheol and attempt to defeat Satan himself; good luck with that. I only managed to get that far once and the game completely crushed me like a snail. This game is brutal and unforgiving; only quick fingers, quick thinking and a little bit of luck will get you anywhere near the big final bosses. And there is so much more to do within the game by unlocking special characters, even more items and then there are the special challenges to complete.

The Binding of Issac is completely wrong and disturbing on many, many levels. I won't deny that some may be dubious about its content. I was a bit uncomfortable with some elements myself, but they are never the focus of the game, usually simple items that you are free to ignore. With that said, most of the game makes you feel uncomfortable regardless, even with "Questionable religious content" (Nintendo's response on a possible 3DS version) aside.

With the sheer randomness, the massive content of items, enemies and rooms you’ll find, make playing each time like playing a whole different game

The Binding of Issac: Rebirth is an upcoming re-production of the original game to switch the platform from Flash to a more stable engine that will fix several bug that could not be fixed on the Flash platform. It will also feature co-op support, and add even more items and enemies to the colossal stack. It will be coming to PS4, Vita and Steam sometime in 2014.

Art by Blckwht (http://blckwht.deviantart.com/)

A Card in the Hand

Dungeons and monsters and loot, oh my! Don’t forget the precious loot. You can have all this and more in Blue Manchu’s great interpretation of the Dungeons and Dragons formula with Card Hunter.

So far I have slain only a few Kobolds and am still a mere pipsqueak compared to the great Heroes of Legend, but this flash game is more than mere skull bashing. It puts far more emphasis on strategy with a card-based system forcing you to plan your actions carefully for the best results.

Characters have action cards which you play to have them perform said action, and you draw a new set after the end of each combat round, which occurs when both sides of the combat pass their turn because they’ve got no cards left. What you get is random, you might not draw any movement cards leaving you stuck in a possibly bad position. Do you use your weak attack cards to flush out their defence cards or try to finish them off quickly? Has your ranged Spellcaster ended up in melee combat, perhaps your Priest has a handy card to shift them away? It will take clever use of your actions to keep your party members alive, especially during the harder battles, but the whole system is very well fleshed out, letting luck only determine your options, rather than your actions.

The whole premise is made even more fantastic with a cardboard-cutout style design, making it feel very much like a tabletop game. It comes loaded with effects, despite its flat appearance and so far I’ve found the levelling up characters to be both sensible while allowing a great deal of customisation for your personal tastes.

You can play Card Hunter for free, only account registration is required, here. There also isn’t much in the way of gimmicks yet (ie, microtransactions or advertisements), but they are there, but not imposing, which is nice.