jdodson: I might have some time to check this out on my phone Gary. Ill be at the Global Game Jam, but may have a bit to watch your tears! Love your Isaac runs.

jdodson: Wow Gary that was fantastic, that really helps me understand the depth of the game and some basic strategy that I didn't quite get by "armchairing" Isaac.

Watching this game is hella awesome but I realize how far I have to go to actually beat it in a run as it gets REALLY hard later on. Awesome though, looks fun.

jdodson: I just wanted to say again, more of these please :D

Gary_Butterfield: Thanks, Jon! I think I might be addicted. I recorded another one tonight. Upload happening right now!

jdodson: Awesome, the public demands more Issac. And by public I mean me.... But I mean you pumped over 300 hrs into this game and it shows.

Personally I am interested in a bad Isaac run and if you can complete it.

Gary_Butterfield: I'm going to put one up each friday, I think, til I get sick of it. Stay tuned!

jdodson: I think that's a good idea. Haven't seen the newes yet but it looked like it was another good run.

Here's to a bad one for the cameras!

jdodson: Just made two Isaac runs. Nowhere as beefy as you were by floor 3. That and floor 3 stopped me each time. Used your strats to find the secret rooms and bombs blowing two spaces. Helps quite a bit, way more powerful that I was starting Isaac totally fresh.

That said, I unlocked Magdeline and she seems not as good as Isaac. Recommend?

Gary_Butterfield: If you find yourself taking a lot of damage, Maggie can be really helpful until you unlock Cain. Try Maggie a few times. More health, as much damage, yum heart. The only disadvantage is she's slower but speed upgrades are plentiful.

jdodson: I have noticed speed upgrades are pretty plentiful. I dig Issac because he is Isaac but I find I really do appreciate the speed boost to start. Ill incorporate her more into my play though.

Gary_Butterfield: Cain is sort of by the books next steps. Cain is a straight upgrade in every way other than starting with only 2 health, which you can make up quickly. The other Maggie strategy is to liberally make deals with the devil. 4 hearts can make a huge difference there. An early brimstone can make or break your run.

jdodson: Awesome, thanks Gary.

Travis: Oh hey, I didn't know he did both of those. I should have guessed based on the art though.

jdodson: Right. He is pretty busy right now. Isaac remake, Mew-Genics, Meat Boy Mobile and something else... But I don't rightly remember right now.

Gary_Butterfield: Get out of my dreams and into my car! My only misgiving is the no online multiplayer. Anyone on the Watch Out For Fireballs steam group knows I have put a whopping 350 fucking hours into isaac. Now, maybe 50 of this is idle time but this remains my go to comfort game.

New Isaac is very, very good news for me.

jdodson: Have you done a lets play with Isaac? 350 hours means you must be good at it and id like to see someone awesome play that game because its all real life tears when I play it.

Looking forward to this version.

Gary_Butterfield: I hate to brag but I'm actually awesome at it. The problem is my let's play software thing needs a program to export in direct x to work.

Gary_Butterfield: I really wanted to do a one-off let's play/beginners guide for it. It's been done to death but I've personally given out like 10 copies of that game.

Gary_Butterfield: What do you use for Let's Plays? Wanna send me a email?

jdodson: I will.

beansmyname: This is awesome news. The flash version runs horribly for me on almost every machine I've tried it on. In fact, the Linux port from the Humble Bundle runs worse. Fullscreen's not an option, so maybe this rebirth will allow me to finally finish the game.

jdodson: Yeah, it seems like Rebirth is written in something non Flash to help out there.

AutumnCat: Minecraft! (duh)

Tungsten: Tribes

Adym: Pong.

jdodson: Pong. Awesome. Missile Command is pretty good too. Seriously though it is :)

Adym: Missile Command was great!

jdodson: One Of my Atari 2600 favorites.

Tungsten: Pole Position

Gary_Butterfield: This is some thread necromancy but I will generally take any opportunity to evangelize my GOTY. Roguelikes work in an iterative fashion rather than linear, right? You get a little further each time and the way you make "progress" is through player knowledge. That's not strictly true in Isaac where you also unlock new items in play but it's the main form of progress. You get better as you get further as you get better as you get further. Unlocking new characters is actually a really sly way of handling a difficulty curve. Maggie is the easy mode for when you're starting and later, that becomes Cain (try to get 55 coins without spending any in one run). This then unlocks the challenge characters and eventually, through an unlock, Isaac becomes the most powerful character in the game. I'll have a more cogent examination of what I think makes this special in my own post at some point but I would urge anyone turned off by the difficulty to power through. When it clicks, it clicks hard (I have hundreds of hours logged on this game).

Tungsten: I still pick it up now and then. It's still fun and horribly frustrating.

jdodson: I come back to this off and on. It's fun and I get a little father each time... But wow... It's hard :D

Tungsten: I think I got to mom just for the first time the other day. She kicked the crap out of me.

burn: "I don't like games that are very hard"

awww

jdodson: Yeah, its the punishing nature of some kinds of games. I dig games that offer a fun challenge, but these days I am looking for a rad awesome time, not getting my ass kicked over and over again :)

Tungsten: Steam says I've only played this game for 5 hours, but it feels like much more. I guess it kind of leaves you on edge. I like how when you are down to one heart you piddle on the floor every time you walk into a room.

It's pretty fun though, and every once in a while I'll pick it up for 15 minutes and then get extremely frustrated and rage quit.

jdodson: I hear you on the Rage quit. And the time does fly by when you play it.

I didn't notice the piddle, interesting find.

I found the binding of issac wiki helpful in understanding what all the items did as there are so many and the effects are so varied.