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Oh Poo

Fans of roguelikes owe something of a debt to Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl. The Binding of Isaac, their 2011 indie masterpiece helped to revitalize the ailing genre. It will no doubt be remembered as a prime example of interactive storytelling. The dark and more than a little gross story now continues (or begins?) with The Legend of Bum-Bo.

A prequel to The Binding of Isaac, The Legend of Bum-Bo follows the titular character as he explores the sewers searching for his stolen coin. Bum-Bo, or Bumbo, originally appeared in The Binging of Isaac: Afterbirth. After finding him, Bumbo would follow Isaac around, picking up nearby coins. This allowed him to level up, transforming into an increasingly monstrous, and very useful, familiar. Also, his name is short for “Bum Rambo.” So, there is that.

The Legend of Bum-Bo will seem both familiar and very different to fans of The Binding of Isaac. A “deck-building roguelike,” players will need to collect and combine more than 100 items to progress through the puzzle-based combat. The game also boasts over eighty unique trinkets, thirty enemies, and more than four playable Bum-Bos. Add to that some gross but cute bosses, animated cutscenes, and a soundtrack by Ridiculon. If nothing else The Legend of Bum-Bo stays true to the spirit of its predecessor.

Also, there is poop. Edmund McMillen really wants you to know that there is a lot of poop in his game. The Legend of Bum-Bo debuted out on PC last year and is out now for Android and IOS. The game is currently available on Google Play for $14.99. That makes it expensive for a mobile title, although the PC and console versions have a similar price. And keep an eye out for our upcoming review of this scatological puzzler.