Edmund McMillen on Creating His Twisted Tabletop Game, ‘The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls’
The game designer behind ‘The Binding of Isaac’ and ‘Super Meat Boy’ talks about what he does during a creative drought.
Edmund McMillen is the dark and brilliant mind behind the indie video games The Binding of Issac, Super Meat Boy, and The End Is Nigh. “I make cute ugly things that are in perpetual pain,” he says. (The Binding of Isaac, for instance, centers on a young boy whose mother has received a message from God that she must sacrifice her son; to escape her clutches, Isaac takes refuge in his home’s monster-infested basement. Players must battle their way out of the basement, defeating various bosses and, eventually, Isaac’s mother.)
McMillen recently wrapped up a Kickstarter campaign for The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls, a tabletop version of the beloved video game, and more than 38,000 backers pledged more than $2.5 million to help bring the project to life. As the campaign headed into its final days, he joined us on Twitter to answer questions from fans and backers about how the Binding of Isaac card game came about, why he chose to launch it on Kickstarter, and what he does during phases of creative drought (hint: he doesn’t sleep very well.)
Read on for highlights, and check out the full AMA here.
How did you come up with the idea for The Binding of Isaac?
I wanted to mix a roguelike with an action-based game, much like Derek Yu did with Spelunky. I was playing a lot of Zelda and Robotron then, so I mashed them together with a touch of personal childhood trauma and religious allegory.
What excites you the most about this new project?
Working closely with my wife, friends, and family was easily the best part. Designing is fun, but digital indie games are so isolating. Making a physical multiplayer game means I’m forced into social interaction. It’s by far the most mentally healthy project I’ve ever worked on.
What’s your favorite Binding of Isaac character?
Eden is becoming one of my favorites these days, mostly due to the fact that she is so random. Every time you play as him you get a totally new experience. I wish we could have done alt hairstyles for them. [Eden is randomly generated each time a new game is started, with a different hairstyle, base stats, and starting items. Their gender is fluid.]
If there were a Binding of Isaac film being made, what writer-director team could you see doing it?
Written and directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky. Patton Oswalt could play Isaac! Or maybe Jim Norton would fit better.
Why did you want to launch this project on Kickstarter instead of just making it through Studio71 [who are publishing the game]?
Because I wanted to have fun with it. I see all of these crazy Kickstarters doing fun things and getting to add all this extra stuff [as rewards and stretch goals]. I really wanted it to be a community celebration of the game, and I wanted to make enough of a ruckus so that more fans would join in the fun.
How do you overcome phases with no inspiration or drive in game development?
If I’m not being creative, I’m not happy. If I’m not happy, sh*t gets dark fast. It’s a huge motivator for me as an artist. It’s not a healthy way to live, but I’m trying to get better. So I tend to not have phases where I don’t feel inspired, just sleepless nights with my haunted brain.
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