The Legend of Bum-Bo on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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A puzzle based deck building rogue-like prequel to The Binding of Isaac... Made of cardboard!
The Legend of Bum-Bo is a rogue-lite, indie and strategy game
developed by Edmund McMillen, James Interactive and Ridiculon
and published by Edmund McMillen.
Released on November 12th 2019 is available in English only on Windows.
It has received 5,801 reviews of which 4,695 were positive and 1,106 were negative resulting in a rating of 7.9 out of 10. 😊
The game is currently priced at 14.79€ on Steam, but you can find it for less on Eneba.
The Steam community has classified The Legend of Bum-Bo into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at The Legend of Bum-Bo through various videos and screenshots.
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *: Windows 7 or later (64 bit required)
- Processor: Core 2 Duo
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Discreet video card, Shader Model 3+
- DirectX: Version 9.0
- Storage: 4 GB available space
- Sound Card: one that works
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
What if it was called the legend of Bim-Bo and he had boobs, like big ol slobber knockers, just some absolute bazookas.
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This is going to be a tough one, folks... The Binding of Isaac is easily in my top five favorite games ever; so the fact that The Legend of Bum-Bo -the game's prequel- is just painfully okay is really sad. I still recommend it (...obviously) , but I'm only barely doing so. The story is good, the visuals are cute and appealing, and I like the little tidbits of Isaac's life dropped here and there; but the actual game part is terribly generic, repetitive, and often laughably broken . Hope you don't mind potty humor, because we're gonna go down to the dump! “Bum-Bo lived in a box behind the house! Bum-Bo have trash, have his lucky coin, life good! But then monster stole his lucky coin and jumped into sewer! So of course Bum-Bo go jump down there after him to get it back! Woo hoo hoo!!” (*ahem*) yessss... that's our story. I'm crying already. So, The Legend of Bum-Bo is basically a mix between a turn-based RPG and one of those Bejeweled style match-number-of-gems-because-fun games with a heavy coating of Isaac paint. You fight evil enemies with your trash, matching the right icons around to win battles: rotten teeth do big damage, bones do little damage but can be thrown multiple times, boogers stop enemies in their tracks, poop can be used as a shield, and pee gives you an extra turn. ...this is high art. But that's not all , as there are also dozens of seemingly ordinary objects (such as a silly straw or a toothbrush) that give you superpowers! A pepper shaker knocks back the enemies in front, for instance, and covers them in boogers ; while a pet rock can be thrown at the farthest enemy and do some good damage . Sounds like good fun, yeah? yeah....... but actually nah . Isaac can be an extremely hard game, but Bum-Bo ramps up the difficulty levels to such insane degrees that it just feels unfair . Enemies are very often too fast, too powerful, and have way too much health. The playable characters are also unbalanced, with wizard Bum-Bo the Weird being surprisingly OP (the game's still hard with him, though) and fatty Bum-Bo the Stout being practically unplayable , for example. Also, the controls just aren't very good . The mouse movement is very touchy, and several times I accidentally made the wrong move and lost the run. (this is one game that would greatly benefit from having an undo button). And if you only play these matching games to watch the insane combos blow up , then... heh. this isn't for you. My biggest combo throughout my entire playtime was f o u r . I can easily see The Legend of Bum-Bo 's production values either being the reason why you want it or the reason it turns you off , because they're certainly something. It looks like the game was made by a five year old... because that's exactly what happened! In Isaac lore, the whole Bum-Bo game was made by Isaac and his father for Isaac's birthday; and they did a pretty great job! All the little characters are cut up cardboard attached to popsicle sticks, drawn with markers and crayon. The backgrounds - also cardboard - are spray-painted; with locations like a cave , and a castle , and other cool places. Many of the enemies are just drawings on paper attached to strings, and I like how even though there are some kinda disturbing monster designs , the worst of which still wasn't nearly as bad as what's present in the original Isaac , because... because Isaac hasn't gone that far yet . And then there are the little things that really sell the fact that this was homemade , like subtle paint smears, the torn notepad paper used for the cutscenes, or the fact that the backgrounds are covered in tape to keep them from falling apart . Even the lighting gives off a flashlight under covers sense, which honestly looks very pretty. The soundtrack is incredible , both the new stuff and the remixes of old Isaac tunes; and the narrator sounds like he's having the time of his life . Overall, I really can't complain! I just hope Isaac had fun making all this. Let's dive a bit deeper into the story. My favorite aspect of the game is the way it humanizes Isaac. No longer is he depicted as some headcase Make-A-Wish GoFundMe poster boy practically begging for your sympathy , he's shown as just a little kid . An immature, hyperactive little kid with a big imagination, who thinks that farts and poops are peak comedy. Sure , it was very easy to care about him in the first game, but if you took everything at face value, Isaac didn't really have any character other than he never stopped crying. And while we may not see him at his best in Bum-Bo , we at the very least see Isaac as himself. Isaac's mom and dad are also shown in less black and white than God and the devil. While the dad may love Isaac and spend a lot of time with him ( the Bum-Bo game is irrefutable evidence of that ), I don't think he's the best role model. He's a slob, often drunk, and can't save a dime to save his life ; and all his bad habits are clearly spilling on little Isaac. Mom is usually the villain of Isaac's stories , he thinks slot machines and gambling are just fun games, and I don't care what you say , I sincerely doubt Isaac knows what he's doing whenever he flips off a boss after the fight. Isaac's mom is most often shown as this heartless monster who doesn't give a darn about her son , but, like... that's not true? Yes, she doesn't really know what Isaac likes or dislikes, yes , maybe she spends too much time watching TV, and yes , she can be really scary when she raises her voice, but she's the only one providing for the family, and holding them all together. And in the end, as sad as it might be , I can see why the parents broke up. And now we go to present day . Isaac, desperate for love and attention, digs through the trash and finds the Bum-Bo game. Every night, way past his bedtime , he gets up and starts playing with the cardboard toys, trying to imitate his dad's funny voice, and pretend that the two of them are going on another adventure. Isaac's latest narrative has his dad's “lucky coin” (his sobriety token) as some kind of macguffin, an object that - if found - he genuinely believes can just somehow magically fix all of his family's problems. And whenever he hears his mom outside the door, he darts back into bed ; too scared to tell her how he really feels. It's honestly really sweet in a twisted way. really stabs the heart. There's plenty of reasons to love The Legend of Bum-Bo ; but in my experience, the actual game was not one of them. It certainly has a tale worth telling, the homemade cardboard aesthetic is wonderful , and seeing more of happy Isaac ( as rare as it might be ) is always a treat. But the game attached to all this great stuff feels like a half-baked mobile game. To give you another approach, it took me nearly 200 hours to beat The Binding of Isaac, while I beat The Legend of Bum-Bo in less than fifteen. It doesn't take a mathematician to realize that that's kinda a big difference . However, I still recommend the game not just for the good stuff, but also for saying these four beautiful words: Isaac we love you.
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Breadmund i NEED you to run bugfixes on this game i SWEAR people still play it
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steam achievements don't sync correctly, but still a genuinely fun game. If you want it, buy it on sale.
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A relatively short, well-contained puzzle roguelike that feels good to improve at. Every character's got a unique playstyle (unlike the game its based on, lol) and they all feel well balanced. Aesthetics wise, it's nice. Don't know what it is about Edmund's "flash" artstyle but it's very appealing to me, especially when paired with the cardboard arts-and-crafts theme. The music's good as well, though I wish there was some variety. It's a love letter to Isaac fans, one I wish I hadn't put off playing for so long. It really isn't as bad as a lot of people made it out to be, I thought it was pretty good. (I recommend installing the Windfall mod, it improves the ui and fixes a lot of bugs.)
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Frequently Asked Questions
The Legend of Bum-Bo is currently priced at 14.79€ on Steam.
The Legend of Bum-Bo is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 14.79€ on Steam.
The Legend of Bum-Bo received 4,695 positive votes out of a total of 5,801 achieving a rating of 7.87.
😊
The Legend of Bum-Bo was developed by Edmund McMillen, James Interactive and Ridiculon and published by Edmund McMillen.
The Legend of Bum-Bo is playable and fully supported on Windows.
The Legend of Bum-Bo is not playable on MacOS.
The Legend of Bum-Bo is not playable on Linux.
The Legend of Bum-Bo is a single-player game.
The Legend of Bum-Bo does not currently offer any DLC.
The Legend of Bum-Bo does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
The Legend of Bum-Bo does not support Steam Remote Play.
The Legend of Bum-Bo is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for The Legend of Bum-Bo.
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Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 16 October 2025 06:30 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 29 October 2025 15:30 |
| Steam price | 29 October 2025 20:27 |
| Steam reviews | 29 October 2025 05:49 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about The Legend of Bum-Bo, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about The Legend of Bum-Bo
- SteamCharts - Analysis of The Legend of Bum-Bo concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck The Legend of Bum-Bo compatibility
Game modes
Features
Online players
18
Developer
Edmund McMillen,
James Interactive,
Ridiculon
Publisher
Edmund McMillen
Release
12 Nov 2019
Platforms
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