Loading ...
Loading ...
Loading ...
Someone finally mashed up Isaac and Plants vs. Zombies, and against all odds, it's not a complete disaster. I'm as shocked as you are.
Paul
February 21, 2026
6.5
Overall Score
"I went into I.RULE expecting another mediocre fangame that would waste twenty minutes of my life, and instead found a genuinely clever genre mashup that understands both its inspirations."
Look, I've played enough fangames to know they're usually catastrophic tributes that make you wonder if the creator ever actually played the source material. So when I clicked on I.RULE expecting another crude GameMaker experiment, I was genuinely surprised to find something that understands both The Binding of Isaac AND Plants vs. Zombies at a mechanical level. DoctorHummer isn't just slapping Isaac sprites onto a tower defense template—they're translating Isaac's familiar system into PvZ's lane-based strategy, which is the kind of genre fusion I thought died in 2015 when everyone got obsessed with making everything a roguelite. Well, this IS a roguelite, but at least it earned the label. The game opens with that familiar Isaac aesthetic—the unsettling baby-horror vibe Edmund McMillen perfected—and immediately asks you to defend lanes using various familiars as your defensive units. It's weird. It shouldn't work. But my first run lasted forty minutes because I kept saying 'just one more wave.'
The core concept is smarter than it has any right to be. You're placing Isaac familiars—those little orbital companions from the original game—into lanes to fight approaching monsters. Each familiar has unique abilities: some shoot tears, some block, some do area damage. It's PvZ's sun economy replaced with Isaac's coin system, and the roguelite structure means each run gives you different familiar options and upgrades. Where this gets interesting is the boss fights, which force you to adapt your lane setup on the fly. The problem? It's 'deep alpha,' which is developer-speak for 'I've implemented the good idea but there's not much here yet.' After a few runs, you've seen most of the familiar types and enemy patterns. The strategic depth is there—I found myself genuinely planning defensive synergies—but the content pool is shallow enough that the novelty wears off faster than I'd like. Still, what's here actually works, and that alone puts it ahead of 90% of itch.io strategy games that can't even nail basic tower placement.
Here's where I have to give DoctorHummer credit for knowing their limitations. Instead of trying to create original music and failing miserably like most solo devs, they used Ridiculon's Isaac soundtrack and Nicolas Mayer's tracks. Result? The game sounds GOOD. That haunting, biblical-horror atmosphere is intact. The visuals are a mix of original sprites and borrowed Isaac assets, and while purists might complain about asset reuse, I'll take authentic Isaac aesthetics over amateur pixel art any day. The familiar animations are clean, the effects are readable, and the UI—while basic—does its job without making me want to throw my mouse. My only real complaint is that some custom sprites don't quite match Isaac's art style, creating occasional visual inconsistency. But for a one-person alpha project? I've seen far worse. The borrowed Ridiculon soundtrack does more heavy lifting than the developer probably realizes—those tracks make even mundane waves feel ominous.
Let's be clear: this is an alpha, and it feels like one. There's not enough content for long-term engagement. No endless mode, limited challenges, and once you've seen the boss roster, the surprise factor evaporates. The roguelite elements need more depth—more familiars, more upgrades, more bizarre synergies that make you say 'wait, THAT works?' The balance is also rough; some familiars feel mandatory while others are dead weight, and figuring out which is which feels more like trial-and-error than strategic choice. But here's the thing: DoctorHummer is upfront about all this. They literally call it 'deep alpha' and promise more content updates. That transparency matters. I'm not angry about thin content when the developer admits it's unfinished. What infuriates me is Early Access games that charge $15 and pretend they're complete. This is free, honest about its state, and shows genuine understanding of what makes both source games work. That earns patience.
This is where I.RULE actually impresses me. It's not just cosplaying as Isaac—it understands WHY Isaac's familiar system works (diverse abilities, interesting synergies, risk-reward placement) and translates that into tower defense logic. The bosses feel like Isaac bosses, with pattern-based attacks that require you to adjust your defense mid-fight. The PvZ influence is equally respectful: lane management matters, resource economy creates tension, and wave composition forces adaptation. I've seen too many fangames that just copy surface-level aesthetics without grasping the underlying design. DoctorHummer clearly loves both source games enough to study what makes them tick. My only concern is whether this can legally exist long-term—it's using Isaac assets and music pretty liberally. But as a free passion project and portfolio piece? It demonstrates more game design literacy than half the 'professional' indie games I review. Edmund McMillen probably won't endorse it, but he probably won't hate it either.
Against my better judgment, I have to admit this fangame succeeds at its core premise. The genre fusion works. The moment-to-moment decisions—which familiar to place, where to position it, when to save resources for a better unit—create genuine strategic tension. Boss fights are legitimately challenging without feeling cheap, which is rarer than you'd think in tower defense games. The fact that it's free and upfront about being incomplete means I can't throw my usual 'why am I paying for this unfinished mess' tantrum. And most importantly, it made me want to keep playing despite knowing the content was limited. That's the mark of solid core design. When an alpha fangame keeps me engaged longer than polished commercial releases, something's working. DoctorHummer has proven they understand game feel and mechanical depth. If they keep updating this with more familiars, enemies, challenges, and synergies, I.RULE could become genuinely great. Right now it's a promising proof of concept that's more fun than it should be.
Quality
6
For a deep alpha fangame made by one person, it's surprisingly functional, though you can feel the duct tape holding it together.
Innovation
7
Merging Isaac familiars with PvZ lane defense is genuinely clever—I haven't seen this exact combination before, which is saying something in 2024.
Value
8
It's free, it works, and it's a love letter to two games I actually respect—that's better value than most $20 Early Access garbage I've reviewed lately.
Gameplay
6
The core loop kept me playing longer than I planned, but the shallow content means you've seen everything after an hour or two.
Audio/Visual
7
Borrowed Ridiculon tracks and Isaac sprites give it authentic atmosphere, and honestly, borrowing from the best is smarter than most amateur composers' efforts.
Replayability
5
Roguelite elements promise variety, but 'deep alpha' means you'll exhaust the content pool fast—come back in six months.
What Didn't Annoy Me
Genre fusion actually makes sense mechanically instead of being a gimmicky mess
Free and transparent about alpha status, which is more honesty than most Early Access scams provide
Respects both source games deeply enough to translate their core mechanics rather than just copying aesthetics
Boss fights require actual adaptation and strategy, not just spamming your strongest unit
Ridiculon soundtrack makes everything feel more epic than a fangame deserves
Shows genuine game design understanding that most itch.io projects completely lack
What Made Me Sigh
Limited content means you've exhausted novelty after an hour or two of play
Some familiars feel useless while others are mandatory, killing strategic variety
Visual inconsistency between custom sprites and borrowed Isaac assets occasionally breaks immersion
Roguelite elements need more depth—not enough weird synergies or build variety yet
Legal gray area with asset usage might make this disappear someday
Final Verdict
I went into I.RULE expecting another mediocre fangame that would waste twenty minutes of my life, and instead found a genuinely clever genre mashup that understands both its inspirations. Yes, it's thin on content. Yes, it's obviously unfinished. But DoctorHummer has nailed the hardest part—the core design actually works, and it's fun enough to make me wish there was more of it. For a free alpha passion project, that's a legitimate achievement. Most tower defense games bore me by wave three; this one kept me strategizing through multiple runs despite knowing I'd seen most of the content. If you love Isaac, respect PvZ's design legacy, or just want to see what smart genre fusion looks like, download this. Just manage your expectations—it's an alpha, and it plays like one. But it's a GOOD alpha, which is rare enough to warrant attention. Come back in six months when there's more content, and this could easily be great. For now, it's a solid 6.5 that earns genuine respect for actually understanding game design. I'm watching this one.
I.RULE
Genre
Strategy
Developer
DoctorHummer
Platform
Windows
Release Date
Jan 1, 2024
Rating
6.5
/10
Tags
Someone finally mashed up Isaac and Plants vs. Zombies, and against all odds, it's not a complete disaster. I'm as shocked as you are.
Paul
February 21, 2026
6.5
Overall Score
"I went into I.RULE expecting another mediocre fangame that would waste twenty minutes of my life, and instead found a genuinely clever genre mashup that understands both its inspirations."
Look, I've played enough fangames to know they're usually catastrophic tributes that make you wonder if the creator ever actually played the source material. So when I clicked on I.RULE expecting another crude GameMaker experiment, I was genuinely surprised to find something that understands both The Binding of Isaac AND Plants vs. Zombies at a mechanical level. DoctorHummer isn't just slapping Isaac sprites onto a tower defense template—they're translating Isaac's familiar system into PvZ's lane-based strategy, which is the kind of genre fusion I thought died in 2015 when everyone got obsessed with making everything a roguelite. Well, this IS a roguelite, but at least it earned the label. The game opens with that familiar Isaac aesthetic—the unsettling baby-horror vibe Edmund McMillen perfected—and immediately asks you to defend lanes using various familiars as your defensive units. It's weird. It shouldn't work. But my first run lasted forty minutes because I kept saying 'just one more wave.'
The core concept is smarter than it has any right to be. You're placing Isaac familiars—those little orbital companions from the original game—into lanes to fight approaching monsters. Each familiar has unique abilities: some shoot tears, some block, some do area damage. It's PvZ's sun economy replaced with Isaac's coin system, and the roguelite structure means each run gives you different familiar options and upgrades. Where this gets interesting is the boss fights, which force you to adapt your lane setup on the fly. The problem? It's 'deep alpha,' which is developer-speak for 'I've implemented the good idea but there's not much here yet.' After a few runs, you've seen most of the familiar types and enemy patterns. The strategic depth is there—I found myself genuinely planning defensive synergies—but the content pool is shallow enough that the novelty wears off faster than I'd like. Still, what's here actually works, and that alone puts it ahead of 90% of itch.io strategy games that can't even nail basic tower placement.
Here's where I have to give DoctorHummer credit for knowing their limitations. Instead of trying to create original music and failing miserably like most solo devs, they used Ridiculon's Isaac soundtrack and Nicolas Mayer's tracks. Result? The game sounds GOOD. That haunting, biblical-horror atmosphere is intact. The visuals are a mix of original sprites and borrowed Isaac assets, and while purists might complain about asset reuse, I'll take authentic Isaac aesthetics over amateur pixel art any day. The familiar animations are clean, the effects are readable, and the UI—while basic—does its job without making me want to throw my mouse. My only real complaint is that some custom sprites don't quite match Isaac's art style, creating occasional visual inconsistency. But for a one-person alpha project? I've seen far worse. The borrowed Ridiculon soundtrack does more heavy lifting than the developer probably realizes—those tracks make even mundane waves feel ominous.
Let's be clear: this is an alpha, and it feels like one. There's not enough content for long-term engagement. No endless mode, limited challenges, and once you've seen the boss roster, the surprise factor evaporates. The roguelite elements need more depth—more familiars, more upgrades, more bizarre synergies that make you say 'wait, THAT works?' The balance is also rough; some familiars feel mandatory while others are dead weight, and figuring out which is which feels more like trial-and-error than strategic choice. But here's the thing: DoctorHummer is upfront about all this. They literally call it 'deep alpha' and promise more content updates. That transparency matters. I'm not angry about thin content when the developer admits it's unfinished. What infuriates me is Early Access games that charge $15 and pretend they're complete. This is free, honest about its state, and shows genuine understanding of what makes both source games work. That earns patience.
This is where I.RULE actually impresses me. It's not just cosplaying as Isaac—it understands WHY Isaac's familiar system works (diverse abilities, interesting synergies, risk-reward placement) and translates that into tower defense logic. The bosses feel like Isaac bosses, with pattern-based attacks that require you to adjust your defense mid-fight. The PvZ influence is equally respectful: lane management matters, resource economy creates tension, and wave composition forces adaptation. I've seen too many fangames that just copy surface-level aesthetics without grasping the underlying design. DoctorHummer clearly loves both source games enough to study what makes them tick. My only concern is whether this can legally exist long-term—it's using Isaac assets and music pretty liberally. But as a free passion project and portfolio piece? It demonstrates more game design literacy than half the 'professional' indie games I review. Edmund McMillen probably won't endorse it, but he probably won't hate it either.
Against my better judgment, I have to admit this fangame succeeds at its core premise. The genre fusion works. The moment-to-moment decisions—which familiar to place, where to position it, when to save resources for a better unit—create genuine strategic tension. Boss fights are legitimately challenging without feeling cheap, which is rarer than you'd think in tower defense games. The fact that it's free and upfront about being incomplete means I can't throw my usual 'why am I paying for this unfinished mess' tantrum. And most importantly, it made me want to keep playing despite knowing the content was limited. That's the mark of solid core design. When an alpha fangame keeps me engaged longer than polished commercial releases, something's working. DoctorHummer has proven they understand game feel and mechanical depth. If they keep updating this with more familiars, enemies, challenges, and synergies, I.RULE could become genuinely great. Right now it's a promising proof of concept that's more fun than it should be.
Quality
6
For a deep alpha fangame made by one person, it's surprisingly functional, though you can feel the duct tape holding it together.
Innovation
7
Merging Isaac familiars with PvZ lane defense is genuinely clever—I haven't seen this exact combination before, which is saying something in 2024.
Value
8
It's free, it works, and it's a love letter to two games I actually respect—that's better value than most $20 Early Access garbage I've reviewed lately.
Gameplay
6
The core loop kept me playing longer than I planned, but the shallow content means you've seen everything after an hour or two.
Audio/Visual
7
Borrowed Ridiculon tracks and Isaac sprites give it authentic atmosphere, and honestly, borrowing from the best is smarter than most amateur composers' efforts.
Replayability
5
Roguelite elements promise variety, but 'deep alpha' means you'll exhaust the content pool fast—come back in six months.
What Didn't Annoy Me
Genre fusion actually makes sense mechanically instead of being a gimmicky mess
Free and transparent about alpha status, which is more honesty than most Early Access scams provide
Respects both source games deeply enough to translate their core mechanics rather than just copying aesthetics
Boss fights require actual adaptation and strategy, not just spamming your strongest unit
Ridiculon soundtrack makes everything feel more epic than a fangame deserves
Shows genuine game design understanding that most itch.io projects completely lack
What Made Me Sigh
Limited content means you've exhausted novelty after an hour or two of play
Some familiars feel useless while others are mandatory, killing strategic variety
Visual inconsistency between custom sprites and borrowed Isaac assets occasionally breaks immersion
Roguelite elements need more depth—not enough weird synergies or build variety yet
Legal gray area with asset usage might make this disappear someday
Final Verdict
I went into I.RULE expecting another mediocre fangame that would waste twenty minutes of my life, and instead found a genuinely clever genre mashup that understands both its inspirations. Yes, it's thin on content. Yes, it's obviously unfinished. But DoctorHummer has nailed the hardest part—the core design actually works, and it's fun enough to make me wish there was more of it. For a free alpha passion project, that's a legitimate achievement. Most tower defense games bore me by wave three; this one kept me strategizing through multiple runs despite knowing I'd seen most of the content. If you love Isaac, respect PvZ's design legacy, or just want to see what smart genre fusion looks like, download this. Just manage your expectations—it's an alpha, and it plays like one. But it's a GOOD alpha, which is rare enough to warrant attention. Come back in six months when there's more content, and this could easily be great. For now, it's a solid 6.5 that earns genuine respect for actually understanding game design. I'm watching this one.
I.RULE
Genre
Strategy
Developer
DoctorHummer
Platform
Windows
Release Date
Jan 1, 2024
Rating
6.5
/10
Tags