Cards and Runes
Pickups |
Hearts | Coins | Bombs | Keys | Batteries | Pills | Cards/Runes | Chests | ![]() |
Cards and runes are usable items with a wide variety of effects. They take up the same slot as pills.
Runes and special cards are unlocked by completing challenges.
Cards
Major Arcana Cards
When on the ground, these cards look like:
Name | ID | Icon | Message | Effect |
---|---|---|---|---|
0 - The Fool | 1 | ![]() |
Where journey begins | Teleports Isaac back to the starting room of a floor. |
I - The Magician | 2 | ![]() |
May you never miss your goal | Grants homing tears for the current room. |
II - The High Priestess | 3 | ![]() |
Mother is watching you | Mom's dismembered leg is called down to deal 300 damage to anything it stomps. It will always stomp on the enemy with the most health. If used in an empty room or during the fight with Mom, it will stomp Isaac instead. |
III - The Empress | 4 | ![]() |
May your rage bring power | Triggers the ![]() |
IV - The Emperor | 5 | ![]() |
Challenge me! | Teleports Isaac into the Boss Room of a floor. |
V - The Hierophant | 6 | ![]() |
Two prayers for the lost | Spawns 2 Soul Hearts. |
VI - The Lovers | 7 | ![]() |
May you prosper and be in good health | Spawns 2 Red Hearts. If used in a Black Heart or Eternal Heart-containing Super Secret Room, it will spawn those types of hearts instead. |
VII - The Chariot | 8 | ![]() |
May nothing stand before you | Grants the temporary invulnerability effect of ![]() |
VIII - Justice | 9 | ![]() |
May your future become balanced | Spawns one of each consumable drop (a Red Heart, a Key, a Bomb, and a Penny). Hearts have a chance to spawn as either a Half Red Heart or a Double Heart. |
IX - The Hermit | 10 | ![]() |
May you see what life has to offer | Teleports Isaac to the Shop. If there is no Shop, this will act as a random teleport. If the Shop has not yet been accessed, this card will unlock the door without requiring a key (as long as the player exits through the main entrance). |
X - Wheel of Fortune | 11 | ![]() |
Spin the wheel of destiny | Spawns an Arcade machine (Slot Machine or Fortune Telling Machine). |
XI - Strength | 12 | ![]() |
May your power bring rage | Grants the effect of ![]() |
XII - The Hanged Man | 13 | ![]() |
May you find enlightenment | Removes Isaac's body, allowing him to fly around for the duration of the room (same effect as ![]() |
XIII - Death | 14 | ![]() |
Lay waste to all that oppose you | Deals 40 damage to all enemies in the room (same effect as ![]() |
XIV - Temperance | 15 | ![]() |
May you be pure in heart | Spawns a Blood Donation Machine.![]() |
XV - The Devil | 16 | ![]() |
Revel in the power of darkness | Grants Isaac a temporary +2 increase to damage for the current room (same effect as ![]() |
XVI - The Tower | 17 | ![]() |
Destruction brings creation | Spawns 6 Troll Bombs randomly around the room (same effect as the ![]() |
XVII - The Stars | 18 | ![]() |
May you find what you desire | Teleports Isaac to the Treasure Room. If there is no Treasure Room, this will act as a random teleport. Randomly chooses a Treasure Room on Curse of the Labyrinth. If the Treasure Room has not yet been accessed, this card will unlock the door without requiring a key (as long as the player exits through the main entrance). |
XVIII - The Moon | 19 | ![]() |
May you find all you have lost | Teleports the player to the Secret Room. This card will open one random wall once inside the Secret Room, so you can leave even if you don't have any bombs available. |
XIX - The Sun | 20 | ![]() |
May the light heal and enlighten you | Restores Isaac's full health, deals 100 damage to all enemies in the room, and reveals the map for the current floor, except the Super Secret Room. |
XX - Judgement | 21 | ![]() |
Judge lest ye be judged | Spawns a Beggar. |
XXI - The World | 22 | ![]() |
Open your eyes and see | Reveals the entire floor, except for the Super Secret Room. Has no effect if under the effect of Curse of the Lost or Amnesia. |
Playing Cards
When on the ground, these cards look like:
Name | ID | Icon | Message | Effect |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 of Clubs | 23 | ![]() |
Item multiplier | Doubles your bombs. If you have no bombs, gives you 2 instead. |
2 of Diamonds | 24 | ![]() |
Item multiplier | Doubles your coins. If you have no coins, gives you 2 instead. |
2 of Spades | 25 | ![]() |
Item multiplier | Doubles your keys. If you have no keys, gives you 2 instead. |
2 of Hearts | 26 | ![]() |
Item multiplier | Doubles Isaac's current number of Red Hearts. Does not affect Eternal Hearts, Soul Hearts, or Black Hearts. Doesn't add new Red Heart containers, just fills empty ones. |
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27 | ![]() |
Convert all | Turns all pickups and chests in the room into Bombs. |
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28 | ![]() |
Convert all | Turns all pickups and chests in the room into Pennies. |
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29 | ![]() |
Convert all | Turns all pickups and chests in the room into Keys. |
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30 | ![]() |
Convert all | Turns all pickups and chests in the room into random heart pickups. |
Joker | 31 | ![]() |
??? | Teleports you to the Devil Room or Angel Room. |
Special Cards
Magic: The Gathering Card Backs
When on the ground, these cards look like:
Name | ID | Icon | Message | Effect |
---|---|---|---|---|
Chaos Card | 42 | ![]() |
??? | Throws the card to kill anything in its path. Opens normal doors. |
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52 | ![]() |
Become immense! | Makes Isaac large for the current room, increasing his range and damage. |
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53 | ![]() |
Draw 3 cards | Spawns 3 random cards. |
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54 | ![]() |
Savor the moment | For the current room, enemies are slowed, Isaac's speed is increased, and his shot speed is decreased. |
Credit Card Backs
When on the ground, this card looks like:
Name | ID | Icon | Message | Effect |
---|---|---|---|---|
Credit Card | 43 | ![]() |
Charge it! | Converts all items in the Shop or Devil Room into pickups or items on pedestals, allowing them to be picked up for free. |
Playing Card Backs
When on the ground, these cards look like:
Name | ID | Icon | Message | Effect |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rules Card | 44 | ![]() |
??? | Displays a cryptic statement on the screen, similar to a Fortune Teller. These messages (often) provide hints on bosses, bonus areas, etc. |
Suicide King | 46 | ![]() |
A true ending? | Kills Isaac and spawns lots of pickups, items, and/or chests in the same room. |
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48 | ![]() |
Double active | When used, copies the effect of Isaac's currently held activated collectible. |
Card Against Humanity Back
When on the ground, this card looks like:
Name | ID | Icon | Message | Effect |
---|---|---|---|---|
A Card Against Humanity | 45 | ![]() |
Something stinks... | Covers the entire room with poop. The process is not instant, and the room will not get filled if you leave it before it's done filling. |
Chance Card Back
When on the ground, this card looks like:
Name | ID | Icon | Message | Effect |
---|---|---|---|---|
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47 | ![]() |
Open Sesame | Upon use, opens all doors in the current room (including the golden door at The Chest / Dark Room), similar to Dad's Key. |
Holy Card Back
When on the ground, this card looks like:
Name | ID | Icon | Message | Effect |
---|---|---|---|---|
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51 | ![]() |
You feel protected | Grants the ![]() |
Runes
Left Pointing Runes
When on the ground, these runes look like:
Rune | ID | Icon | Unlock method | Message | Effect |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hagalaz | 32 | ![]() |
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Destruction | Destroys all breakable objects in the room. Does not affect Key Blocks. |
Jera | 33 | ![]() |
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Abundance | Clones all pickups and chests in a room (including Shop pickups; the clones can then be picked up for free). Cloned chests will contain exactly the same type of items: if the original contains a pickup, so will the clone; the same is true for collectibles. Cannot clone other Jera runes and trinkets. |
Ehwaz | 34 | ![]() |
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Passage | Creates a trapdoor leading to the next floor. Has an estimated 1/12 (8%) chance to spawn a door to a Crawl Space instead. |
Dagaz | 35 | ![]() |
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Purity | Removes any curses from the current floor and grants a Soul Heart. (This will not remove Curse of the Labyrinth.) |
Right Pointing Runes
When on the ground, these runes look like:
Rune | ID | Icon | Unlock method | Message | Effect |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ansuz | 36 | ![]() |
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Vision | Reveals the whole map, including the Secret Room and the Super Secret Room. |
Perthro | 37 | ![]() |
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Change | Rerolls all pedestal items in the room. (This is the same effect as The D6.) |
Berkano | 38 | ![]() |
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Companionship | Summons 3 friendly Blue Flies and 3 friendly Blue Spiders. |
Algiz | 39 | ![]() |
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Resistance | Grants a shield which lasts for 30 seconds. |
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40 | ![]() |
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??? | Grants a random rune effect (excluding the Black Rune). Has a 25% chance to spawn another Blank Rune upon use. |
Other Runes
Rune | ID | Icon | Unlock method | Message | Effect |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
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41 | ![]() |
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Void | Deals 40 damage to all enemies in the room. Consumes all pickups in the room and turns them into Blue Flies and Spiders. Consumes all pedestal items in the room and turns them into random stat upgrades. No effect on shop items. |
Other
These are items other than cards and runes (and pills) that take up the consumable slot. When on the ground, each of these items are uniquely identifiable by their respective icon.
Name | ID | Icon | Message | Effect |
---|---|---|---|---|
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49 | ![]() |
D6 + D20 | Upon use, activates the effects of The D6 and the D20 at the same time. |
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50 | ![]() |
Help from above | When used, will cause two Mom's Hands to come down and grab two random enemies. |
Notes
- The game counts runes as cards for the purposes of Starter Deck, Blank Card, and
Tarot Cloth.
Using the Blank Card with the ? Card teleports the player to the I AM ERROR room of the current floor. This consumes both the Blank Card and the ? Card.
- The Empress card's effect can be stacked with multiple uses of the same card (including uses by Blank Card), and also stacks with the Whore of Babylon.
- The damage bonus is the number of uses squared, e.g. +1.5 * 4 * 4 damage for using the card via a Blank Card, with Tarot Cloth and Car Battery equipped.
- The Devil card's effect does not stack with multiple uses, nor does it stack with The Book of Belial. It also does not increase the chance of a Devil or Angel Room appearing when used like with the Book of Belial.
- Using the Joker card in
The Womb II or
Utero II will instantly teleport the player to the Devil Room or Angel Room with a trapdoor leading to
Sheol or to the
Cathedral. This can be used to skip Mom's Heart and will not count as a kill.
After unlocking It Lives, Devil or Angel Rooms in The Womb II, Utero II, and
Scarred Womb II no longer contain trapdoors and instead have their normal contents.
- Using The Joker card can allow Isaac to encounter Devil Rooms or Angel Rooms on floors they otherwise cannot appear on.
- If you use the Strength card with only Soul, Black, or Bone Hearts left, and lose the non-Red Hearts while in the same room, you retain the full Red Heart container that Strength grants after you leave.
- The damage dealt by the foot summoned by The High Priestess counts as explosion damage. Meaning it will not damage the player when possessing
Host Hat or
Pyromaniac. It can also be effectively used as a bomb without taking damage with a timely dodge to blow up rocks or enter Secret Rooms.
- The Ace cards will also turn opened chests, which would normally disappear after leaving a room, into consumables.
- Using the Strength card as ??? will give you a permanent Soul Heart instead of a temporary one.
When Keeper has only one Coin Heart, he can use the Strength card to gain a second one which is also permanent.
- While Curse of the Maze is active, The Fool, Moon, Hermit, and Stars cards may fail and leave the player in a different room than intended. The Joker card still works normally.
- Using the Temperance card can, in rare cases, spawn the Blood Donation Machine directly on the player, forcing them to use it once. Caution should be taken when using Temperance as The Lost (or when on half a heart of health), as this will instantly kill the player regardless of the Holy Mantle.
- The Hagalaz rune will open a Secret Room, but only if it is in the bend of a L-shaped large room.
- All teleportation cards except The Fool are unavailable in Greed Mode.
Unlockable Achievements
- The Necronomicon - Use XIII - Death 4 times.
Huge Growth - Increase in size 5 times in a single run. Sources of increased size include "One Makes you Larger" pills, XI - Strength, and Magic Mushroom.
Trivia
- The runes and their names ingame are based on the Elder Futhark alphabet system and its reconstructed Proto-Germanic names. In popular culture, runes often signify that something is in some way magical.
- The Suicide King card is a nickname for the King of Hearts, referred to as such because its artwork depicts a king who seems to be sticking a sword into his own head.
The Get out of Jail Free card is a reference to a card with the same name that appears in the table game Monopoly.
- The "A Card Against Humanity" card is a reference to the card game "Cards Against Humanity".
- Ancient Recall, Era Walk, Huge Growth, and Chaos Card are all based on cards from Magic: The Gathering.
- The Chaos Card is a reference to the card "Chaos Orb", which also instantly destroys enemies that it touches.
The "Ancient Recall" card is a reference to the card "Ancestral Recall", which also draws three cards.
The "Era Walk" card is a reference to the card "Time Walk", which allows players to take an extra turn.
The "Huge Growth" card is a reference to the card "Giant Growth", which buffs creatures summoned in the game.
Many cards were given new unique back sprites in Booster Pack #5, some originating from Antibirth.
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