Broken Shovel

Broken Shovel is a name shared by two separate items added in The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth †.

Together they form Mom's Shovel, which is used in the process to unlock The Forgotten.

Activated Collectible

The first piece of the Broken Shovel is an activated item. It is acquired by defeating the first floor boss in under a minute (both bosses if Curse of the Labyrinth is in effect), navigating back to the starting room, and bombing the floor. The Lamb must have been defeated at least once with any character for the bomb explosion to reveal Broken Shovel. After having defeated the boss below the 1 minute cutoff, using the Sacrifice Room for the first time on that floor while having no Bombs will always reward Isaac with one rather than its normal payout.

It is the first part required to create Mom's Shovel.

Effects

While held, 1–2 Mom's feet will stomp randomly every few seconds, targeting Isaac. They will try to stomp Isaac's current position, so they will always miss if he is constantly moving. Each stomp deals a full Heart of damage.
- The stomps will not blow up Slot Machines or kill Beggars. They will still destroy Shopkeepers, open Bomb Chests, break Obstacles, and open doors.
Upon activation, stomps will pause until entering another room.
- If used during the Boss Rush or in a Challenge Room / Boss Challenge Room, stomping will be paused for that wave of enemies only.
The item's stomps cease while battling Mom.
While held, removes the twenty-minute time limit on the Boss Rush door; the entrance to the next floor will be sealed until Boss Rush is completed (including those created by We Need To Go Deeper! and other methods).
- If the Boss Rush is left prematurely through any means after starting it, entering it again will immediately restart Boss Rush, even without picking up another item.
Prevents The Polaroid from appearing after defeating Mom. Only The Negative will appear after the boss fight. After completing Boss Rush, Isaac is likewise forced to travel down to Sheol.

Notes

Mom's foot will still target Isaac even if he has the Punching Bag or Lost Fly.
It is impossible to obtain Broken Shovel during a RERUN.
The Broken Shovel will disappear if left behind in a room. Leaving and re-entering a room with it left on a pedestal will cause it to disappear. If the Shovel has been knocked down but not touched, it will remain in the room.
Though it is possible to obtain the Broken Shovel during a Victory Lap, The Forgotten cannot be unlocked during a Victory Lap.
While either of Jacob and Esau holds this item, the feet will only target the brother who is holding it. The feet will still damage both of them.
Regardless of which character holds the item, feet will target both Tainted Lazarus' forms.
Mama Mega!'s explosion will knock the Broken Shovel down.
Myosotis may spawn Broken Shovel on the next floor when knocked down but not taken.

Synergies

Book of Virtues: Creates a tiny ghost wisp on the middle ring, which resembles The Soul. These wisps' tears have a 10% chance of invoking II - The High Priestess on enemies.
Car Battery: Prevents all stomping from occurring for two waves of a Boss Rush or Challenge Room / Boss Challenge Room. As each wave of Boss Rush restores 2 charges, this allows Isaac to be free from stomping for its entire duration.
- If used in a normal room, the effect does not carry over to the next room.
Moving Box: Can be used to pick up the Broken Shovel without causing Mom's Foot to stomp down at all.

Tips for Obtaining

Characters with good starting stats such as Cain, Judas, or Azazel are excellent for blazing through the first floor with time to spare.
Tainted Magdalene ability to rapidly regenerate health in almost any circumstance makes this challenge much easier, and due to how Tainted Magdalene is played, the constant i-frames generated through hugging enemies is useful for negating the full heart damage from the stomps, the stomps also acting as extra damage when fighting bosses.
Avoid wasting time for pickups, items, or any unnecessary rooms while progressing to the Boss Room. They can be returned to after clearing the rest of the floor and killing the boss.
There is no time limit on claiming the shovel, as long as the floor boss was killed within the time limit. Obtaining it can wait until Isaac is ready to move on to the next floor.
Look for items such as Host Hat to negate the stomp damage, or for damage/tear-increasing items to kill enemies quicker; conversely, when running into a mini-boss, getting Curse of the Maze or Curse of the Labyrinth, or encountering poor floor generation such as multiple large rooms and dead ends, restarting may be a better choice.
- Stomp damage can no longer be negated.
If the criteria for Broken Shovel to appear are not met and there is ambiguity as to whether it is obtainable, look for a large, faint shadow of the shovel covering the starting room; if it is not there, the Shovel cannot be obtained.
A legitimate strategy may be restarting repeatedly until one gets a godlike item, such as Tech X, The Ludovico Technique (as Azazel), or other personally preferred Quality 4s in the first room, since it really isn't very possible to think up a sufficient build on the fly as you have to focus on dodging Mom at all times.