Cards and Runes

Pickups

• Hearts
• Coins
• Bombs
• Keys
• Batteries
• Pills
• Cards/Runes
• Chests
• Sacks

Cards and runes are single-use pickups with a wide variety of effects. They take up the same slot as pills.

Runes and special cards are unlocked by completing challenges.

In the base game, there are 32 cards and 8 runes.

• The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth adds Get out of Jail Free Card, ? Card, the Blank Rune, and two non-card consumables: Dice Shard and Emergency Contact.

• The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth † adds the Ace cards, Holy Card, and Black Rune, for a total of 39 cards and 10 runes.
  • Booster Pack#1 also added three other Magic: The Gathering cards: Huge Growth, Ancient Recall, and Era Walk.

• The Binding of Isaac: Repentance adds Reversed Major Arcana Cards, the Queen of Hearts, the Wild Card, Rune Shards, Soul Stones, as well as the Cracked Key, for a grand total of 66 cards, 28 runes and 3 other consumables.

Cards

Major Arcana Cards

When on the ground, these cards look like:

Name	ID	Icon	Message	Description
0 - The Fool	5.300.1		Where journey begins	Teleports Isaac to the starting room of the current floor.
I - The Magician	5.300.2		May you never miss your goal	Grants homing tears for the current room. Grants homing tears and +3 Range for the current room.
II - The High Priestess	5.300.3		Mother is watching you	Mom's dismembered leg stomps on the enemy with the most health, dealing 300 damage and destroying obstacles in the area. If used in an empty room or during the Mom fight, stomps Isaac instead. Isaac can move to avoid the stomp.
III - The Empress	5.300.4		May your rage bring power	Triggers the Whore of Babylon effect (+1.5 Damage, +0.3 Speed) for the current room, regardless of Isaac's total health.
IV - The Emperor	5.300.5		Challenge me!	Teleports Isaac into the Boss Room.
V - The Hierophant	5.300.6		Two prayers for the lost	Spawns 2 Soul Hearts on the ground.
VI - The Lovers	5.300.7		May you prosper and be in good health	Spawns 2 full Red Hearts on the ground.
VII - The Chariot	5.300.8		May nothing stand before you	Gives invulnerability and +0.28 speed for six seconds, removing the ability to shoot tears and replacing it with the ability to deal contact damage to enemies.
VIII - Justice	5.300.9		May your future become balanced	Drops a random type of Heart, Key, Bomb, and Coin pickup on the ground.
IX - The Hermit	5.300.10		May you see what life has to offer	Teleports Isaac to the Shop.
X - Wheel of Fortune	5.300.11		Spin the wheel of destiny	Spawns a Slot Machine or Fortune Telling Machine near Isaac. Also has a 1% chance to spawn a Crane Game.
XI - Strength	5.300.12		May your power bring rage	Grants the effects of Magic Mushroom (minus the health restoration) for one room. The added Red Heart container is not removed if doing so would kill Isaac.
XII - The Hanged Man	5.300.13		May you find enlightenment	Grants flight for the duration of the room.
XIII - Death	5.300.14		Lay waste to all that oppose you	Triggers The Necronomicon effect, dealing 40 damage to all enemies in the room.
XIV - Temperance	5.300.15		May you be pure in heart	Creates a Blood Donation Machine near Isaac. Spawns a Devil Beggar instead in Greed mode.
XV - The Devil	5.300.16		Revel in the power of darkness	Triggers The Book of Belial effect, granting +2 Damage for the current room.
XVI - The Tower	5.300.17		Destruction brings creation	Spawns 6 Troll Bombs randomly around the room.
XVII - The Stars	5.300.18		May you find what you desire	Teleports Isaac to the Treasure Room. If there is a Planetarium, teleports Isaac there instead.
XVIII - The Moon	5.300.19		May you find all you have lost	Teleports Isaac to the Secret Room.
XIX - The Sun	5.300.20		May the light heal and enlighten you	Restores Isaac to full health, deals 100 damage to all enemies in the room, and reveals the map for the current floor, except for the Super Secret Room and Ultra Secret Room. Removes Curse of Darkness for the current floor.
XX - Judgement	5.300.21		Judge lest ye be judged	Spawns a Beggar near Isaac. The beggar can sometimes be a Devil Beggar and rarely a Battery Bum, Rotten Beggar, Key Master, or Bomb Bum instead.
XXI - The World	5.300.22		Open your eyes and see	Reveals the entire floor, except for the Super Secret Room and Ultra Secret Room.

Reversed Major Arcana Cards

These cards share the same names as their counterparts (barring the question marks at the end of their names), but have the sprite upside-down, a different message, the narrator sound clip reversed, and give different effects.

When on the ground, these cards look like:

Name	ID	Icon	Unlock method	Message	Description
0 - The Fool?	5.300.56			Let go and move on	Drops all hearts, trinkets, and pickups Isaac currently possesses on the floor, leaving Isaac at half a heart. Pickups may be dropped as items such as A Quarter and Boom!.
I - The Magician?	5.300.57			May no harm come to you	Grants a repelling blue aura for one minute that strongly pushes enemies and projectiles away from Isaac.
II - The High Priestess?	5.300.58			Run	Mom's leg starts stomping down repeatedly, targeting Isaac, for one minute, like holding Broken Shovel.
III - The Empress?	5.300.59			May your love bring protection	Grants 2 temporary Red Heart Containers, +1.5 Fire Rate, and -0.1 Speed for one minute, along with Magdalene's hairstyle. The effect does not stack with itself.
IV - The Emperor?	5.300.60			May you find a worthy opponent	Teleports Isaac into an extra Boss Room from the boss pool two floors deeper than the current floor (but never a final boss). The boss will drop a reward. Exiting the room returns Isaac to where he used the card.
V - The Hierophant?	5.300.61			Two prayers for the forgotten	Spawns 2 Bone Hearts on the ground.
VI - The Lovers?	5.300.62			May your heart shatter to pieces	Creates a random item from the current room's item pool. Turns one Red Heart Container or two Soul Hearts into a Broken Heart.
VII - The Chariot?	5.300.63			May nothing walk past you	Isaac becomes an invincible statue with 4× fire rate for 10 seconds. The statue can be nudged slightly by moving and is affected by knockback.
VIII - Justice?	5.300.64			May your sins come back to torment you	Creates 2 to 4 Locked Chests near Isaac.
IX - The Hermit?	5.300.65			May you see the value of all things in life	Turns items, trinkets, and pickups in the room into coins. If there is nothing to sell, drops a Penny.
X - Wheel of Fortune?	5.300.66			Throw the dice of fate	Invokes a random Dice Room effect.
XI - Strength?	5.300.67			May you break their resolve	All enemies in the room are weakened, becoming slightly slower and taking double damage from all sources. Affected enemies also have their damage reduced to half a heart. The effect lasts up to one minute, or until the room is left.
XII - The Hanged Man?	5.300.68			May your greed know no bounds	Isaac turns visually into Keeper for 30 seconds, with triple shot and -0.1 speed. Killed enemies drop a random coin.
XIII - Death?	5.300.69			May life spring forth from the fallen	Creates a friendly Bony, Black Bony, Bone Fly, Revenant, Big Bony, or an orbital bone for each enemy killed in the current room.
XIV - Temperance?	5.300.70			May your hunger be satiated	Forces Isaac to eat 5 random pills in quick succession. Eaten pill types become identified.
XV - The Devil?	5.300.71			Bask in the light of your mercy	Invokes The Bible (which can kill Mom). Grants Flight and spawns a Seraphim familiar for 30 seconds.
XVI - The Tower?	5.300.72			Creation brings destruction	Creates 7 clusters of random rocks and other obstacles. Spawned clusters will often contain tinted rocks, with the possibility of finding more than one in the same room. The pathways between exits can't be blocked.
XVII - The Stars?	5.300.73			May your loss bring fortune	Removes Isaac's oldest passive item (ignoring starting items) and creates 2 random item pedestals from the current room's item pool. Does nothing if Isaac has no items.
XVIII - The Moon?	5.300.74			May you remember lost memories	Teleports Isaac to the Ultra Secret Room. The pathway back to the normal rooms will be made of Red Rooms.
XIX - The Sun?	5.300.75			May the darkness swallow all around you	Gain Spirit of the Night and +1.5 Damage for the current floor. Turns Isaac's Red Heart Containers into Bone Hearts, but they revert once the effect ends. Also causes Curse of Darkness that cannot be dispelled.
XX - Judgement?	5.300.76			May you redeem those found wanting	Spawns a Shop Restock Machine near Isaac.
XXI - The World?	5.300.77			Step into the abyss	Creates a trap door which always leads to a Crawl Space.

Playing Cards

When on the ground, these cards look like:

Name	ID	Icon	Unlock method	Message	Description
2 of Clubs	5.300.23		Always available	Item multiplier	Doubles Isaac's Bombs. If he has no bombs, gives him 2 instead.
2 of Diamonds	5.300.24		Always available	Item multiplier	Doubles Isaac's Coins. If he has no coins, gives him 2 instead.
2 of Spades	5.300.25		Always available	Item multiplier	Doubles Isaac's Keys. If he has no keys, gives him 2 instead.
2 of Hearts	5.300.26		Always available	Item multiplier	Doubles Isaac's current number of Red Hearts. If Isaac only has empty Red Heart containers, he is healed for 1 Red Heart.
Ace of Clubs	5.300.27			Convert all	Turns all pickups, trinkets and chests in the room into Bombs. All non-boss enemies in the room are also transformed.
Ace of Diamonds	5.300.28			Convert all	Turns all pickups, trinkets and chests in the room into coins. All non-boss enemies in the room are also transformed into coins.
Ace of Spades	5.300.29			Convert all	Turns all pickups, trinkets and chests in the room into Keys. All non-boss enemies in the room are also transformed into keys.
Ace of Hearts	5.300.30			Convert all	Turns all pickups, trinkets and chests in the room into hearts. All non-boss enemies in the room are also transformed into hearts.
Joker	5.300.31		Always available	???	Teleports Isaac to the Devil Room or Angel Room.
Queen of Hearts	5.300.79			<3	Drops 1-20 full Red Hearts on the ground.

Special Cards

Special Cards are a category of cards that have a rarer spawn chance.

Playing Cards

When on the ground, this card looks like:

Name	ID	Icon	Unlock method	Message	Description
Suicide King	5.300.46			A true ending?	Kills Isaac and spawns lots of Pickups, items, and/or Chests in the same room.

Magic: The Gathering Cards

When on the ground, these cards look like:   

Name	ID	Icon	Unlock method	Message	Description
Chaos Card	5.300.42			???	Throws the card in the direction Isaac is moving, which opens doors, breaks obstacles, and instantly kills any enemy in its path.
Huge Growth	5.300.52			Become immense!	For the current room, makes Isaac larger, allows him to crush obstacles he walks on, and grants +7 flat Damage and +30 Range. For the current room, makes Isaac larger, allows him to crush obstacles he walks on, and grants +7 flat Damage and +3 Range.
Ancient Recall	5.300.53			Draw 3 cards	Spawns 3 random cards.
Era Walk	5.300.54			Savor the moment	For the current room, enemies are slowed, Isaac's speed is increased by 0.50, and his shot speed is decreased by 1.00.

Credit Card

When on the ground, this card looks like:   

Name	ID	Icon	Unlock method	Message	Description
Credit Card	5.300.43			Charge it!	Makes all pickups and items that cost money or health in the room free.

Other Playing Cards

When on the ground, these cards look like:

Name	ID	Icon	Unlock method	Message	Description
Rules Card	5.300.44			???	Displays a cryptic statement on the screen, similar to a Fortune Telling Machine. These messages (often) provide hints on bosses, bonus areas, etc.
? Card	5.300.48		Always available	Double active	When used, copies the effect of Isaac's currently held activated collectible.

Card Against Humanity

When on the ground, this card looks like:   

Name	ID	Icon	Unlock method	Message	Description
A Card Against Humanity	5.300.45			Something stinks...	Covers the entire room with Poop. The process is not instant, and the room will not get filled if Isaac leaves before it's done filling.

Monopoly Card

When on the ground, this card looks like:   

Name	ID	Icon	Unlock method	Message	Description
Get out of Jail Free Card	5.300.47			Open Sesame	Upon use, opens all doors in the current room, exactly like Dad's Key.

Holy Card

When on the ground, this card looks like:

Name	ID	Icon	Unlock method	Message	Description
Holy Card	5.300.51			You feel protected	Grants a shield that blocks the next hostile damage that would be taken in the current room. Has a chance to spawn another Holy Card on use. Grants a shield that blocks the next hostile damage that would be taken.

Uno Card

When on the ground, this card looks like:

Name	ID	Icon	Unlock method	Message	Description
Wild Card	5.300.80			Again	Copies the effect of the most recently used Pill, Card, Rune, Soul Stone, or activated item.

Runes

Left Pointing Runes

When on the ground, these runes look like:

Name	ID	Icon	Unlock method	Message	Description
Hagalaz	5.300.32			Destruction	Destroys all breakable obstacles in the room. Does not affect Key Blocks.
Jera	5.300.33			Abundance	Duplicates all pickups and chests in the room. Cannot clone other Jera runes and trinkets.
Ehwaz	5.300.34			Passage	Creates a trapdoor leading to the next floor. Has an estimated 1/12 (8%) chance to create a trapdoor leading to a Crawl Space instead. Guaranteed to create a trap door to a Crawl Space if used on floor tiles containing certain patterns. Will not create trapdoors if used on the end floor of a challenge.
Dagaz	5.300.35			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:

Name	ID	Icon	Unlock method	Message	Description
Ansuz	5.300.36			Vision	Reveals the whole map, including the Secret Room and the Super Secret Room. (This will not remove Curse of the Lost.) Does not reveal the Ultra Secret Room.
Perthro	5.300.37			Change	Rerolls all items in the room (the same effect as The D6).
Berkano	5.300.38			Companionship	Spawns 3 Blue Flies and 3 Blue Spiders. Gives Isaac 3 standard Abyss locusts for the room.
Algiz	5.300.39			Resistance	Grants a shield which lasts for 30 seconds. Grants a shield which lasts for 20 seconds.
Blank Rune	5.300.40			???	Grants a random rune effect and has a 25% chance to drop another Blank Rune on the ground upon use. Black Rune is excluded.

Other Runes

Name	ID	Icon	Unlock method	Message	Description
Black Rune	5.300.41			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.
Rune Shard	5.300.55		Always available	It still glows faintly	Activates a random rune effect that's weaker than normal. Only spawns when less than 6 different runes have been unlocked.

Soul Stones

Soul Stones are all unlocked by beating both Hush and Boss Rush as their respective tainted character. They count as runes for the purposes of Clear Rune and Rune Bag and can spawn anywhere a rune can.

Name	ID	Icon	Unlock method	Message	Description
Soul of Isaac	5.300.81			Reroll... or not	Rerolls all items in the room, but they cycle back to the original item after one second, repeating. If more uses are stacked, an additional item per use will be cycled through.
Soul of Magdalene	5.300.82			Give me your love!	Surrounds Isaac with a bubbling red aura for the current room. All enemies killed drop Half Red Hearts that disappear in 2 seconds.
Soul of Cain	5.300.83			Opens the unopenable	Opens all doors in the room and creates a Red Room on all valid walls. This also destroys the mirror located in Downpour / Dross II.
Soul of Judas	5.300.84			Right behind you	Increases Isaac's speed and makes him invulnerable for 3 seconds and allows him to pass through enemies. Damages all enemies and destroys all projectiles Isaac ran through when the effect ends, and grants a temporary Damage bonus for each enemy and projectile hit.
Soul of ???	5.300.85			Chemical warfare	Causes 8 poison farts that leave lingering brown creep, then plants a trail of 7 Butt Bombs in quick succession. Standing on the creep gives +1.5 Fire Rate and +1 Damage.
Soul of Eve	5.300.86			Your very own murder	14 Dead Bird familiars fly in and attack enemies. They last 10 seconds and will begin to leave after the limit, but will stay as long as an enemy is alive. They will disappear if Isaac leaves the room.
Soul of Samson	5.300.87			Slay a thousand	Isaac turns berserk for 10 seconds, replacing his tears with a melee jawbone club and gaining +0.4 Speed, some Tears, and +3 flat Damage.
Soul of Azazel	5.300.88			Demon rage!	Activates Mega Blast for 7.5 seconds.
Soul of Lazarus	5.300.89			Life after death	Isaac dies, and is immediately revived at half a Heart in the same room, with 1.5 second of invincibility time. The soul stone is automatically used upon taking fatal damage, acting as an extra life.
Soul of Eden	5.300.90			Embrace chaos	Rerolls all pickups, trinkets, and items in the room. The rerolled items use random pools, as if Chaos were held.
Soul of the Lost	5.300.91			Leave your body behind	Turns Isaac into a ghost for the current room as if he touched the White Fire Place in Downpour II / Dross II, temporarily granting The Lost's properties.
Soul of Lilith	5.300.92			Motherhood	Grants one permanent familiar from the Baby Shop pool. Can give familiars that Isaac already has.
Soul of the Keeper	5.300.93			$$$	Drops 1-25 random Coins on the ground.
Soul of Apollyon	5.300.94			Bringer of calamity	Spawns 15 random locusts.
Soul of the Forgotten	5.300.95			Skeletal protector	Spawns The Forgotten as a temporary secondary character, controlled at the same time as Isaac. He dies with no consequences if his health run out, and disappears when Isaac leaves the room. The bone swing deals high damage, and reflects tears.
Soul of Bethany	5.300.96			Friends from beyond	Spawns 6 Book of Virtues wisps with random properties.
Soul of Jacob and Esau	5.300.97			Bound by blood	Spawns Esau as a temporary secondary character, controlled at the same time as Isaac. He dies with no consequences if his health runs out, and disappears when Isaac leaves the room. Esau has random items equal to the number of items Isaac has, each based on the pools of the items Isaac's were obtained from.

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. These consumables cannot be replicated by either Blank Card or Clear Rune, and Tarot Cloth has no effect on them, but the D1 will always duplicate these into themselves.

Name	ID	Icon	Unlock method	Message	Description
Cracked Key	5.300.78			???	Creates a room adjacent to a viable wall, like Red Key.
Dice Shard	5.300.49		Always available	D6 + D20	Upon use, invokes the effects of The D6 and the D20 at the same time, re-rolling all item pedestals and pickups in the room.
Emergency Contact	5.300.50		Always available	Help from above	When used, will cause two Mom's Hands to come down and grab two random enemies, dealing damage and, if they have 40 or more HP, pinning them to the ground temporarily.

Probabilities

Cards that spawn as random ones, i.e. with a sub-type of 0, have the following probabilities:

• Any tarot card (1-22) - 66.66%
  • A specific tarot card - 3.03%
• Any reverse tarot card (56-77) - 11.22%
  • A specific reverse tarot card - 0.51%
• Any face card (23-31) - 7.74%
  • A specific face card (23-31) - 0.86%
• Queen of Hearts (79) - 0.86% (same as a specific face card)
• Any special card (42-54) - 3.51%
  • A specific special card - 0.27%
• Cracked Key (78) - 0.27% (same as a specific special card)
• Wild Card (80) - 0.27% (same as a specific special card)
• Any rune (32-41) - 3.60%
  • A specific rune - 0.36%
• Any soul stone (81-97) - 5.95%
  • A specific soul stone - 0.35%
• Rune shard (55) - 0.00% (never spawns on a fully completed save file, chosen only as a replacement otherwise)

Notes

• The game counts runes as cards for the purposes of Blank Card, and Tarot Cloth.
  • Even though runes no longer count as cards as of Repentance, Little Baggy still prevents new runes from appearing except through forced drops (such as from Mom's Ring or Clear Rune). Runes that already existed prior to picking up Little Baggy will not be converted.
  • Starter Deck does not prevent runes/soul stones from generating, will sometimes turn pills into either, and allows holding two of them.
• Runes will be replaced with cards if no runes are unlocked.
  • However, items that normally spawn runes (e.g. Rune Bag or Clear Rune) can spawn Rune Shards before any runes are unlocked.
• If alternate versions of consumables have been unlocked (for example, Charged Keys or Mega Chests), any cards that can spawn that type of consumables (for example, Ace of Spades or VIII - Justice?) have a chance of being replaced with those rarer consumables.
  • Key Rings are the only exception to this.
• If Tarot Cloth is held, the card will flash, indicating that it will be amplified by Tarot Cloth.
• Using any teleport cards while inside of The Beast fight will simply move Isaac instantly to a different spot in the same room. This also includes the Joker card.

Unlockable Achievements

• 

  The Necronomicon - Use XIII - Death 4 times.
• 

  Blinding Baby - Use Blank Card while holding XIX - The Sun.
• 

  Ancient Recall - Use Cards and Runes 20 times.
• 

  Huge Growth - Be 3 times larger than the starting size. Depending on the item/card/pill size's multiplier, 5 to 7 size increases will be required..
• 

  Baby-Bender - Use I - The Magician or Telepathy For Dummies while already having homing tears.

In-game footage

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Trivia

• The appearance of the tarot cards seems to be based on the Universal Tarot of Marseille deck produced by Lo Scarabeo, most clearly seen with the card backs as well as the splash image that appears when using The Sun.
• 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.
• Ancient Recall, Era Walk, Huge Growth, and Chaos Card are all based on cards from Magic: The Gathering.
• A NULL card with ID 0 exists, revealed by the "giveitem k0" Debug Console command. It can't be acquired or used in any way.
• Many cards were given new unique back sprites in Booster Pack#5, some originating from Antibirth.
• The Reverse Tarot Cards refer to tarot card readings, where a reversed card has a contrary meaning to its upright variant.

Voiceovers

Major Arcana Cards

Tarot Card	Voiceover	Voiceover (Reverse)
0 - The Fool
I - The Magician
II - The High Priestess
III - The Empress
IV - The Emperor
V - The Hierophant
VI - The Lovers
VII - The Chariot
VIII - Justice
IX - The Hermit
X - Wheel of Fortune
XI - Strength
XII - The Hanged Man
XIII - Death
XIV - Temperance
XV - The Devil
XVI - The Tower
XVII - The Stars
XVIII - The Moon
XIX - The Sun
XX - Judgement
XXI - The World

Playing Cards

Card	Voiceover
2 of Clubs
2 of Diamonds
2 of Spades
2 of Hearts
Ace of Clubs
Ace of Diamonds
Ace of Spades
Ace of Hearts
Joker
Suicide King
Queen of Hearts

Runes and Soul Stones

Rune or Soul Stone	Voiceover
Hagalaz
Jera
Ehwaz
Dagaz
Ansuz
Perthro
Berkano
Algiz
Black Rune
Rune Shard
Soul of Isaac
Soul of Magdalene
Soul of Cain
Soul of Judas
Soul of ???
Soul of Eve
Soul of Samson
Soul of Azazel
Soul of Lazarus
Soul of Eden
Soul of the Lost
Soul of Lilith
Soul of the Keeper
Soul of Apollyon
Soul of the Forgotten
Soul of Bethany
Soul of Jacob and Esau

Other cards and consumables

Consumable	Voiceover
Chaos Card
Huge Growth
Ancient Recall
Era Walk
Credit Card
Rules Card
A Card Against Humanity
Get out of Jail Free Card
? Card
Dice Shard
Emergency Contact
Holy Card
Wild Card
Cracked Key

Bugs

Bug!	Any blue flies, blue spiders, friendly enemies, locusts, orbital bones, and wisps created by cards, runes, and soul stones can be multiplied when Glowing Hourglass teleports Isaac in a way that does not move him to a different room from the one he is currently in (such as by teleporting to the previous room then using it again).

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

• Achievements
• Challenges
• Completion Marks
• Items
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• Chapters
• Rooms
• Transformations
• Attributes
• Bosses
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• Curses
• Objects
• Seeds
• Effects
• Endings

• Collection
• Item Pools
• Version History
• Modding
• Music