Pitch Black Challenge Guide - The Binding of Isaac: Repentance+

Pitch Black is one of the earliest challenges available in The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. It was part of the original game, so there are no special requirements to unlock it.

At first glance, Pitch Black looks almost like a normal Isaac run. You play as Isaac and your goal is to reach Mom, but the game gives you two permanent curses: Curse of Darkness and Curse of the Unknown.

Neither curse changes the basic gameplay, but together they make it much harder to see what is happening in a room and keep track of your health. Fortunately, Pitch Black is still one of the easier challenges in the game. You do not need a complicated strategy or a specific build to finish it.

How to Unlock the Pitch Black Challenge

There is nothing to unlock. Pitch Black is available from the beginning in the base game.

You can start the challenge immediately in The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, and it is also available in later versions such as Afterbirth, Afterbirth+, Repentance, and Repentance+.

No specific character, item, boss kill, or completion mark is required.

How Does Pitch Black Work?

The challenge starts you as Isaac with his standard stats and no additional items. From there, the run follows the usual rules, with a couple of important exceptions.

The first is Curse of Darkness. Rooms are much darker than normal, making enemies, projectiles, and environmental hazards harder to see. It is especially noticeable in larger rooms where enemies can be sitting near the edges of the screen.

The second is Curse of the Unknown, which hides your health bar. You cannot simply look at the top-left corner to check how many Red Hearts, Soul Hearts, or Black Hearts you have left. Instead, you have to keep track of your health during the run.

There is another restriction worth remembering: shops are disabled. You can still collect coins, but regular shops will not be available to spend them in.

Treasure Rooms, however, still work normally. This is one of the biggest reasons Pitch Black is not particularly difficult. You can still find damage upgrades, fire-rate improvements, defensive items, and other useful pickups throughout the run.

How to Beat Pitch Black

The safest approach is also the simplest one: play normally, but be a little more careful than you usually would.

The hidden health bar is probably the most annoying part of the challenge. Isaac runs can get hectic, and after taking several hits across multiple rooms, it is surprisingly easy to forget how much health you actually have.

Try to keep track of every important health pickup and every hit you take. This becomes especially useful when you start collecting Soul Hearts or gaining additional Red Heart containers. If you are no longer sure whether you have enough health to survive another hit, it is usually better to play conservatively rather than gamble for a small reward.

Curse of Darkness takes some getting used to as well. When entering a new room, give yourself a moment to see where the enemies are before immediately moving around. Fast enemies and projectiles can be much harder to notice when they are coming out of the darker parts of the room.

If the darkness is making the challenge unnecessarily difficult, increasing the game's brightness or gamma can help. It does not remove Curse of Darkness, but it can make enemies and projectiles easier to spot.

What Items Should You Look For?

There is no specific build that you need for Pitch Black. Good items are good items, so focus on the upgrades you would normally want during an Isaac run.

Damage upgrades are particularly useful because killing enemies faster means spending less time in dangerous rooms. Fire-rate upgrades are also valuable, especially when dealing with groups of enemies.

Health and defensive items are worth prioritizing as well. Since you cannot see your HP, having a larger health buffer gives you more room for mistakes.

Make sure you visit Treasure Rooms whenever it is practical. Since shops are unavailable, Treasure Rooms are one of your main sources of new items and can make a big difference over the course of the run.

At the same time, there is no reason to clear every single room just because it is there. If your build is already strong and you are unsure about your remaining health, exploring an entire floor for a few extra coins or a minor pickup can create more opportunities to get hit than it is worth.

Devil Deals and Angel Rooms

Devil Deals require a little more thought during Pitch Black because your health is hidden.

In a normal run, you can quickly check your HP before deciding whether a Devil Deal is worth the cost. Here, you have to rely on what you remember from the previous rooms. If you have taken several hits and are not completely sure how much health you have left, skipping the deal can be the safer choice. Losing a run because you misjudged your remaining health is particularly frustrating when the rest of the run was going perfectly. That does not mean Devil Deals should always be avoided. If you know you have enough health and the deal contains a strong item, it can still be an excellent investment.

Angel Rooms are generally easier to evaluate because they do not require you to spend Red Hearts to take their items. They can therefore be a safer option if you are already struggling to keep track of your health.

How to Beat Mom?

Your final objective is to reach Depths II or Necropolis II and defeat Mom.

The Mom fight itself is not changed by the challenge. The darkness and hidden health rules still apply, but Mom's attacks and behavior remain the same.

Try not to rush the fight. Keep moving, watch for her attacks, and avoid standing in predictable positions for too long. If you have managed to get a decent damage build during the run, Mom should not take very long to defeat. The main danger is simply taking unnecessary hits because you cannot see your health. There is no reason to play aggressively when you are already close to finishing the challenge.

Once Mom is defeated, the challenge is complete.

Pitch Black Reward

Completing Pitch Black unlocks the Rune of Hagalaz.

Hagalaz destroys rocks in the current room when used. This can be useful for opening paths, accessing areas blocked by rocks, and potentially finding resources hidden behind them.

It is not the most powerful rune in the game, but it is a useful early unlock, especially considering how little preparation is required to complete Pitch Black.