Victory Lap

A Victory Lap is a mechanic added in The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth †. A Victory Lap allows you to start a new run with almost all of your final items after killing The Lamb in the Dark Room. Multiple laps can be made as long as the Dark Room is cleared each time.

Effects

• Completion marks and achievements cannot be earned (except for the achievements earned for completing victory laps).
• Isaac will take a full heart of damage on all floors after beginning a victory lap (unless he has The Wafer).
• The effects of all Pills are re-randomized.
• Some items are lost upon starting a victory lap. Items lost this way are added back into their respective item pools and can be acquired again.
  • This mechanic can remove items in a character's card/pill slot, which leaves an empty slot that the player can still switch to.
• All victory laps will be on hard difficulty, even if the initial run wasn't.
• Once the third victory lap has been reached (and on every subsequent victory lap), several effects occur:
  • Isaac will turn into The Lost.
    • This version of The Lost does not get Holy Mantle or D4. However, if the run was started as The Lost (or if the Holy Mantle was found) it is possible to keep the Holy Mantle from the previous run.
    • This version of The Lost has Holy Mantle if it has been unlocked by donating to the Greed Machine.
    • Tainted Forgotten instead has both entities become The Lost, controlled with the same inputs like Jacob and Esau, removing both the Soul's attack restriction and the ability to pick up and throw the Forgotten. The drop key cannot be held to individually control each character, and items previously acquired are held by the The Forgotten. The Soul can acquire its own items.
  • Shops will no longer appear (except for in ???).
  • Red Chests in the Dark Room will turn into Brown Chests and Golden Chests.
• If a Devil Deal is taken at any point during the entire run, Angel Rooms will no longer appear (unless Act of Contrition, Duality or Eucharist is picked up, or a Sacrifice Room allows Isaac to enter an Angel Room).
• If the Donation Machine jams, it will remain jammed on all subsequent victory laps.
• The Donation Machine can be donated to and even jammed, but the amount of coins will not increase.

Notes

• Killing any final boss aside from The Lamb will end the game, and the run will not be continued further.
• The Negative may disappear upon starting a victory lap and must be reacquired to access the Dark Room and continue the run.
• Isaac can still change characters after becoming The Lost on the third lap (e.g., Ankh, Lazarus' Rags, Clicker).
  • Obtaining Genesis will transform The Lost back into the character you originally were.
• Transformations will remain even if the items used to acquire them are removed.
  • Transformations won't remain if the items used to acquire them are removed.
• When using Telepills or other teleportation items in Womb II or equivalent, Isaac may be teleported to the I Am Error room with only a way to the Cathedral, possibly ending the victory lap streak.
• If a Sacrifice Room appears in the Cathedral, Isaac may be able to teleport to the Dark Room if he has enough health, continuing the run.
• Entering The Void and killing Delirium will end the victory lap streak.
• The achievement U Broke It! (unlocked by obtaining 50 items) can be earned with Victory Laps.
  • This achievement can no longer be earned in Victory Laps.
• Broken Shovel/ Broken Shovel are still obtainable in a victory lap, but using Mom's Shovel on the dirt mound in the Dark Room will not unlock The Forgotten during a victory lap.
• Stats obtained via using Black Rune or Void will not be removed after starting a new lap.
• Effects from absorbed trinkets via the effects of Gulp!, Marbles, or Smelter will not be removed after starting a new lap.
• Enemies and bosses killed with Eraser will remain erased after starting a new lap.

Unlockable achievements

• 

  Once More with Feeling! - Complete a Victory Lap, defeating The Lamb.

• 

  Butter! - Complete 2 Victory Laps and start a 3rd.

• 

  RERUN - Complete 3 Victory Laps and start a 4th.

Trivia

• This mechanic is similar to Nuclear Throne's looping system, where defeating a certain boss loops back to the start of the game with a higher difficulty.
• According to Edmund McMillen, the Victory Lap mechanic is only included in the Dark Room, since it's the Harder Chapter 6 path, therefore being set as a "reward" there.