Describe this mode in one line? Hard but easy to break

Firstly, to play Greed mode as any unlocked character, you select Greed below Normal and Hard mode at the character selection page. You will start at the Basement in a very novel room layout:

The starting room with the button in the centre is where you fight multiple waves of enemies

with the button in the centre is where you fight multiple waves of enemies To the bottom right there is an item room that is already opened, so you can enter it and get an item at any time. Contains items from the boss pool

that is already opened, so you can enter it and get an item at any time. Contains items from the boss pool Above that is another item room which like regular item rooms requires a key to enter. It can be entered from either the central room or the opened item room, costs one key in total either way

which like regular item rooms requires a key to enter. It can be entered from either the central room or the opened item room, costs one key in total either way Opposite the locked item room is a Curse room which behaves as regular curse rooms, causing damage on the way in if you don’t have flight or shield, and damage on the way out if you don’t have shield

which behaves as regular curse rooms, causing damage on the way in if you don’t have flight or shield, and damage on the way out if you don’t have shield The topmost room is an extended shop . The shop is most critical to any Greed run so we shall discuss it in more detail

. The shop is most critical to any Greed run so we shall discuss it in more detail The bottom room is the exit room, which opens after fighting all but the last wave of enemies in the starting room

room, which opens after fighting all but the last wave of enemies in the starting room If you do choose to fight the last wave of enemies (generally a double or a harder boss battle), you will open a Devil/Angel room guaranteed 100%. The room you get follows the same rules and percentages as non-Greed mode runs

guaranteed 100%. The room you get follows the same rules and percentages as non-Greed mode runs There is also a Super Secret room which is connected to any one of the above rooms per floor

This layout applies to the Basement, Caves, Depths, Womb and Sheol. After that you have the Shop, where you won’t have the two item rooms but everything else. And the final floor which has Ultra Greed only has an entry room which resembles the exit room for the other floors, a mini-boss room which can have multiple Greed, Super Greed, Wrath or Monstro, and the final extended room which has Ultra Greed

Now going back to the Shop, its a fairly unique kind. For starters, it will automatically restock, the exact same way having Restock works in non-Greed runs. The shop always has keys and red hearts in two of the pedestals, as well as at least two items. The remaining pedestals can have bombs, batteries, cards/pills, trinkets and items. There will also always be at least two shopkeepers who can be bombed. There is a possibility of having a reroll machine, which can be bombed/given coins to reroll all the pedestals. Certain fixed pedestals like the key and hearts can be available for cheaper. The shop also has the chance to have buttons, slot machines, pots, poops, fires and even a direct route to the next floor

Going to the fight mechanics, Greed mode is all about beating enemies ASAP because there is only a small amount of time between each wave. The next wave of enemies can always be stopped by pressing the button, but other than the Lost this causes all characters to take damage. If you teleport out of the room at any point, you restart at the wave which wasn’t cleared before leaving, i.e. any mob that was left from a wave. Every first time a wave spawns, coins are also spawned on the floor which can be picked up. Restarting a wave does not grant additional coins (sadly)

Before we complete, we need to discuss the final boss Ultra Greed. This hanging sonovabitch is one of the toughest boss in the games, and has damage scaling similar to Hush. He attacks in the following ways:

Charges and stomps around the room in quick bursts, dealing contact damage

Shoots coin projectiles from mouth

Spins in a small radius, firing coins in random directions

Spawns 2-4 gaper heads

Summons multiple different large coins. Spinning coins deal contact damage and move around slightly. Heart coins despawn after a few seconds and heal Ultra Greed. Key coins open the doors around the room, which spawn a large amount of gapers. Bomb coins explode after a few seconds. Each coin can be damaged and despawned before their effect. Note: Ultra Greed has invulnerability while spawning the coins

When you take damage in this room, you drop coins if you have any, similar to fighting Gapers, Greed, etc. Ultra Greed then homes in on the coins, which heal him upon pickup.

Once you beat this boss, a Greed Machine spawns. This is similar to the donation machine, in which you donate leftover coins. It has a similar chance to jam, which increases the more coins a single character donates. Donating to this machine unlocks rewards at different stages of coins