Mom is the antagonist of The Binding of Isaac, the indie roguelike dungeon crawler first released in 2011 and later remade as Rebirth, in which Isaac flees his mother after she hears a voice demanding a sacrifice. Her laugh is tied to her boss encounters and her taunting presence throughout the game, which is why players recognise it from gameplay footage and streams. As clips spread online and on soundboards, the laugh became shorthand for a creepy mother figure, a sudden boss fight, or a moment of dark comedy, keeping it popular with indie game fans and meme editors.