All things considered, Have a Nice Death excels on just about all fronts as a roguelike. Playing as Death himself lets the player experience power with the sheer number of combinations spanning weapons and spells. The fact that these combinations allow for seamless chains of attacks is the icing on the leftover cake in the office fridge. Its charm and writing are fantastic, and I cannot help but want more from the world of Death Inc. Magic Design Studios' appreciation for a good roguelike is evident here, as I am struggling to stop playing this game. If you're looking for something incredibly refreshing to play while on the job, look no further than Have a Nice Death.
Growing up, my idea of the workplace was the idea of going to a highrise in the middle of Los Angeles, everyone wearing a suit and tie, and a lobby/elevator that would be playing Kevin Macleod’s Local Forecast – Elevator on loop. Things would be dreary, there would be a shoddy coffee machine that would only make Folger’s, and I would sit in a dimly lit and frankly uncomfortable cubicle surrounded by stacks of paper. This was what I was looking forward to, America. This was my “I’m gonna grow up and work!” hell scenario. Pity me.
Fast forward to 2023, the idea of the workplace has vastly changed, with in-person office spaces adopting trendy layouts, fancy coffeemakers beyond Keurigs, happy hours at 4pm on a Thursday, and a ping pong table and arcade room that’s used to show prospective employees that this workplace is fun, friendly, and comfy. Of course, this is all a ruse, as work isn’t meant to be comfy at face value, but the fact remains: Expectations of the 9-5 workday loop have become illusory, colorful, and distracting from the reality of work being, well, work. Thus, I worry that much of the charm and surprisingly deep humor that emerges from Have a Nice Death may be lost on those under the age of, say, 25 years of age.
I’ve spent the past week playing the full version (Version 1.0) of Have a Nice Death, a roguelike for the PC that has been in Early Access since March ’22. The version I have been playing (and will most definitely continue to play) will be released later this week, and I’m ecstatic to say that Have a Nice Death is an incredibly well done roguelike with mild platforming elements that will encourage many hours of playtime. After about 15 hours, I’m almost finished with the main story, and I’m wishing that I could go back to playing it rather than doing housework…which is what I’m most likely supposed to be doing at this time.
As Death, the Founder and CEO of Death Inc., I have been tasked with slicing, dicing, and scolding demonic middle management to stop sluffing off and resume their typical duties of processing souls rather than gluttonizing the Earth and overpopulating the underworld. Minions (smaller enemies), Thanagers (mini-bosses) and Sorrows (end-of-level bosses) stood between me and my solution to eternal burnout: a vacation in paradise. My employees occasionally pepper me with inquiries and requests, all of which are immaterial. Like me (Will), Death desires a week off in paradise, but…work awaits.
Since Have a Nice Death is a roguelike, I expected to die, die, and die again on my path to paradise. But, like Hades‘ Prince Zagreus, death is a minor setback for the CEO of Death Inc. I’ve died quite a few times during this review period, almost always to Thanagers and Sorrows. Thankfully, Have a Nice Death‘s progression system gives players some additional power, even if you manage to clear but a few rooms. Upon death, Death earns experience and ingots. Should Death accumulate enough experience to level up, Death gets a small permanent perk that makes future runs just a bit easier, ranging from access to more spells to an elevator that takes me to a specific boss. Ingots can be used to unlock specific spells and aesthetic upgrades for the CEO’s office, but with a catch: The price for unlocking spells can be dramatically decreased should Death defeat a specific number of Minions, Thanagers, or Sorrows, meaning the once pricy-as-hell 1500 ingots can be brought down to a much lower price that you have been trained to expect from Black Friday sales.
The experience-based upgrade path and the ingot shop are easily accessible from the CEO’s office, and the ability to see progression of permanent unlocks makes for a less punishing experience, especially after someone like me makes a mistake during a particularly difficult Sorrow battle. In my case, it appropriately distracts from the process of losing and attempting to “push for the end” and instead pushes me to meet smaller goals. Kill a certain Thanager four times. Defeat a specific minion 50 times. Reach a specific Department. I found myself spending many runs seeking out a specific path just so I could decrease the price of several items I wanted to unlock, as these smaller goals felt manageable to achieve. I appreciated having these two gameplay elements act as persistent progression, as making anything else permanent (such as weapon upgrades), would have made the game far less difficult and far less addicting.
Indeed, Have a Nice Death is a difficult game, even at its easiest. Compared to other roguelikes, I would consider the difficulty curve to be more punishing than Hades but much easier to understand than the likes of RETURNAL. There are 17 possible difficulty settings, ranging from Self-Fulfillment (easy) to Breakdown XV (the hardest). Right from the jump, Self-Fulfillment is available for those struggling to get the Sorrows’ attack patterns, and even then it may prove challenging for some. The higher Breakdown difficulties are similar to Hades’ Pact of Punishment that boosts enemies defenses, health, and also adds some additional roadblocks for players to overcome. I spent half of this review period testing out the base difficulty (Imminent Breakdown) and the other half with Self-Fulfillment, and let me tell you: Some Thanagers remain the drivers of the eternal Struggle Bus of damnation I find myself riding. Be prepared for a good challenge, folks.
I found Have a Nice Death‘s gameplay loop to feel familiar to Hades in that every single run was unique, with some more punishing than others because of the weapons I came across. Every department (world) is procedurally generated, meaning the levels are relatively different. At the end of each level, the elevator gave me a choice to decide which new level I wanted to visit next, some of which rewarded me with a new spell, bonus health, currency, an item/upgrade shop, or even the option of facing a Thanager, with a Sorrow waiting for me at the end of the Department. Defeating the Sorrow gave me the option of choosing which Department to visit next, meaning some runs I would skip past levels I had no patience of running through.
Some departments felt more alive and colorful than others, however. While there could be a thematic justification for that, I ended up preferring to run through the Toxic Food Processing Department and the Physical Illness Departments only because of their contrasting colors and unique ambiance compared to the rest of Death Inc. Either way, having that choice to avoid one Department entirely made me feel as though I was sidestepping more difficult/annoying sections. Interestingly, I learned from the developers that some levels may have hidden rooms. It wasn’t until over 10 hours in when I saw the blink-and-you-miss-it hidden room indicator, and I only encountered a hidden room but a handful of times. It would have been nice for an additional tutorial/in-game reminder to keep an eye out for the secret content, especially since they’re so rare to begin with.
Have a Nice Death gave me so, so many scythes, cloaks (alternative weapons), and spells to use at my disposal, and I could use them in so many refreshing variations. At first, I was granted one scythe, but as I progressed further and leveled up, I reached a point where I could choose from several scythes at the start of each run. In total, there are six, each offering Death a different way of playing. Should I want to be fast and furious, the sickles do just the trick; but, if I want to play it safe, the Diss Scythe lets me attack with my scythe at a safe distance. Sure, it got to a point where I would prefer taking one of them over all others, but having the option to change-it-up gave me some sort of agency, which is a plus in my book.
The combination of utilizing spells and weapons led me to successfully pull off different combos. Part of where Have a Nice Death shines is its combo system, letting players mix up their button-mashing into creating ridiculously wild (and in some cases, deadly) chains that eliminate enemies lickity-split. Each scythe has a unique moveset of directional inputs, a charged ability, and multiple combos that can be interrupted at almost any time to utilize a spell or another weapon. In some cases, Death’s dash input served as a way for me to continue a chain to pummel a Sorrow into oblivion. Because of this, playing as Death felt powerful if I had the right combination of weapons.
Occasionally, I would come across an NPC who would grant me curses that powered up my scythe, cloak, and spells. Curses are Have a Nice Death‘s version of run-specific buffs, and they assist in adding to the variety and uniqueness of each time you try your hand at earning a vacation. As I played, I learned quickly that the best runs usually involve those where I specialize in spells OR weapons by going deep in a specific direction toward spells OR weapons, rather than building broad by choosing a hodgepodge selection of curses that I felt seemed strong for ALL of my abilities. I also learned that curses came with penalties, but these penalties are less damning than I thought. I avoided curses with penalties at first because I assumed that they would function similar to RETURNAL‘s occasionally game-ending malfunctions. Instead, these penalties were milquetoast for the most part, ranging from giving one (yes, ONE) type of minion bonus health to letting ONE type of minion drop a bomb on death. Manageable. Acceptable. Small roadbump. Don’t be like me and avoid penalties on curses that can help you refine your skills!
At this point, you’re probably wondering about Have a Nice Death‘s story. In between runs, I could wander around the small Hall of Eternity and the CEO’s Office to speak to some of the NPCs, occasionally advancing a small story taking place (like a Halloween Party, “ugh“). Death would rarely be amused by his employees’ antics, often expressing annoyance and disbelief at their silliness. While these small stories and interactions would slowly-but-surely advance the story, I found the drip-drip-drip storytelling to pale in comparison to the likes of Hades and RETURNAL. In between runs, I wanted something to intrigue me, something to interact with, and what usually awaited me was some small lines of dialogue and nothing more. These dialogue bits hit home really well, though, mocking the futility of the 9-5ers’ anthem and corporate culture run amok. The humor interwoven into Death’s conversations with his employees works to add life to the otherwise dreary office space. Some of you may find these in-game conversations familiar, while others may need to be informed that working spaces can very much be boring to the point of seeking conversations with other coworkers around a partially functioning coffee machine.
It’s a shame that the story is as short as it is, as Have a Nice Death is full of outright charming characters who are at Death’s beck-and-call. The ambiance of Death Inc. is Tim Burton-esque, with emotive skellies, an interior decorator bearing ridiculous similarities to Edna Mode, and Joe, the treasurer, who is so hopped up on coffee that I find myself turning into as I grow older and more confined to my desk. Even Jocelyn, the elevator, was witty and posed a similar comic relief to Hades‘ Hypnos if I was unlucky enough to die to a Thanager or a Sorrow. The characters’ dialogue is well written and charming, and I very much wanted to explore more of the world of Death Inc.! You’ll have ample time to do so, however. It is my understanding that the Main Story can be completed in around 15 hours, with another 15 hours that could be spent on side content. I can see those numbers being MUCH higher if you’re easily distracted like me and are aiming to be a completionist.
It’s clear that much thought was put into so many aspects of Have a Nice Death. Even the music is catchy beyond belief. I found myself eerily calmed by Brad’s groovy music and Jocelyn’s elevator theme as I played (and as I write this review, too!). Don’t let the story put you off from enjoying a fun roguelike that commits quite well to offering players variance, challenge, and depth.
Before concluding this review, I must praise Magic Design Studios for putting together a stable gameplay experience on PC. Barring some minor (yes, minor) graphical artifacts, I never once encountered a crash or an end-running bug. I am aware that Magic Design Studios have made massive additions to the game since its initial release on Early Access last year. With this week’s official release (Version 1.0), a new world, another boss and mini-boss, additional weapons, and much more. No spoilers, but I highly recommend that you spend some time looking for some post-game content. You never know what you may find!
All things considered, Have a Nice Death excels on just about all fronts as a roguelike. Playing as Death himself lets the player experience power with the sheer number of combinations spanning weapons and spells. The fact that these combinations allow for seamless chains of attacks is the icing on the leftover cake in the office fridge. Its charm and writing are fantastic, and I cannot help but want more from the world of Death Inc. Magic Design Studios’ appreciation for a good roguelike is evident here, as I am struggling to stop playing this game. If you’re looking for something incredibly refreshing to play while on the job, look no further than Have a Nice Death.
A review copy of Have a Nice Death was provided by the publisher for the express purpose of this review.
