Death doesn’t have it easy: always wandering around and collecting the souls of the deceased. “It has to be quicker,” he thinks, and hires pests to take over his job. This becomes a huge corporation that quickly gets out of hand and overwhelms him with paperwork. So he fights his way through to get the company under control. We checked out the recently released indie game “Have a Nice Death” on our indie gaming channel on YouTube and are helping death clean up.
After about a year in Early Access, Have a Nice Death was released on March 22, 2023 on Steam for 25 euros. So far the game is only available for Windows, but has also been verified by Valve as compatible with the Steam Deck. The 2D action roguelike from the French Magic Design Studios convinces with beautiful animations and great attention to detail.
Each Have a nice Death run starts at Death’s Desk.
Do not want to anymore
When the pile of papers on his desk as CEO of Death Inc. grows too large, Death decides to transform his company from the ground up. It’s just stupid that he’s not taken seriously anymore. As a player, you slip into your role, grab the scythe and take the elevator through floors such as “Anima Depot”, “Equipment Depot” or “Shop”. In classic Jump & Run style, Death then hops through the levels and uses his scythe to clean one floor after the other of employees who have gone mad and unruly pests. If he dies in the meantime, he has to start over from his hated office, as is usual in roguelikes.
Security chief Brad is the first major boss to face in the game.
In the individual departments you collect additional life points and mana in order to unlock weapons, spells and curses. In between, the grim reaper teaches mini bosses. Each one of them has an individual fighting pattern that you have to learn in several attempts. Every defeat rubs the game painfully under your nose: If you fail against the head of security Brad, you will find out in the next run through employee rumors in the lobby that he posted the beating as a video on the intranet.
c’t zockt consists of the gaming fans of the c’t magazine. We play games across the board, especially indie and early access games, have a heart for retro titles and occasionally venture into virtual reality. We stream live LAN parties from our video studio on YouTube, and we also regularly post new gaming-related videos there. Have a look: youtube.com/ctzockt
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Changeable
There is a level system so that the fun is not neglected in the event of many defeats. With level 4, for example, you unlock an elevator that leads directly to Brad and you no longer have to fight your way through the previous floors. Some employees also provide the opportunity to unlock different types of weapons and gain advantages with contracts. However, this can quickly backfire if you don’t meet them.
A book in the office records all failed attempts. If the game notices that you are struggling, it even offers to lower the level of difficulty. The black humor and the beautiful hand-drawn graphics round off Have a Nice Death and invite you to swing your scythe to help death.
(wid)
