Have a Nice Death

Have a Nice Death is one of my new favorites. Between its engaging gameplay, fun characters, and fantastic art design, HaND is sure to go down as one of the best roguelikes I’ve ever played, and a game I’ll be talking about for a long time.

83%Game Brain Score

graphics, gameplay

grinding, stability

88% User Score Based on 8,606 reviews

Critic Score 78%Based on 27 reviews

Platforms

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About

"Have a Nice Death" is an action-packed roguelike game where you play as the Grim Reaper, tasked with maintaining balance in the afterlife. Traverse through procedurally generated levels, battling quirky characters and Nemesthesises while upgrading your abilities to become a more efficient reaper. Face the chaos caused by your overzealous management and prove that death can indeed be a pleasant experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

88%

Audience ScoreBased on 8,606 reviews

graphics986 positive mentions

grinding100 negative mentions

The game features a whimsical art style and charming character designs that enhance the overall experience.
Combat is fast-paced and fluid, providing satisfying gameplay with a variety of weapons and abilities.
The humor and dark themes resonate well, making the narrative engaging and entertaining.

The game suffers from balancing issues, with bosses being significantly harder than regular enemies, leading to frustrating gameplay.
Healing items are scarce, making it difficult to recover health during runs, which can feel punishing.
The progression system lacks meaningful upgrades, resulting in runs feeling repetitive and reliant on RNG for success.

graphics
1,566 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
36%
1%
The graphics of "Have a Nice Death" have received widespread acclaim for their stunning art style and smooth animations, often compared to beloved titles like Hollow Knight and Dead Cells. Players appreciate the charming character designs and vibrant visuals that enhance the game's whimsical yet dark themes. However, some critiques mention that while the graphics are impressive, the gameplay can feel repetitive, and certain visual elements may blend together, detracting from the overall experience.
- “The art style is beautiful, almost like a twisted Looney Tunes aesthetic, and the game in motion is a joy to watch.”
- “The art style is honestly absolutely gorgeous, easily one of the most stunning I have ever seen.”
- “The art style is incredible and does a lot for the game.”
- “Apparently, there is a high chance the game may crash with incorporated graphics, especially Intel, which most notebooks/PCs have unless upgraded.”
- “Levels are bland, fighting is not that great either as it just boils down to hitting and dodging; I know most roguelikes are just this, but the other titles in this ballpark have some flow to the combat.”
- “The visuals and the sound design are so mediocre.”
gameplay
1,456 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
48%
6%
The gameplay of "Have a Nice Death" has received mixed reviews, with many players praising its fluid mechanics, engaging combat, and charming art style. However, criticisms often focus on the repetitiveness of levels, a lack of depth in gameplay mechanics, and frustrating healing systems that can detract from the overall experience. While some find the gameplay enjoyable and addictive, others feel it lacks innovation and can become tedious over time, especially in the context of roguelike expectations.
- “The gameplay loop is fun and has interesting and unique mechanics.”
- “An incredible game in both design and gameplay.”
- “The art style is amazing, the gameplay is riveting, and whenever you die it always feels like it's your fault, not the game being bad and messing you up.”
- “Cannot recommend the game for people who are looking for gameplay.”
- “The art style and overall energy of the game is fun and engaging, but the gameplay loop is so tedious that I cannot recommend this game.”
- “Great art, decent music, terrible gameplay, progression, balancing, and replayability, not to mention abysmal writing/dialogue - all wrapped into an aggressively mediocre package.”
humor
654 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
99%
1%
The humor in "Have a Nice Death" is widely praised for its charm and dark wit, often drawing on themes of office life and existential struggles, which resonate with players. Many reviews highlight the game's clever dialogue, quirky character interactions, and amusing animations, though some note that the humor can occasionally feel repetitive or fall flat. Overall, the blend of humor with engaging gameplay and appealing art style contributes significantly to the game's appeal, making it a standout in the roguelike genre.
- “Absolutely hilarious and totally worth getting.”
- “The work jokes and dark humor land beautifully, the character's struggle is incredibly relatable, the gameplay is fun and challenging, the artwork is pleasing to look at and wonderfully put together.”
- “The humor mixed into the game is a wonderful touch.”
- “It's just a never-ending spam of unfunny jokes; feels like a Rick and Morty episode.”
- “The basic attack is so unusable it's not funny.”
music
578 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
59%
39%
2%
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim for its charm and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, with many players praising the soundtrack as a standout feature. While some users noted a desire for more variety in the music tracks, particularly in different areas, the general consensus is that the music complements the game's aesthetic beautifully and contributes significantly to the enjoyment of gameplay. The catchy elevator music has also become a highlight, often mentioned as a memorable aspect of the experience.
- “The artstyle is beautiful, the soundtrack is exquisite, and the characters are bursting with charm.”
- “The soundtrack is beautiful and fits the vibe of the game really well.”
- “The music is great, the characters are fun, and the overall theme is on point.”
- “The tone of the music is really awful in those areas.”
- “My other complaint is about the soundtrack, as I sometimes feel like it's not even there like it's too smooth to notice; if I have to remember one, it must be the elevator song, which says a lot.”
- “And all the while, the gameplay and music just got more and more monotonous.”
story
532 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
58%
3%
The game's story is a mix of humor and charm, revolving around the concept of death managing a corporate environment, which resonates well with players familiar with office life. While many find the narrative engaging and filled with colorful characters, others criticize it for being repetitive and lacking depth, with some dialogue feeling like filler. Overall, the story adds a light-hearted touch to the gameplay, but its impact varies significantly among players, with some wishing for a more cohesive and immersive narrative experience.
- “Have a nice death explores a novel storyline wherein death built up a corporation to manage the increased amount of souls that needed to be processed over the ages.”
- “The story is something special, not so much in the sense there is a narrative that is mind-bending, but just how casual the dialogue reads, and the way every boss and character gets a chance to develop depth.”
- “The story of this game is great, the characters are well thought out, and I appreciate the bringing of mental health issues (burnout, stress, depression, etc.) into the light in a fun, humorous way.”
- “A majority of the NPCs that you interact with in the background story are forgettable, with the exception of the pumpkin, who is thrown at you at every available moment, but even that became boring after a few hours.”
- “The so-called 'story' is also boring and relates to a lot of office chit-chat (things I don't care about playing a game after work), so I've mainly just spammed the buttons to skip most dialogues.”
- “The story and dialogue don't make a lot of sense (and yes, I have a desk job).”
grinding
104 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
2%
2%
96%
The grinding aspect of the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with players describing it as tedious, repetitive, and often unrewarding. Many reviewers noted that the grind for achievements and unlocks is excessively time-consuming, requiring hundreds of hours for completion, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. While some appreciated the game's art style and combat mechanics, the overwhelming sentiment is that the grinding nature of the gameplay loop makes it difficult to recommend.
- “Visuals, stunning, combat, super smooth, progression, not too grindy and super fun (don't get bored fast), story/lore, really interesting, and the overall gameplay is just fantastic.”
- “The levels are repetitive and grindy, the unlocks are unsatisfying, and the gameplay explanations are obfuscated under pages of puns that make it hard to find the actual information.”
- “It's a damn shame that all the beauty is bound together with mediocre, tedious, samey, and unrewarding gameplay.”
- “Certain achievements in this game are extremely grindy and elusive as well, to the point where getting them all would take potentially hundreds of hours; assuming none of it is glitched and the player gets lucky.”
replayability
92 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
57%
4%
The game's replayability is a mixed bag, with some players praising its potential for varied builds and engaging gameplay, while others criticize it for lacking depth and content after initial completion. Many reviews highlight the fun and addictive nature of the combat and the variety of weapons, but some express disappointment in the overall replay value compared to other roguelikes. Overall, while there are elements that encourage replayability, several players feel it falls short of expectations, particularly in terms of long-term engagement.
- “Easy to lose a lot of hours, great replay value.”
- “There's a lot of replayability to it, to experiment with different builds and paths, and the combat is fast-paced and fun.”
- “An excellent roguelike with massive replayability.”
- “The story was serviceable, but unfortunately in the replayability department-- especially for a 'roguelite' is quite lacking.”
- “Game is very repetitive, very challenging and not much replayability due to the fact that there is no replayable progression - you will be stuck on the same level over and over again and if you die you start all over again until you learn the boss's pattern or give up and uninstall.”
- “While appropriately difficult, the reason I'm calling 'Have a Nice Death' an entry-level roguelike is because a lot of the depth and replayability seen in roguelikes and -lites isn't quite here.”
atmosphere
76 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
74%
22%
4%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its charming art style, engaging music, and clever humor, creating a unique blend of lightheartedness and darker themes. Players appreciate the immersive environments and thematic diversity across biomes, which enhance the overall experience. Many reviewers note that the atmosphere is a significant draw, making the game enjoyable despite some repetitive gameplay elements.
- “The atmosphere of each biome is near perfect; the music, the enemies, and the thematic changes between each are wonderful.”
- “Beautiful and quirky atmosphere mixed with a fun but grim office grind theme to the afterlife.”
- “The cute, well-detailed graphics create a lighthearted atmosphere, helping players overlook the game's darker themes about accidents and death.”
- “So far it feels like a mix and monster mash of some of the elements from Hollow Knight, Hades, and Dead Cells with the charming characters and atmosphere from the Luigi's Mansion series.”
- “[*] The atmosphere is strong: you want to see all the writing which is clever and sucks you in.”
stability
76 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
5%
87%
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with many players reporting numerous glitches, bugs, and occasional crashes that disrupt gameplay. While some users find the game enjoyable despite these issues, others express frustration over persistent problems like freezing screens and character control malfunctions. Overall, the game is considered a "buggy mess" at times, but players remain hopeful for future patches and improvements as it is still in early access.
- “This is a great side scroller game that runs great on the Steam Deck.”
- “But other than that, so far bug free.”
- “Love it, almost no glitches and bugs.”
- “The game is nice but buggy.”
- “But sadly I don't think I can confidently recommend this game just yet due to the many glitches and bugs experienced while playing.”
- “This game was a buggy mess on release; you could clip through the floor, become invincible, do infinite damage, etc. If you're expecting it to be perfect, you're silly.”
character development
70 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
36%
4%
The character development in the game is widely praised for its unique and clever designs, which are complemented by smooth animations and a cohesive art style that enhances the overall theme. Players appreciate the humor and personality infused into the characters, although some express a desire for deeper character progression systems. Overall, the aesthetic appeal and creativity in character design significantly contribute to the game's charm and immersive experience.
- “The character designs are unique and play along with the character's punny names or defining features.”
- “It has fantastic hand-drawn animations and amazing character designs; it's honestly insane how smooth they are.”
- “The art direction, character design, and animations are all absolutely top-notch.”
- “I love the character designs, but this game has some of the most god-awful writing I have ever tried to read.”
- “There is no character development.”
- “I'd like to see a wider variety of drops from enemies and loot boxes, perhaps even a couple of extra systems for new types of loot to add to the complexity of character development.”
optimization
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
55%
8%
The game's optimization is a mixed bag, with some players experiencing significant performance issues, including crashes and bugs that can hinder gameplay. However, many also note that it runs well on lower-end PCs and that recent updates have improved the experience, suggesting that while it may not be fully optimized yet, it shows potential for future enhancements. Overall, the gameplay remains enjoyable despite these technical challenges.
- “Also, the game is highly optimized so even people with low-end PCs can easily play the game and enjoy it.”
- “The ability to receive a performance evaluation after each run ensures that players can unlock interesting items and enhancements to enrich and advance their journey.”
- “Performance is good, gameplay is fun and satisfying.”
- “But there are balance problems, performance issues, and huge bugs that can make the game unplayable, and the story doesn't end up being as interesting as you'd think, at least 6 hours in.”
- “My only issue is with performance; I had the game crash two or three times, and I by no means have a bad PC; I can comfortably run Baldur's Gate.”
- “Basically, it's a bit of a buggy mess, but a really fun buggy mess. I hope optimizations come soon and that the full release will one day let this game fully shine!”
emotional
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the game emotionally uplifting, praising its wholesome characters, cute design, and lighthearted yet poignant themes. The blend of humor and deeper emotional undertones creates a heartwarming experience that resonates with many, despite some chaotic elements in gameplay. Overall, the game is celebrated for its ability to evoke joy and connection, making it a delightful escape.
- “The characters are really wholesome and the game lights up my mood every time I decide to boot it up.”
- “It has a more lighthearted attitude than most while still touching on very deep and important themes.”
- “It's adorable yet heart-wrenching in a way that makes me enjoy the game more and more.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
The game features no microtransactions, making it an appealing choice for newcomers to the roguelike genre. Players appreciate its engaging art style and overall quality, with minimal bugs reported.
- “If this is your first roguelike, the game is more than good enough to give you an idea if you want to keep investing in the genre, not to mention its amazing art style and personality, or how it has very few bugs and no microtransactions.”