Have a Nice Death

 Switch
Have a Nice Death Image
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 13 Ratings

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  • Summary: Have a Nice Death is a 2D action roguelike where you play as an overworked Death, whose employees have run rampant, completely throwing off the balance of souls - and his vacation plans. In order to restore order, you'll have to grab your trusty scythe and show your employees who's boss.Have a Nice Death is a 2D action roguelike where you play as an overworked Death, whose employees have run rampant, completely throwing off the balance of souls - and his vacation plans. In order to restore order, you'll have to grab your trusty scythe and show your employees who's boss.

    Since Death can't die, use what you've learned and earned to overcome the numerous minions and bosses in each department of Death Incorporated... over and over. A performance review after every run guarantees that you'll unlock interesting items and upgrades that will help you progress on your journey.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. Gamezebo
    Mar 28, 2023
    90
    Overall, the entire concept of an office building being run by the Grim Reaper, or Death, himself brings a smile to my face. I look forward to making it back to the main area so I can watch the NPCs hold their coffee mugs as they gossip about other members of staff. I think my favourite NPC at the moment is the adorable Pump Quinn who clearly loves her work and is often seen clutching a bunch of papers. I’ve already recommended this game to everyone that I know, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who loves roguelike games. Even if you’re not usually a fan of the genre, you should give this one a try purely for the fast-paced combat and comedic situations that pop up throughout the game.
  2. CGMagazine
    Mar 28, 2023
    85
    Have a Nice Death mixes fast-paced combat with roguelike elements for an experience you’ll be DYING to keep playing.
  3. Nintendo Life
    Mar 27, 2023
    80
    Have a Nice Death may not reinvent the wheel for roguelites, but this is a high-quality new entry in the genre. The brutal difficulty, creative theming, and satisfying combat all combine to make this a memorable and worthwhile experience, even if we wish it had better performance. We’d recommend this to anyone looking for another extremely competent and humorous action roguelite to add to their collection, though with the caveat that you should only take the plunge into this underworld if you feel confident in the sharpness of your skills. There’s a lot to love about Have a Nice Death, but as the name suggests, the bony hand of the reaper will be the only one holding yours.
  4. Gaming Nexus
    Apr 17, 2023
    80
    Have a Nice Death is not only this game's title, it's an interjection. It's the bully at the gaming playground. It's the ex that keeps coming back to your house to get their belongings, one thing at a time. You beat these types of games before, right? All of that is gone. Still a little buggy, but at it's price point, you'll have a hard time blaming the glitches, and spend more time telling yourself that you're not good at the game.
  5. NintendoWorldReport
    Apr 4, 2023
    75
    Overall, Have A Nice Death is a great roguelike experience for those who are looking for something that isn’t too challenging to the genre as a whole. That’s not to say that the game itself lacks difficulty, far from it–the word “death” is literally in the title. But Have A Nice Death knows what it wants to achieve and really sharpens its blade on the combat, movement, and overall accessibility of its roguelike gameplay. Its unique style and theming definitely set it apart, although that really can’t be said for the characters you meet along the way. On Switch, it is a fine experience, but do keep in mind that loading times will be a constant issue while traveling through Death Inc. I think it is good that there’s a roguelike out there that forgoes the paperwork and just gets stuff done. What more can you ask for from a bureaucracy?
  6. Nintenderos
    Apr 24, 2023
    70
    Have a Nice Death is a very fun and dynamic game, although with some performance problems on Switch. As a roguelike, it doesn't stand out from other games in the genre like Hades or Hollow Knight. However, if you're looking for a challenging action platformer title with a lighthearted tone, it's a good choice.
  7. Impulsegamer
    Apr 3, 2023
    60
    Have A Nice Death takes the best bits of other roguelikes to create a slick adventure spoiled by an unrewarding difficulty curve.

See all 16 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 9
  3. Negative: 1 out of 9
  1. ChristP
    May 23, 2023
    9
    Lots of humor, fun gameplay, phenomenal art direction and challenging enough to keep you entertained for days and more
  2. UHHA
    May 10, 2023
    9
    A very fun game with great animation and art works . Waiting for new update or bugfix .
  4. CarvingCrow
    May 22, 2023
    9
    This game is a very interesting approach to death, and is generally a good rouge-like. Only thing holding it back is the difficulty curve.
  5. FoamingStuff
    Mar 29, 2023
    7
    Really great game, Hades and Dead Cells had a baby and it's Have a Nice Death, rogueliting your way through Death's complicated office full ofReally great game, Hades and Dead Cells had a baby and it's Have a Nice Death, rogueliting your way through Death's complicated office full of corporate references and jokes.

    However, highly recommend you buy on any other platform than switch. A stage can take just 15-20 seconds if you're getting a bit better at the game, and then you have a ~20 secondes loading screen. 9/10 on any other platform, but 7/10 on Switch for this reason.

    Settings:
    Can rebind all controls
    Can turn off music/sounds/ambient    … Expand
  6. JoaoRodarte
    Apr 22, 2023
    7
    TLDR: Excellent and exciting game that becomes really frustrating and confusing due to bugs, poor design choices.

    Upsides: This game could    TLDR: Excellent and exciting game that becomes really frustrating and confusing due to bugs, poor design choices.

    Upsides: This game could easily be a 10/10. Artwork is amaizng, gameplay is fluid, dynamic, easy to learn and hard to master. Altough not 100% original, Hades-based concept works. Replayability is awesome, because in each run your set of spells and habilities change drastically so you always have this "fresh" gameplay comming your way. Also, each run takes about 45 - 60 min, so you can play in small windows of time throughout your day - which is great for people trying to get some fun out of a busy day. Fun, dynamic, beautiful game.

    Downsides: game crashes quite a lot, and still have a lot of bugs. Some bugs (like the eternal arena bug) force you to give up on your run when you are very close to beating the game (which is extremelly frustrating). Also, interface is not good, and overall communication is also pretty bad. You always have to search online to understand how most buffs work. Sometimes text is vague (i.e, "increases damage" without specifying how much), wich is terrible for a game that forces players to constantly make trade-off choices (how can I choose if I cannot understand what each buff does?). Some buffs (i.e. Inflation) are so vague that nobody in the entire community understand what it does or how it works. Also, some buffs do not work as they are supposed to. This mix of bugs (game crashing, eternal arenas, invisble attacks, and so one) with bad UI and UX-writing turns a great game in a 7/10. Also, there are other pretty questionable design decisions that influence experience in a bad way (i.e., when you have to take e time-penalty on your run to read the dialogs, sometimes giving up buffs that wear out with time).    … Expand
  7. curzon_dax
    Apr 1, 2023
    7
    I'm trying to be fair because it is subjective.

    The game appears very good if you're into that kind of game genre; it's a pure rogue-like    I'm trying to be fair because it is subjective.

    The game appears very good if you're into that kind of game genre; it's a pure rogue-like gameplay without much getting into the way of that; it has strong platforming qualities and a relatively fast pace if the user chooses to play that way.

    However for my tastes it's nothing extraordinary that would keep me playing; the gameplay appears relatively cumbersome to get used to and it has excessive usage of serial platforming which feels repetitive within less than an hour of gameplay and it doesn't feel naturally fast-paced and exciting (you have to force it yourself to go fast which drops the illusion of excitement other games of the genre offer that drop you more readily into the action); the story doesn't feel too engaging other than slightly comedic and the gameworld doesn't feel too dynamic that makes you feel as part of something grande so I would definitely suggest to people to stick to Hades for this genre because this is like a less developed and less fun and less engaging version of that.    … Expand
  8. ferolajr
    Jun 21, 2023
    4
    A really fun concept and awesome art style, but the constant frame drops on switch and some poor gameplay and balancing decisions make thisA really fun concept and awesome art style, but the constant frame drops on switch and some poor gameplay and balancing decisions make this game a not so pleasing experience. Still, it can be really fun sometimes.… Expand

See all 9 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

67
#67 Best Switch Game of 2023
28
#28 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2023

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