Have A Nice Death Leaves Early Access This March, Adds A Time Paradox Level

Have a Nice Death is leaving early access this year with the launch of the 1.0 build on March 22. Alongside the official launch, the game will be getting another level to play through, World 8: Inevitable Time Department.

First released in early access on March 8, 2022, Have a Nice Death is a roguelike that sees you play as the titular grim reaper, who finds himself feeling burned out and in need of a vacation after his subordinates at Death, Inc. run amok. To remind his underlings that it's his name on the building and that he's in charge, Death ventures through the many departments of Deach, Inc. in order to beat the Sorrows under his command back into submission and find out why they've become so disloyal.

"There'll be plenty of [new] story content, as the launch version of the game will bring the conclusion of the game's main storyline and players will get to discover why the Sorrows, like Catherine, went rogue and into overdrive," Have a Nice Death narrative designer and marketing coordinator Mérédith Alfroy told GameSpot. "Some specific NPC dialogues will also hint at the broader story, and players will uncover lots of story lore when they unlock Employee Handbook entries."

Though developer Magic Design Studios hasn't ruled out the possibility of more story content coming to Have a Nice Death, the addition of World 8 is the narrative conclusion to Death's journey through his company. "The most burning questions will be answered in 1.0: Will Death finally go on PTO, and what or who is behind all the chaos at Death, Inc.?" Alfroy said. "Even though [1.0] marks the end of the main storyline, this wouldn't prevent us from adding post-launch content and that could include story content."

Like every level in Have a Nice Death, World 8 is thematically built around a cause of death--World 5 is Modern Warfare, for example, while World 7 is Natural Disasters. In this case, the cause of death is rather banal: time. If nothing gets you in the short term, time will ultimately prove your doom in the long term--it feels thematically appropriate that this is the last department you have to overcome in order to beat the game.

Within the world of Have a Nice Death, this new department is a place where time itself is an enemy. "Inevitable Time Department is a Category Alpha quantum aberration built around a time paradox," Alfroy said. "It is a maze-like vessel filled with sand, dust, and tic-toc sounds, that is difficult to represent and always busy due to the nature of the universe. Its existence is millennia-old and its work creates complications."

This new level includes plenty of new foes for Death to fight: the clock hand-shooting Kookoos, knightly Tempus, flying Pendulus, and lance-throwing Destinatus. Like previous departments, World 8 has its own minibosses and bosses too. Midway through the level, you may run into the new Thanager, The Bridgets. These sisters hide within a single cloak so that they appear to be a multi-armed single entity. They wield terrifyingly giant scissors in battle. "They are the cream of the crop when it comes to knowing all Death Inc.'s confidential files by heart," Alfroy said.

The Sorrow who leads the new department is a mystery for now, though he sounds as troublesome to deal with as Have a Nice Death's previous bosses. "There's a mysterious Sorrow who runs the [Inevitable Time Department]," Alfroy said. "Time and time again, he's made the department quite complicated to understand, hiding his incompetence as a majority shareholder."

Even though World 8 is the final department that players have to make their way through to finish the game, this may not mark the end of the universe that Magic Design Studios has created. "This is a strong universe that is ripe for more exploration, and we've seen that the community is keen on adding even more to it," Have a Nice Death creative director and animation director Nicolas Léger told GameSpot. "We've got a lot more ideas, and not only for video games."

Have a Nice Death is available in early access on PC. A Switch version is available for preorder.