Have a Nice Death is a hand-drawn 2D Action Rogue-Lite where gamers will assume the role of Death, Founder and CEO of Death Incorporated, the massive underworld organization responsible for processing souls in the afterlife.

As the company’s fearless leader, they will explore the darkly charming, procedurally-generated departments of the corporation’s headquarters to round up and rehabilitate rogue employees who have been ignoring company protocol and snatching up far too many souls on Earth. Getting the department bosses — also known as Sorrows — and their minions under control, however, is a difficult task and will require multiple runs to complete.

Luckily, players will have an arsenal of weapons, spells and special skills on hand to get the job done.

Gearbox Publishing and Magic Design Studios are excited to announce the Executive Decisions update is available now for Have a Nice Death in Steam Early Access.

This new content drop marks the final major update for the Early Access version of the darkly charming roguelike before it launches on Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam and Steam Deck) on March 22, 2023. With today’s Executive Decisions update, Have a Nice Death Early Access players will find a slew of new content, like new bosses (including a secret mini-boss!), weapons, spells, story content and festive winter holiday decorations. Additionally, major quality-of-death improvements have been added, such as six new difficulty modes, including a beginner-friendly mode, and a new meta progression system.

Here’s the full list of all the features for today’s Executive Decisions update:

• New Difficulty Modes: With these six new difficulty modes, you can choose to take a less stress-inducing adventure or really put your hack’n’scythe skills to the ultimate test – you call the shots, Boss!
  • New Beginner Difficulty Mode - “Self-Fulfillment”: A friendlier mode for anyone, which players can select in the Death, Inc. Lobby after they die for the first time. With this mode, players will start their run with three Anima (healing items), restore half of their Max HP when they defeat Sorrows, fight weaker minions and Anima heals will increase after each death.
  • Five New “Breakdown” Difficulty Modes – With five new “Breakdown” difficulty modes (Breakdown XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV) players can choose just how challenging they want their adventure to be. Depending on which Breakdown difficulty you choose, prepare for soul crushingly difficult changes to occur, including bosses (Sorrows) and mini bosses (Thanagers) being granted even more abilities and attacks, minions becoming more powerful, having to start a run with less HP, and much more.
• New Bosses: Depending on how you progress in your adventure, there’s a chance you may encounter one new Sorrow and one new mini-boss (Thanager)...
  • New Sorrow – “Barnaby Proudfoot”: Sometimes, Brad (World 1’s Sorrow) puts on his suit and can actually do his job. If you run into him, prepare for a tough fight as he’ll unleash new attacks that’ll catch you off guard!
  • New Secret Thanager: Rumor has it that one of Death, Inc.’s loyal and adorable employees has eaten a mysterious fruit causing them to become evil and... not so adorable. Will you find this secret Thanager?
• New Renovator Content - Holiday Decorations: To really get Death, Inc. in the holiday spirit, players can customize the lobby and breakroom with brand new holiday decorations via the Renovator. To access the Renovator and the merry decorations, all you need to do is speak with Muriel the Reverent in the lobby.
• New Weapons and Spells: There are even more deadly tools to add to your arsenal, as four new spells, including “Lyberis Skull” that lets you summon a slew of tiny but mighty skulls, three new cloak weapons, like a Bow that shoots a homing arrow, and a new scythe have been added.
• New and Revamped Rooms: The world of Death, Inc. has expanded with over 50 new rooms and rooms have been updated to include new traps, tutorial elements, and rewards.
• New Questlines – Experience two new questlines, including a limited-time winter holiday questline:
  • Limited Time Event - “Secret Santa”: Starting today and ending on January 15, you’ll discover each Death, Inc employee has a holiday gift, including Death! Once Death opens his gift, you’ll be able to receive a Prismium in Mark’s shop.
  • “The Musical” - Some employees are preparing the annual Death,Inc. Musical this year’s musical is “The Little Mermaid” featuring two Have a Nice Death fan-favorite characters.
• New Progression Systems: With these new systems, you have even more power to choose how you dive deeper into the Underworld...
  • Starting Scythe: At the beginning of a run, you now can choose between one of two scythes - Death's trusty, original one or a randomly selected, unique scythe.
  • Scythe Transformation: With this new scythe upgrade system, your starting scythe can now be upgraded in three different ways.
  • Meta Progression: A new leveling system has been added that lets you obtain new bonuses, like additional Anima, buffs and more.
• Additional Quality of Death Improvements: Along with NPCs having new character animations that reflect their mood, thanks to Early Access community feedback, you have the option to skip boss cinematics and the end of run screen to quickly jump back into the action – and the UI has been improved with new features like an ingot (gold) indicator.

Early Access players can continue to expect minor updates to be released leading up to Have a Nice Death’s launch. In addition, as players continue to share feedback, additional “quality-of-death" improvements will be introduced.

The full release of Have a Nice Death "will include all the delightfully morbid content you could want, including content from previous major updates that fans have loved in the Steam Early Access version of the game. Additionally, it will introduce a haul of new features, including one new world filled with new bosses, mini-bosses and enemies, along with new story content that will bring the epic conclusion of the main storyline. Players may also find new clues about the culprit behind all of Death's woes.

Key Features:

• Welcome to Death Incorporated – Discover and explore the seven darkly-charming, procedurally-generated departments of Death Inc., where you’ll meet a diverse cast of memorable characters—like your affable pumpkin-headed assistant, Pump Quinn—who are always willing to share the latest office gossip.
• Reap What You Sow – Sharpen your skills (and scythe) through fast-paced hack n’ slash combat, utilizing over 70 unique weapons and spells you can find and upgrade to create devastating combinations.
• Death Never Sleeps – 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.
• When Life Gives You Curses – Taking more power for yourself is a controversial move in Death Incorporated’s company culture. For instance, adopting a Curse upgrade for yourself might result in the Labor Inspector granting your subordinates enhanced powers, or worse, raising the cost of koffee and other items that are vital to your work output.
• Prove You’re the Best Underworld Boss – After completing your first adventure across Death, Inc., there's still work that needs to be done to prove you’re the best boss there is. From completing special challenges and trying out recently-unlocked difficulty modes that feature unique modifiers to earning rewards to complete your Pitbook by getting all the weapons, spells, curses and upgrades – your “to-do” list is far from completed.
• You Call the Shots – Make your playthrough the most optimal experience that’s right for you, boss. With various accessibility options at your disposal, including adjusting sound and language settings, and full controller remapping functionality support -- you’re free to fully customize your experience before hacking’n’scything away.

Currently available through Steam Early Access, Have A Nice Death is coming to Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam) on March 22, 2023 at $24.99.