Magic Design Studios' roguelike game, Have a Nice Death, leaves early access on March 22. The launch of build 1.0 adds an eighth and final world to the game, the Inevitable Time Department, concluding Death's rampage through his company and answering any lingering questions fans may still have about Death Inc. and the unsupportive Sorrows that have caused Death to feel overworked and burned out.
Ahead of the 1.0 launch, I caught up with narrative designer and marketing coordinator Mérédith Alfroy, lead game designer Simon Dutertre, and creative director and animation director Nicolas Léger to talk about Have a Nice Death's time in early access, how the team approached storytelling for a roguelike game, and whether fans can expect more from this universe in the future (spoiler: yes we can).
You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Sign up or Sign in now!
By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Now Playing: Have A Nice Death — Department Tour Trailer
How has this early access period shaped and influenced the direction of the game's development--both in terms of gameplay and narrative--if at all?
Dutertre: We embarked on an early access [period] being fully aware of our roadmap and what we wanted to put in the game. From the get-go, we had a laundry list of features to add, such as new bosses or updates to existing systems like meta-progression. That was a tremendous help to avoid feature creep and focus on the core gameplay. The biggest impact the early access period had was the feedback we had from players to make all of Have a Nice Death’s mechanics clearer and easier to grasp. We put more emphasis on the
Read more on gamespot.com