The 8 Best Games That Use Permadeath Creatively

Dying in a video game is something that every player has experienced countless times, whether it be falling at the hands of another player, or failing deep into a roguelike run right before the final hurdle. The idea of losing even a small amount of progress is enough of a threat to elicit fear in the player, but the thought of losing far more makes things a whole lot more interesting.

Related

5 Games That Would Be Better With Permadeath

Sometimes, video games are too forgiving. Here are some that would benefit from a permadeath mode.

The concept of permadeath is often integral to the way a video game functions, where the defeat screen serves as a reset, forcing players to try again and to set them back far more than if they were to just respawn. Many games have found creative ways of using this reset and go above and beyond would should be possible after dying a single time.

8 Hunt: Showdown

Death Means Losing A Valuable Hunter

The extraction shooter genre itself is one that uses death as an incentive to survive, as failing to escape the map results in a permanent loss of loot and gear that, at times, may be incredibly valuable. In Hunt: Showdown that idea is developed further, as players can choose from a range of Hunters that can use any kind of weapon, as well as each having their own perks and stats.

Where permadeath comes in is after dying, players don’t just lose the weapons they collected, but the entire character. This means that the punishment for death goes far beyond just losing a nice rifle and extends to the playable Hunter, which in some cases means losing a specific character that the player may have grown attached to.

7 Darkest Dungeon

Every Death Leaves A Mark

Darkest Dungeon

9/10

Released

January 19, 2016

ESRB

T For Teen due to Alcohol Reference, Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Suggestive Themes, Violence

Darkest Dungeon is a bleak, turn-based roguelike where death means more than just losing a run. Players manage a roster of adventurers delving into nightmarish ruins, developing unique skills and afflictions over time, making each loss sting not just strategically, but emotionally as well. One wrong turn can permanently wipe out a veteran hero that has had hours of nurturing, leaving behind nothing but a gravestone in their wake.

Where permadeath hits hardest is in its irreversibility. There’s no save-scumming or second chances, so when a character dies, they’re gone forever, taking their quirks, upgrades, and narrative influence with them. The game leans into consequence, making each expedition a gamble where every success is paid for in blood, and every death reshapes the journey forward.

6 Hades

The Story Lies In The Afterlife

Hades

Released

December 6, 2018

• 

Hades is easily one of the best roguelikes out there, and part of what makes the game so compelling is the way failure functions as a method of progressing the story. Mechanically, after each death, players receive a small buff that can help them progress deeper into the pits in the next run, adding a crutch for players who are struggling with the challenging difficulty.

Related

7 Open-World Games With Permadeath

Modern games use permadeath far less often as a feature, but there are a few open-world games that have used the concept in different ways.

In terms of the actual narrative, upon each death, new details are unlocked in the hub, ranging from NPC conversations to character upgrades, transcending the typical roguelike loop by pushing the story forward regardless of how far players managed to make it on their last run.

5 Heavy Rain

Key Characters Can Be Erased With The Wrong Move

Heavy Rain

Released

February 23, 2010

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs

Heavy Rain is a narrative masterpiece where every decision truly matters. A serial killer is on the loose who strikes during rainfall. Players progress through the story as several different characters, each with their own motives for pursuing the murderer, and each of whom can either make it through alive or be permanently erased from the story.

This method of using permadeath is particularly interesting as characters who seem integral to the plot can die in a matter of moments, resulting in a completely different outcome for the story and the rest of the cast. So many endings, so many possibilities, with the concept of death playing directly into the gameplay and narrative in a way that is integrated seamlessly without ever overstepping.

4 Returnal

Answers Behind Every Defeat

ESRB

T for Teen: Blood, Mild Language, Violence

Returnal is an incredibly remarkable shooter that sees players crash-landing on an alien world, only to realize that they are stuck in an endless cycle of death. It takes the roguelike loop of dying and makes it a part of the gameplay and narrative, not only providing buffs after each defeat but a progression of the story through logs and tiny details that can easily be missed.

The game is constantly moving forward, and even if the player is struggling to progress to the next steps, they are still encouraged to continue on with the promise of additional lore and information being presented to them at all times. Memory is everything in a game where the environments are procedurally generated yet oddly familiar, requiring careful attention to detail in order to survive and understand.

3 Rogue Legacy 2

A Bloodline Of Heroes Waiting To Triumph

ESRB

E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence

Rogue Legacy has one of the most unique death mechanics in all of gaming. It allows players to progress further into the game through an ever-expanding bloodline of warriors, wizards, and archers that knows no end. Each death adds another name to the family tree and brings with it a unique set of abilities and skills that are specific to that character, all of which will be lost after death.

Related

10 Great Games Where Permadeath Is An Optional Mechanic

Permadeath modes are well-suited to players who seek an increased challenge and higher stakes, but it’s nice to be able to turn the option off.

No two children are the same, so players need to make decisions about the kind of character that they want to bring into the next life and the kinds of upgrades that they need to focus on when building out their castle. It’s a fun loop that keeps things interesting even after a failure, as losing a powerful combination can sting, but it’s made better by the possibility of finding an even better one.

2 NieR: Automata

One Final Sacrifice For The Greater Good

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Violence

NieR: Automata effectively integrates the concepts of death and erasure into the story, creating a narrative that is both emotionally charged and deeply thought-provoking. Players can journey through several endings, each with its own consequences and requirements. After experiencing several conclusions, they are given a choice that results in a complete reset in the most beautiful way.

In ending E, the characters effectively die and lose all recollection of the game’s previous events, only to be reconstructed physically as a kind of loop. The permadeath occurs when the player’s actual save file is deleted, resulting in the complete loss of all their progress, but instead having them come to the aid ofanother player in their game. It’s a poetic finish that redefines the idea of a permanent death in a way that breaks the fourth wall and fits perfectly into the narrative.

1 Lose/Lose

The Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher

Lose/Lose can only be described in two words: terrifying and hilarious. The game itself is a basic shoot-’em-up where players control a ship, shooting down aliens to increase their score. The twist comes from the absurd mechanic that ties every single alien to a file on the player’s computer, meaning that every enemy eliminated means a file removed from the system itself.

It means that pictures, documents, and even files related to the OS itself can be erased permanently, potentially corrupting the user’s PC. If the player dies in the game, the application itself is destroyed, meaning that there is really no winning until either the player hits an alien, or every file on their PC is removed, offering nothing more to erase.

More

5 Best Survival Games With Permadeath, Ranked

Those who enjoy the threat of permadeath in grueling survival games should give the following video games a shot.