iTechGuides is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more
Death and Taxes is a short narrative game in which you play the Grim Reaper as an office employee. Your daily assignment is to review people’s profiles and decide who lives and who dies. The desk work is governed by workplace rules, while conversations and personal choices shape a branching story, the condition of the world, and the ending you reach.
The important expectation is that its variety is primarily narrative, not mechanical. You can replay to pursue different consequences and secret endings, but the central profile-sorting routine remains broadly similar from run to run. That makes the game a better fit for players who enjoy revisiting a branching story than for players seeking a substantially different gameplay system on every playthrough.
What kind of game is Death and Taxes?
Death and Taxes combines an office-work simulation with interactive fiction. You occupy a desk as the Grim Reaper, process information about people, and make life-or-death decisions within rules set by your employer. Placeholder Gameworks’ official description reduces the premise to one sentence: “Your job is to decide which people are going to live or die.” That deliberately mundane framing is the joke and the central design idea: an enormous supernatural responsibility is presented as routine paperwork.
The game’s structure is short and narrative-focused rather than an open-ended simulation. Each workday brings another set of profiles and instructions. You make decisions, deal with your boss and other characters, and then see how those choices affect later scenes. The publisher describes meaningful choices, dialogue options, a branching story, multiple secret endings, voiced non-player characters, original music and artwork, an upgrade shop, customizable Grim Reaper design, and Twitch integration.
#1 Best Overall
- Miniatures Box Set
Those features support the same basic loop instead of replacing it. The appeal comes from the tension between following impersonal rules and making judgments that feel personal. You are not simply solving a puzzle with one objectively correct answer; you are deciding how faithfully to perform a strange job and how much your own priorities should influence the result.
How the daily gameplay loop works
The routine is easiest to understand as a sequence of desk-work and story steps.
- Read the day’s instructions. Your workplace provides rules or targets that determine which people should be approved for death and which should be spared. These instructions establish the immediate decision criteria.
- Review profiles. You inspect the information attached to each person. The task is presented as sorting profiles rather than directly controlling characters in an action environment.
- Choose who lives or dies. You apply the current rules, but the game also leaves room for personal judgment. A decision can be motivated by obedience, compassion, curiosity, self-interest, or a desire to influence what happens next.
- Handle conversations and office events. Dialogue with the boss and other non-player characters adds context to the assignment and gives you additional choices beyond the profile decisions.
- Advance to the next day. The consequences of your conduct appear through later story scenes, dialogue, and changes in the branching path.
The loop is intentionally repetitive. You return to the same workplace and perform related administrative tasks, but the meaning of those tasks changes as the story reacts to your decisions. A Steam reviewer described sorting profiles, dealing with the boss, and watching rule-following and personal decisions affect the story. That reviewer considered the repetition purposeful while also finding repeated dialogue and the same daily routine potentially tiring.
PC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteWhat choices actually change?
The publisher says your decisions affect the surrounding world, and its description presents the story as branching. In practical terms, the game tracks your conduct across multiple workdays and conversations rather than treating each profile as an isolated quiz question. The pattern of decisions matters: consistently obeying instructions can lead the story in a different direction from repeatedly acting on personal beliefs.
Rank #2
- Hilarious Entertainment: Immerse yourself in the laughter-filled experience of Stupid Deaths – The Party Game designed for adults and teens aged 12 & up
- Dark Humor Delight: Perfect for those with a dark sense of humor, indulge in amusing and absurd death scenarios that will keep you entertained.
- Outsmart the Reaper: Race against the Grim Reaper in a thrilling challenge – will you conquer death or meet a comically ridiculous demise first?
- Fact or Fiction Fun: Navigate through ridiculous counts of death and engage in lively debates to discern between fact and fiction in this entertaining party game.
- Game Set Contents: Unbox a complete set that includes a game board, 6 player pawns, 1 Grim Reaper, 300 Stupid Deaths Cards, 6 True Cards, 6 False Cards, and 6 Extra Life Tokens.
Dialogue options are part of that same system. Conversations can reveal how the office works, provide opportunities to express an attitude, and influence the route you are taking. The available evidence supports saying that choices have consequences, but it does not establish a universal rule in which one specific response always produces one particular ending. The safest way to approach a playthrough is to treat the entire sequence of decisions as significant.
Rule-following versus personal judgment
The game’s central conflict is not a conventional good-versus-evil meter. You are an employee with instructions, yet the people represented by the profiles are more than abstract paperwork. Choosing to follow the rules can feel responsible, evasive, or morally troubling depending on the context. Ignoring them can feel compassionate, rebellious, or reckless. The design invites you to notice that tension rather than handing you a single correct philosophy.
Consequences beyond one screen
A decision may matter because it changes later dialogue, alters the direction of the story, or contributes to the state of the world. The publisher’s wording does not provide a complete decision chart, and the cited player discussion does not document every trigger. Therefore, guides that promise an exact ending from one isolated choice should be treated cautiously unless they provide their own verified evidence. Your overall pattern of behavior is the more reliable way to think about progression.
Recommended Free Tools
How many endings are there?
The publisher advertises multiple secret endings. In an April 2020 Steam discussion, developer Oakwarrior agreed with a player’s summary that the game had seven endings divided into “4 ‘bad’ endings, and 2 ‘not exactly bad’ ones and one ‘REALLY BAD’ one.” That is a dated developer forum comment and an informal classification, not a current official guide listing every ending’s name or requirements.
Rank #3
- The game where Death is the Life of the Party !
- How to Play: Split into two or more teams. In 45-second rounds, players pull cards and act out the cards while their team guesses the charade.
- The actor mustn't speak, but noises are very much encouraged!
- Play however many rounds you like, or until you've run out of cards, and the team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
- Free timer available in the app store for the full experience
The useful takeaway is that the game is built for outcome hunting. Endings are not merely cosmetic variations appended to an otherwise fixed story; they are the main reason to carry decisions through another run. Because the available sources do not document every condition, it would be misleading to promise that a particular profile choice guarantees a particular conclusion. Keep notes on your decisions if you want to deliberately pursue a different route, but expect to discover some outcomes through experimentation rather than through a single obvious branch.
Is Death and Taxes replayable?
Replayability depends on which kind of variety you value. A player in a Steam discussion about replayability said that profiles are random except for some story-based exceptions, while the gameplay itself stays the same. The developer agreed with that characterization. A separate Steam reviewer also warned that repeated dialogue and the familiar daily movement can become tiresome, especially on a second playthrough.
That produces a balanced answer: replaying can expose different outcomes and some variation in the profiles, but it does not transform the basic job into a new mode. The following comparison separates the two axes that matter.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →| Replayability axis | What the game offers | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Story and outcome variety | Branching paths, player-influenced consequences, and multiple secret endings | Strongest reason to replay; pursue a different pattern of decisions and conversations |
| Profile variation | Some profiles are random, with story-based exceptions according to a player/developer discussion | Individual runs may not present exactly the same set of people |
| Mechanical variety | The same core profile-sorting and office routine | Limited; the fundamental work does not become a different system each run |
| Dialogue freshness | Branching conversations and repeated daily interactions | New scenes can appear, but a reviewer found repeated dialogue tiring on another playthrough |
If you enjoy narrative games that reward comparing consequences, the outcome variety can justify several runs. If you need new controls, escalating challenges, or radically different levels, the repeated desk routine may limit your interest after you have seen one ending.
Rank #4
- A Ruthless Race to Survive – Navigate life's chaotic twists and turns, from risky jobs to unexpected disasters—just try to stay alive and financially afloat!
- Dark Humour & Edgy Fun – This outrageous adult party game is packed with unpredictable scenarios, hilarious misfortunes, and tongue-in-cheek humour
- Rockstar, Drug Dealer, or Bank Robber? – Step into the shoes of a reckless character and experience the highs and lows of life on the edge
- Not for the Faint-Hearted – With mature themes and irreverent gameplay, this is definitely not your average family-friendly board game!
- Perfect for Game Nights & Parties – Designed for 2-4 players aged 18+, The Game of Death guarantees hours of laughter and chaos at any gathering. Can also be played in groups, choose your teams wisely!
What is it like to play a second time?
A second run changes your perspective even when the interface and task remain familiar. You already understand the office’s basic expectations, so you can make deliberate choices instead of learning the premise. You might test strict compliance, experiment with a more personal approach, or make decisions aimed at reaching a different branch. The game’s profile variation can also prevent every run from presenting an identical list of cases.
However, the replay is not a fresh campaign with a new ruleset. You still return to the same kind of desk work, read profiles, and move through daily conversations. The player and developer discussion explicitly characterizes the gameplay as staying the same, and the reviewer’s criticism of repeated dialogue identifies the main cost of replaying. Plan to replay for discovery of consequences, not for a fundamentally redesigned mechanical challenge.
A practical replay approach
- Make one exploratory run without trying to optimize an ending.
- Record major life-and-death decisions and notable dialogue responses.
- On the next run, change your general philosophy rather than flipping one random choice.
- Compare the resulting world state, conversations, and ending.
- Stop when the repeated routine no longer adds useful story information; the game does not require endless runs to understand its central idea.
Which players are most likely to enjoy it?
Death and Taxes is a good match for players who like narrative experiments, dry workplace humor, moral ambiguity, and consequences that unfold over several days. The office setting gives the game a distinctive tone: supernatural power is filtered through forms, instructions, schedules, and managerial pressure. Players who enjoy seeing how small decisions accumulate may find the structure satisfying.
It is less suitable for someone seeking an action game, a large exploration map, or a constantly changing set of mechanics. The publisher’s feature list emphasizes story, dialogue, customization, and outcomes rather than combat or free-form exploration. Likewise, players who dislike repeating a daily task may be frustrated even if they appreciate the premise, because repetition is part of the concept rather than an accidental gap between major scenes.
Best Value
Use these questions before buying
- Do you enjoy replaying a story to see alternate consequences?
- Are you comfortable making morally uncertain choices without a single objectively correct answer?
- Will a repeated office routine feel purposeful to you, or merely slow?
- Do you prefer narrative branching over mechanical progression?
- Are you buying on a platform currently listed by the publisher in your region?
Platforms and availability
The publisher lists Death and Taxes for PC through Steam, itch.io, and GOG, as well as Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox. Store catalogs and regional availability can change, so check the current storefront for the platform and edition you intend to use. The cited official page does not verify a physical edition, so do not assume that a boxed copy exists simply because a console version is listed.
The publisher also mentions merchandise, but no specific item, current inventory, or purchase requirement is established here. The game itself is presented as a storefront and console release; extra products are not needed to play it.
How established is the game?
Placeholder Gameworks’ official page states that the game has sold over 700,000 copies on PC. The page does not provide a measurement date, so this should be read as the publisher’s undated sales claim rather than as a current 2026 total or an independently audited figure. It does, however, indicate that the title has reached a substantial PC audience.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The strongest evidence about features and platforms comes from the publisher. The more subjective points about repetition and replayability come from player commentary, including a Steam review and a 2020 discussion in which the developer agreed with the description of profile variation and a consistent gameplay loop. Those accounts are useful for setting expectations, but they are experiences and opinions, not measured completion-time or replay-count studies.
The bottom line for prospective players
Death and Taxes is a compact Grim Reaper office story built around deciding who lives and dies. Its meaningful choices, dialogue, world consequences, and multiple secret endings give you reasons to replay, while the basic profile-sorting job remains largely unchanged. Buy or play it for branching narrative discovery and the darkly bureaucratic premise; avoid it if you need every run to introduce a new mechanical challenge.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
