We Happy Few is a bonafide survival game. It pushes you to your limits as you endeavor to find success in a world that wants you to either conform or die. And when the world of We Happy Few kills you, it wants you to stay dead. Permadeath makes this possible, completely wiping your game upon death, forcing you to start over from the beginning. You can, however, disable this if you’re not up to the challenge or just want to spend more time exploring the game’s interesting world.
Permadeath must be disabled at the start of the game. When you boot up We Happy Few, select new game. This will bring you to a short menu with two options (three if you’ve completed the prologue at least once). The first has to do with Second Wind, a last ditch effort to survive a brutal encounter. The second is to enable or disable permadeath. Turning it off will allow you to continue the game after dying. You’ll be returned to your safehouse, hungry, thirsty, and low on health, but you’ll be alive once more.
Disabling permadeath is advised for new players as it will give you a better opportunity to become acquainted with the game world as well as the different mechanics you can use throughout your playthrough. Once you become comfortable enough, re-enable the option and greet death as an old friend.
That’s all you need to know to enable and disable permadeath in We Happy Few. For more tips, tricks, and information on the game, be sure to check out our comprehensive wiki.