Delivering on everything it promises in the title, Dumb Ways to Build is a DIY platformer that highly encourages mucking around with friends.
The core focus of the game is navigating to your destination via building, which in the case of the very first demo level is the tippity top of a hotel building that needs its power restored. As you haphazardly nail together whatever you can find – boards, tables, chairs, refrigerators, whatever – you’ll slowly scale your way ever upwards through puzzles and challenges.
Building, nailing, and more
The main gameplay in Dumb Ways to Build is, well, building. Each player is equipped with a nail guy, which shoots off nails so powerful they can make any two objects stick together or stick to the side of buildings. With these tools in hand, players must use the resources at hand to reach their objectives.
The very first level featuring the hotel has the Beans (the iconic little guys that kicked off this whole franchise with an Aussie safety campaign) try to restore power. That task involves scaling skyscrapers, crossing a busy highway, and collecting a battery. This required battery gives off an electric charge on regular intervals, meaning your Bean will go slack and drop whatever they’re holding, adding a fun dimension of timing to the mission.
What makes Dumb Ways to Build so magnetic is that the game knows that the true fun comes with enjoying your friends in multiplayer. There are plenty of items and areas staged with messing around in mind, like a small office space complete with dynamite and a fish tank full of piranhas (as well as a camera set in the corner to capture the inevitable action).
Finding strange roundabout ways to get to the top, or accidentally running out of wooden boards nearby because your friends messed up the platform six times in a row makes Dumb Ways to Build truly live up to its name. There are plenty of items in the game that add to the chaos, like a bullhorn that amplifies voices to an unnecessary degree or a deployable mattress to save Beans from long falls.
No real punishment for mistakes
Predictably, if you or your friends plunge suddenly down from the heights you’ve scaled, the game does have a few very forgiving ways to get back into the action. Infinite revivals are an option you can toggle when selecting a mission, which honestly makes the game more fun for a casual experience. First off, you won’t lose access to their voice as any dead friends will become a floating walkie talkie – complete with a static-y voice filter – to keep you company.
The first method of revival is the balloon, which will hoist your barely living body up depending on how much air you give it. Friends will need to strategically pop the balloon to get to the body, as there’s no way to control what direction you’ll float.
Second is visiting one of the many porta potties available on the map, which will spawn in your friend. The balloon is easily one of the funnier additions to the game, as shouting instructions to your floating friend (which they’re powerless to enact) makes dying a highlight rather than a punishment.
Challenges (or not, if you want)
Platformer wise, Dumb Ways to Build isn’t very difficult. Since players make their own platforms, it’s entirely up to them to set the “difficulty” level. Do you think you could make that jump with only a single chair nailed to the wall in between? Go ahead and try! If not, then take the time to carefully nail together whatever supplies are on hand and create an OSHA-approved bridge.
The controls are simple and straightforward, making the learning curve practically non-existent. All players need to focus on is trying not to fall too much, as fall damage does add up fairly quickly (though, like previously stated, being revived is easy).
Aesthetically, the game is colorful and cartoon-y. The art style of the Dumb Ways to Die franchise shines here, as the bright Beans, with their customizable faces and outfits, go well with the ridiculous action of DIY platforming.
The review copy of Dumb Ways to Build did include a few glitches, but nothing major enough to cause concern. For example, wooden boards would sometimes take a mind of their own and fly off into the sunset if they were hit by an unexpected object (say, flying through the air from a fan and hitting the board against a balcony).
The Verdict
Dumb Ways to Build doesn’t exactly invent the wheel in its physics-based gameplay, but it does do what it set out to do extremely well. The game is a welcome entry in the growing pantheon of ‘friendslop’ titles – low-price games that attract friend groups to play together in a Discord session. The game has a lot of replayability depending on who you’re with, and can easily appeal to a wide range of ages and skill levels.
All you need is some creativity, some boards, and a trusty nail gun to build a good time.
9 Dumb Ways to Build Dumb Ways to Build is a highly enjoyable, physics-based game to enjoy with friends. While the focus of the gameplay is building platforms up to your objective, the game has a clear sense of creating fun with both map elements and items. Replayability is rewarded through different difficulty settings and how groups approach each puzzle. Pros
- Puzzles allow players to use any approach.
- Relaxed approach to respawning and revives.
- Replaybility with different friend groups.
Cons
- Glitches can throw important items flying across the map.
A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review. Reviewed on PC.
