Dumb Ways to Build Review – Lore-Accurate Building Sim

Dumb Ways to Die is a product made from the heart by the same team that made the super-viral ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ music, and the game captures all the emotions accurately.

Released on September 10, 2026, on Steam, Xbox and PlayStation, the game features three initial levels and a brand new level at the time of writing, alongside a well-built roadmap. So if you’re wondering if this is your squad’s next right job? Then you’re in the right place to figure that out. Here’s Gameffine’s Dumb Ways to Build Review.

You just need 300 IQ

There are basic laws of physics in the game. What can hurt you in real life will hurt you in-game. And if an object touches another, you can bolt it down with a nailgun. What do you mean you can build an entire stairway with a toilet seat as the foundation? It’s all possible if you have the IQ for it.

Dumb Ways to Build sets you and up to four beans on a mission to solve real-life problems using any tools possible. No safety equipments and insurance; you’re all on your own. On your first mission, you will be sent to Hotel Hapless, which seems to have lost all power, and you have to make it to the top and save the day. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, there’s no elevator, and you literally have to build yourself a route to make it up there.

Unfortunately for you, since this isin’t fortnite, you have to make paths using any objects that you come across in the game. Wooden beams, metal sheds, random poles, concrete bricks- it’s all hands on deck. From my time with the squad for the first three levels, you can be assured that this is not a solo job and will require every single team member doing its part.

Throw your teammate to the next platform, or fall to your death; nothing should stop you from being the best repairmen in the town.

The second level sends you on a sewer unclog mission, which seemed pretty easy at first, only to realise the real mission wasn’t to dive down, but to make your way back up. And turns out we didn’t make a route to get back up and ended up failing this mission. So if you think this game is predictable, think again.

A Gun that can Nail Planets together

While the game offers multiple mechanics that you can utilise in the most creative fashion, the basic remains nailing down any material to any object and using it as a platform to get around. This mechanic become blatantly absurd when its used to make bridge and the materials are as follows: A toilet seat, A traffic cone, an opened fridge, Inverted treadmill, stop sign, random log, premium plank, concrete brick, and finally an opened lootbox.

Speaking of lootboxes which thankgod aren’t made by a certain game studio, are absolutely free to open, given that you are able to reach them. These boxes grant you healing items as well as crazy tools, that can change the way how you get around or get things done. A lot of them are super creative and super-amazing to prank your friends with. The true joy of this game comes from the number of times you accidently whack your teammate off a building while carrying a log.

When everything comes together, and you finally make it your destination, the work feels very rewarding. But that’s exactly when you realise a big problem with the game. The game isin’t about building at all or even fixing things like I expected it to be. It’s essentially a multiplayer platformer game with creative tools to get around and complete objectives. Which isn’t a problem, but it narrows down the scope of how much better the game could’ve been if it also involved fixing or building things.

The game feels pretty bland and very tough to play when you’re doing it alone, so this makes it a mandatory multiplayer game, and at launch, three levels is essentially 4-5 hours of experience at max and lesser if your squad does not want to chase certitifications/achievements.

While the roadmap is very promising and will therefore become a very worthy package, at launch it might not be as exciting as the game looked in the trailers.

Final Word

Dumb Ways to Build is an extremely fun multiplayer experience that will instantly hook your squad to a mission that takes diligent teamwork and professionalism. Make a wrong move, and nobody’s paying you overtime. To set your expectations right, the game is more of a creative multiplayer platformer game rather than a building game per say. For a bare-minimum price, and that too on sale at launch, your squad should definitely pick the tools for this one.