Teardown Beginner’s Guide: 5 Tips to Get You Started

by Mike Alexander / Game Guides, Tips & Tricks / 27 Apr 2022

The voxel-based destruction of Teardown is both beautiful and satisfying. Tuxedo Labs’ demolition simulator has been delighting fans ever since its initial Steam Early Access release way back in 2020. Now, after 2 long years of consistent updates and improvements, the game is finally being launched in its full, complete version. In that time, Teardown players have created hundreds of different mods and user-generated levels to go wild in, adding many hours of enjoyment to a game that already boasts 40 levels of fun.

But, if you missed that Early Access boat and you’re just now getting onto the rocket-propelled bandwagon, you might need some guidance as to how to get the most out of your Teardown experience. Thankfully, I have a few tips and tricks in this Teardown Beginner’s Guide to help you raze buildings with the best of them. If you’re ready to start smashing, pick up your sledgehammer, and let’s get started!

Use the Quick Save Function FREQUENTLY!

In a game like Teardown, you can quite easily put yourself in a position where you’d want to reset and try again. Maybe you placed those explosives in the wrong area, there’s not enough of them, or you want to try a different tactic altogether.

For this reason, the wonderful developers at Tuxedo Labs have implemented a quick save feature that will even let you skip the extra confirmation window for the length of your session, if you happen to find yourself reloading frequently. So, throughout your Teardown missions, be sure to use that quick save and reload so that you can maximize your destructive potential.

Take Everything that isn’t Bolted Down

As you play through the early levels, you will be encouraged to take valuables found scattered about. Taking these collectibles will add to your cash reserves, so that you can upgrade your tools and such. These items can be in plain sight on counters or walls, or hidden behind them or even under the floor.

On your first pass through each level, try to go through as thoroughly as you can to find all of the valuables whether they are hidden or not. You’ll only need to do this once per level, as in most cases valuables won’t respawn and new ones won’t be added. This will change later on in the game, but it’s not something you’ll need to worry about for the first few levels. If you’re playing the game right, you’ll be stumbling into hidden compartments full of loot pretty frequently!

Don’t Forget to use Vehicles

In addition to your arsenal full of tools, Teardown will often present you with several different vehicles at any given time, allowing you to get really creative with how you complete your missions. From standard cars to cranes, excavators, and even sea vehicles, there will usually be an extra tool for destruction around.

Special vehicles like the crane will also have extra controls that allow you to use their special features. In the crane, pressing the spacebar will anchor the hook to whatever it is currently touching. This is a quick and easy way to create an impromptu wrecking ball!

Don’t Ignore the Spray Can

It might seem like the least helpful of the tools available to you, but the spray can is actually the underdog of the game. Once you’ve started the timer in each level, you’ll only have 60 seconds to complete as many objectives and take as many things as you can.

Before you trigger that timer, you can use the spray can to mark out your path and objects you want to hit in the short time you’re given. This is a great way to make the most of your time and get the most of your first runs on each level.

Use Debris to Your Advantage

In your haste to pull off your best smash and grab, you might not consider the many ways in which you can use the residue of your destruction. Whether it’s brick, wood, or stone, you can use destroyed remains to build bridges or create paths from high places. Once you have the creative juices flowing, you could probably come up with even more useful ways to use debris.

So, when you have a pile of broken pieces of the environment, don’t be so quick to ignore it or even worse, CLEAN IT UP. Make a note of where your objectives are, and if you can figure out a way to get to it faster, you have plenty of building materials available to you.

Mike Alexander

Mike has been playing video games since he was able to hold a controller, having been fascinated by Sonic 2 on his mom’s Sega Genesis. That fascination and passion for the art form has grown exponentially nearly 30 years later, and he doesn’t see that fading away anytime soon.

View all posts