Teardown (video game)

Teardown
A voxel rendering of a mobile crane standing in the courtyard behind a white, three-storey mansion. Around the crane are cars, yellow ground markings, wooden plank structures, and debris. Both the mansion and the courtyard are damaged. The game's logo is at the bottom of the image, consisting of a stone plate with a gold-painted side-on view of a striking hammer on the left and the white, all-caps word "Teardown" on the right.
Developer(s)Tuxedo Labs
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Dennis Gustafsson
Designer(s)
  • Dennis Gustafsson
  • Emil Bengtsson
Programmer(s)Dennis Gustafsson
Artist(s)
  • Emil Bengtsson
  • John Kearney
Writer(s)Dennis Gustafsson
Composer(s)Douglas Holmquist
Platform(s)Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Release
  • Windows
  • 21 April 2022
  • PS5, Xbox Series X/S
  • 15 November 2023
Genre(s)Sandbox, puzzle
Mode(s)Single-player

Teardown is a 2022 sandbox–puzzle video game developed and published by Tuxedo Labs. The game revolves around the owner of a financially stricken demolition company, who is caught undertaking a questionable job and becomes entangled between helping police investigations and taking on further dubious assignments. Teardown features levels made of destructible voxels, and the player follows the campaign through consecutive missions. In most missions, the player must collect or destroy objects connected to a security alarm that triggers a timer. The player has unlimited time to prepare and is given upgradable tools, vehicles, and explosives to create a path within the level that allows them to complete the objectives and reach a getaway vehicle before the timer runs out.

Teardown uses a proprietary game engine developed by Dennis Gustafsson, who began developing the technology after winding down his previous company, Mediocre, in 2017. He initially implemented destructible voxels with ray tracing and, after several discarded designs, conceived the two-phase heist concept. While working closely with the former Mediocre designer Emil Bengtsson, Gustafsson regularly shared development updates via Twitter and the resulting popularity led him to not pursue traditional marketing for Teardown. The game was announced in October 2019 and an early version was available through early access from October 2020, with the full game's release in April 2022.

Teardown saw positive reactions leading up to and during its early access phase, and it received favourable reviews upon release. Critics praised the game's physics, interactivity, graphics implementation, art style, and music. Mixed opinions were voiced regarding the campaign progression and story, while some control elements were criticised. The game's support for mods was cited as a major factor for its potential longevity. Teardown had sold 1.1 million copies by August 2022, and the game's success led to Tuxedo Labs being acquired by Saber Interactive under Embracer Group. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S ports, published by Saber Interactive, were released in November 2023, upping the player count to 2.5 million.