Teardown, the destructible heist sandbox, is coming to Early Access in 2020

Teardown takes a hammer to the notion that heists have to be slick and sneaky. It's a destructible, simulated sandbox where you can use anything that's lying around, from planks of wood to trucks, to get to the loot. 

Snippets of the heist sandbox have been shown off via creator Dennis Gustafsson's Twitter since 2018, but soon you'll be able to grab a hammer and start smashing things to pieces yourself, as it's heading to Early Access this year. 

The Early Access version will launch with the first of three campaign chapters, containing five environments and twenty missions that will see you taking on shady jobs to get your company out of debt. 

"Soon you are knee-deep in a murky soup of revenge, betrayal, and insurance fraud," reads the Steam description. "Beginning with some more or less legitimate assignments, you soon find yourself stealing cars, demolishing buildings, blowing up safes, and more. Upgrade your expanding arsenal of tools by searching for hidden valuables scattered around the environments."

You'll also be able to take on additional challenge missions set in the campaign's environments, as well as smashing them all apart in the sandbox mode. 

Teardown's expected to stay in Early Access for around a year, during which more chapters and environments will be added, along with extra tools and vehicles based on player feedback. Mod support is also on the cards.  

I can't wait to get experimenting. Gustafsson's already teased some of the creative ways you can cause mayhem, like using a flamethrower to set a truck on fire, and then driving that truck right into a house. It's tantalising. 

A release date hasn't been set yet, but with only a few months left in the year the wait shouldn't be long. 

Fraser Brown
Online Editor

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog. 

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