Down Under Destruction | PAX Australia 2026 Preview

I was lucky enough to get ten minutes in at PAX Aus 2026 with Down Under Destruction. I liked it so much I played an additional hour of the demo at home. This additional time reinforced the fun gameplay, mixed with the uniquely Australian humour as I tossed bricks into people’s faces.

Playing as Dave-o the bricklayer, the story has you taking on the new weird mega corporation with the aid of some supernatural bricks. The demo is split into multiple familiar sections, such as a 6/7 servo, a Dunning’s Warehouse, as well as a construction site. The altered business names made me chuckle, and from what the developers said, it was to avoid being sued. However, the references to their real-world counterparts are pretty obvious.

Movement in the game is fast; as hordes of tradies try to swarm you, it reminded me of Doom in its movement and gameplay. The pace and chaos of throwing bricks suited this styling, and the combat was rather fun. The premise of a brickie tossing destruction with a tool of the trade seemed completely at home within these settings, when visiting the hardware store.

The humour was top-notch and Australian as hell. The conversations between the brick and Dave-o made me chuckle and gave the game a bit of personality. Those conversations gave some levity between the challenges included in the demo. The game made good use of both visual and verbal gags.

Visually, Down Under Destruction aims at the lower poly look; think early Doom, Tomb Raider or similar. It suited the game well, and the game was able to shine in other areas while keeping the animations and controls smooth.

Coming home and being able to continue the demo was great, as I was able to progress further in the game than on the show floor while also being able to laugh out loud without embarrassing myself. It is one of my more anticipated games that I have seen over the weekend and will be watched closely for the release.

Down Under Destruction has a demo available on Steam, where you can also Wishlist the full game. A release date is yet to be announced.

[Explosion Network attended PAX Australia 2026 with a provided Media Pass.]